James William "Sailor" Herbert (also known as Herberts) (October 31, 1897 - December 5, 1968) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional

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 and referee. Herbert played the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

forward position for six seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

and Detroit Cougars. He was an original member of the Boston Bruins.

Personal

Born in

Cayuga, Ontario Cayuga ( ) is an unincorporated community and county seat of Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada located at the intersection of Highway 3 and Munsee Street and along the Grand River. Cayuga is about a 20-minute drive from Lake Erie and 30 minutes ...

, Herbert was one of five children of John and Annie Herbert (daughter Maria, sons John, Norman, Charlie and Jimmy). Between the 1901 Census and the 1911 Census, the family moved to

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...

. It was in Collingwood where Jimmy played youth hockey. During his professional career, his name was consistently misspelled from his birth name of Herbert to Herberts. After he retired from active play, Herbert became a referee in the Maritime League. He also opened a tourist camp near

. Later in the 1930s, Herbert refereed in the British Ice Hockey Association. In 1945, Herbert was reported as working in the shipyards of Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. Herbert died in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

after a long battle with cancer in 1968. Herbert's nickname of "Sailor" arose for his work as a deckhand on Great Lakes sailing ships during the off-seasons.

Playing career

Herbert played senior amateur hockey from 1922 with the

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton interest ...

of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern ...

(OHA), followed by a season with the

Eveleth Rangers The Eveleth Rangers were an amateur ice hockey team from Eveleth, Minnesota that played in various amateur leagues during the first half of the 1900s. As a member of the United States Amateur Hockey Association (1920–1925) the team was know ...

of the

United States Amateur Hockey Association The United States Amateur Hockey Association (USAHA) was an ice hockey governing body in the United States from 1920 to 1930, which operated an amateur league from 1920 to 1925. The league was filled with predominantly Canadian-born players, but ...

(USAHA). He made his professional debut with the Boston Bruins in 1924–25, scoring 17 goals in 30 games. Herbert played three and a portion of a fourth season with the Bruins before being traded to the Maple Leafs in December 1927. At the end of the 1927–28, he was traded again, to the Cougars where he played a full season and part of the 1929–30 season before being demoted to the minor pro

London Panthers The London Panthers were a professional ice hockey team based in London, Ontario, Canada that existed from 1926 until 1936. The team played in the Canadian Professional Hockey League from 1926, joining the International Hockey League in 1929. In 1 ...

of the International Hockey League (IHL). He played two more full seasons in the IHL, before ending his career after nine games in the 1932–33 season. The trade of Herbert to Toronto was attributed by

Conn Smythe Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe Military Cross, MC (; February 1, 1895 – November 18, 1980) was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs ...

as the start of his feud with

Art Ross Arthur Howey Ross (January 13, 1885 – August 5, 1964) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and corporate officer, executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first t ...

, the Bruins general manager. According to Smythe, "My directors were sitting beside me the first time Herberts was sent out in a Toronto uniform and I almost fainted when he caught one of his big skates on the ice and fell flat on his face. The crowd roared with laughter, the directors moaned and I nearly fainted. When I was able to take another look at Herberts, there was our $17,000 prize beauty lining up with the visiting

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

." Herbert was traded to Detroit at the end of that season. In his rookie season of 1924–25, Herbert led the Bruins in both scoring and penalty minutes. His feat would not be matched until 1977–78 when

Terry O'Reilly Terence Joseph James O'Reilly (born June 7, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. He played for the NHL's Boston Bruins and featured in three Stanley Cup Finals. He was one of the most effective enforcers in NHL histor ...

would lead the Bruins in scoring and penalty minutes. Herbert's top season in the NHL was 1925–26, when he scored 26 goals and 5 five assists for 31 points in 36 games.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Jimmy 1897 births 1968 deaths Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey centres Detroit Cougars players Detroit Olympics (IHL) players Ice hockey people from Simcoe County London Panthers players Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players Sportspeople from Collingwood, Ontario Syracuse Stars (IHL) players Toronto Maple Leafs players Windsor Bulldogs (1929–1936) players Eveleth Rangers players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen