John Patrick "Jack, Doctor" Brannen (September 13, 1874 – October 25, 1964) was a Canadian amateur

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who was active in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Brannen played as a

rover Rover may refer to: People Name * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Stage name * Rover (musician), French singer-songw ...

, a position between defense and attack, for the

Montreal Shamrocks The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, and then amateur again men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886 to 1924, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They were spun off from the Montreal Shamrocks lacrosse club. Starting off ...

in the

AHAC The Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) was an amateur men's ice hockey league founded on 8 December 1886, in existence until 1898. It was the second ice hockey league organized in Canada, after one in Kingston, Ontario started in 1883. ...

and CAHL between 1896 and 1901. He won two

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

s with the Shamrocks, in 1899 and 1900. Brannen also played with the Shamrocks in a Stanley Cup challenge series in 1901, but the team lost to the

Winnipeg Victorias The Winnipeg Victorias were an amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, organized in 1889. They played in the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Victorias won the ...

. Brannen was born in Kenmore,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

in 1874. After his career in ice hockey he moved to northern

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

where he worked as a medical doctor, though he occasionally acted as an umpire at hockey games in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. He died in 1964, 90 years old.

Playing style

Jack Brannen was noted for his speed, which made him suitable for the free roaming

position, and occasionally competed in speed skating events. In 1900 he won a 220-yard race in Montreal against some of the best speed skaters in the world, among them Norwegian

Peter Sinnerud Peter Sinnerud (4 January 1876 – 22 March 1972) was a Norwegian speed skater. Biography At the 1895 World Allround Championships Sinnerud won a silver medal and set a world record over 10,000 m at 18:50.0, though later that day the gold medal ...

and American world titleholder

Morris Wood Morris "Mott" Wood (January 28, 1882 – May 17, 1967) was an American amateur and professional speed skating, speed skater primarily active during the first decade of the 20th century. Biography Morris Wood learned to skate on the Shrewsbury Ri ...

."Turning back hockey's pages"
D. A. L. MacDonald, ''The Montreal Gazette'', March 20, 1934. On the Montreal Shamrocks team Brannen played on a forward line with

Harry Trihey Henry Judah "Flip" Trihey (December 25, 1877 – December 9, 1942) was a Canadians, Canadian amateur ice hockey player and executive in the era before professional ice hockey. Trihey played the Centre (ice hockey), centre forward position for the ...

Arthur Farrell Arthur "Art" Farrell (February 8, 1877 – February 7, 1909) was a Canadian ice hockey player, author and businessman. Farrell played for St. Mary's College in the 1890s and later the Montreal Shamrocks in the Amateur Hockey Association of Canad ...

and

Fred Scanlan John Frederick Scanlan (May 5, 1877 – November 11, 1950) was a Canadians, Canadian amateur ice hockey player in the era before professional ice hockey. Scanlan was a forward (ice hockey), forward who played for the Montreal Shamrocks and Win ...

, all three of whom later on were inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

Statistics

''Statistics per SIHR at sihrhockey.org''

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brannen, Jack 1874 births 1964 deaths Canadian ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Ontario Montreal Shamrocks (non-NHA) players Stanley Cup champions Canadian male speed skaters