Lyle Zealand Wright (September 28, 1898 – May 23, 1963) was a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian American ...

ice hockey executive and businessman. He managed the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

for more than 20 seasons, was president of the

Minneapolis Arena The Minneapolis Arena was an indoor ice rink in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, that hosted the various Minneapolis Millers teams from 1925 until 1963 and the Minneapolis Bruins of the Central Hockey League from 1963 until 1965. It held 5,500 people ...

, and promoted entertainment events in Minneapolis including the '' Ice Follies''. He was instrumental in growing the game of

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 ...

in its early days in Minnesota and was inducted in the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials an ...

Early life

Lyle Zealand Wright was born on September 28, 1898, in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Manitoba, Canada. He served in the

Royal Canadian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery () is the artillery personnel branch of the Canadian Army. History Many of the units and batteries of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery are older than the Dominion of Canada itself. The first arti ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, then moved to

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 1919. He moved to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

because his father had been appointed Canadian consul in Minneapolis. He married Georgia E. Dolan in 1923. They settled at 3121 East Calhoun Boulevard, on the east side of Lake Calhoun in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, and had two sons and two daughters.

Hockey business

Wright's hockey career began by managing the

in the American Hockey Association (AHA) from 1928 to 1931. He spent one year as the business manager for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

in the

1931–32 NHL season The 1931–32 NHL season was the 15th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Quakers suspended operations, leaving eight teams to play 48 games each. In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Toronto Maple Leafs s ...

. He returned to managing the Millers in 1933, and worked his way up to be president of the

. Notable players signed by Wright during his time with the Millers include,

Taffy Abel Clarence John "Taffy" Abel (May 28, 1900 – August 1, 1964) was an American professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks between 1926 and 1934. Born in 1900 in Sault S ...

, Stewart Adams,

Ching Johnson Ivan Wilfred "Ching" Johnson (December 7, 1897 – June 17, 1979) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the New York Rangers and New York Americans in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1926 and 1938. He was an or ...

, and

Tiny Thompson Cecil Ralph "Tiny" Thompson (May 31, 1903 – February 9, 1981) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), first for the Boston Bruins, and later for the Detroit Red Wings. A ...

. Wright later became acting president of the AHA, and on September 23, 1942, he announced that the league was suspending operations, due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Millers went on hiatus until the AHA resumed play as the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

(USHL) in the 1945–46 season. After four more seasons in Minneapolis, Wright made the decision to relocate the team to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, becoming the state's first professional ice hockey team. He continued his role as manager of the

Denver Falcons The Denver Falcons were the first professional ice hockey team in Colorado. They were a member of the United States Hockey League. Playing their home games at the University of Denver Ice Arena, the team had a memorable season in Denver, star ...

for one season, until the team folded along with the USHL in 1951. Wright's other interests in hockey included helping to establish an annual

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

hockey tournament in Minneapolis in 1930, and establishing the International Amateur Hockey League in 1936. He also cooperated with the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

to foster the

Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team is the college hockey, college ice hockey team at the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. They are members of the Big Ten Conference and compete in National ...

program in its early days, and promoted high school hockey in the state of Minnesota.

Other businesses

Wright was a self-made millionaire from promoting events, including ice shows. Wright made the Minneapolis Arena the home rink for the '' Ice Follies'', and also booked various

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

acts to perform. He estimated that events at the arena drew 80,000 visitors annually, which was also used in the summer for

roller skating Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreation, recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on s ...

and dance nights. In 1943, he took over the operation of the ''Aqua Follies'' with business partner Al Sheehan, and made it into a profitable business within the annual summer Minneapolis Aquatennial.

Death and legacy

Wright was reported to be very ill in April 1963. He died on May 23, 1963, in Minneapolis, and was interred at

Lakewood Cemetery Lakewood Cemetery is a large private, non-sectarian, rural cemetery located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is located at 3600 Hennepin Avenue at the southern end of the Uptown, Minneapolis, Uptown area. It is noted for its chapel ...

. He was a posthumous recipient of the AHAUS Citation Award in 1963. The

enshrined him in its inaugural class of 1973, for his determination to grow hockey in Minneapolis.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Lyle 1898 births 1963 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American ice hockey administrators Burials at Lakewood Cemetery Businesspeople from Minneapolis Businesspeople from Winnipeg Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian sports executives and administrators Chicago Blackhawks executives Ice hockey people from Minneapolis Ice hockey people from Winnipeg Sports venue managers United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees