Harold Lawton "Harry" "Punch" Broadbent (July 13, 1892 – March 5, 1971) was a Canadian

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. Broadbent played for the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

Montreal Maroons The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924–25 NHL season, 1924 to 1937–38 NHL season, 1938, winning the Sta ...

and the

New York Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...

in the

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), initially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Leagu ...

(NHA) and

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) between 1912 and 1929. Broadbent won the

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 ...

four times during his career, three times with Ottawa and once with Montreal. He is regarded as one of the first true

power forwards Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Mat ...

in NHL history. For this reason, he was known in his day as "Old Elbows". In the 1921-22 NHL season, Broadbent scored at least one goal in 16 consecutive games from December 16, 1921 to February 15, 1922, an NHL record that remains unbroken over a century later.

Personal life

Born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

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 ...

. Broadbent married Leda Fitzsimmons and had one daughter, Sally Ann Broadbent. In the summer of 1915 Broadbent enlisted in the Canadian military to serve in the

First World War 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 ...

. He served in the

Royal Regiment of 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 ...

, and was promoted to Bombardier in October 1916. In March 1918 he was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

for his service in the war. Broadbent's only brother Spencer was killed in action during the war. A January 27, 1934 article on Broadbent in the

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

by D. A. L. MacDonald says he was called "Punch" because of his round chubby face which would puff up like a

Billiken The Billiken is a doll, charm doll created by an American art teacher and illustrator, Florence Pretz of Kansas City, Missouri, who is said to have seen the mysterious figure in a dream. It is believed that Pretz found the name Billiken in Bliss ...

charm doll when he smiled. Broadbent died on March 5, 1971 at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife Leda, daughter Sally Ann and four grandchildren. He was interred at Beechwood Cemetery.

Playing career

As a youth, Broadbent played ice hockey at Percy Street School, then starred for Ottawa Cliffsides and New Edinburgh in the Ottawa City League and Inter-provincial League. At age 20, he made his professional debut with the Ottawa Senators of the

(NHA) on December 28, 1912 against Quebec, scoring the first goal of his career. Broadbent played the 1912–13 season on a line with

Jack Darragh John Proctor Darragh (December 4, 1890 – June 28, 1924) was a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey player. Darragh played the forward (ice hockey), forward position for the Ottawa Senators (original), Ottawa Senators in the National ...

. He was seventh in the league in scoring his rookie year, and while hobbled with injuries the next, was fourth in scoring the following year. He scored three goals in the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

against the

Vancouver Millionaires The Vancouver Millionaires (later known as the Vancouver Maroons) were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926. Based in Vancouver, British Co ...

in 1915 before going to the war for three and one-half years. Broadbent returned from the war in January 1919, and played the remaining eight games of the season for the Senators, now in the

(NHL). With forwards

Frank Nighbor Julius Francis Joseph Nighbor (January 26, 1893 – April 13, 1966) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played primarily for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and National Hockey League (NHL). He also ...

and

Cy Denneny Cyril Joseph Denneny (December 23, 1891 – September 10, 1970) was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League from 1917 to 1929 and the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hock ...

, he starred for the Senators for six more seasons, playing for three Stanley Cup champions. Though he was a holdout for most of the 1921 season, Broadbent came back to win the league scoring title in 1922, with 32 goals in 24 games. He also set a record that season by scoring goals in sixteen consecutive games. The streak began during a 10–0 rout of the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

on December 24 and lasted through to a 6–6 tie with Canadiens on February 15, and it included a stretch of six straight multi-goal games. After the 1924 playoffs, teammate

Clint Benedict Clinton Stevenson "Praying Benny" Benedict (September 26, 1892 – November 12, 1976) was a Canadian professional lacrosse goalie, ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Maroons. He played on four Stanley Cup-win ...

and Broadbent were blamed for the playoff loss and sold by Ottawa to the expansion

. Broadbent was the Maroons' leading scorer that first season, including a five-goal game against the Hamilton Tigers. In his second season with the Maroons, the team won its first Stanley Cup championship against the

. He was traded back to the Senators in 1928 with cash for

Hooley Smith Reginald Joseph "Hooley" Smith (January 7, 1903 – August 24, 1963) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Maroons, Boston Bruins and New York Americans between 1924 and 1941. He won the St ...

. He played for the

in 1929 and retired after that season. Broadbent finished his career with 172 goals and 58 assists in 360 professional games. After his playing career, he coached for several years in the

Ottawa City Hockey League The Ottawa City Hockey League (OCHL) was an amateur ice hockey league with junior, intermediate and senior level men's teams in Ottawa, Canada. Founded in 1890 by the local Ottawa Hockey Association (Ottawa HA), the OCHL was created to organize p ...

, winning the championship in 1933 with the Ottawa Rideaus. He was elected to 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 ...

in 1962.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards

* NHL scoring leader:

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

* Stanley Cup champion:

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

* Elected to the

in 1962

Transactions

* January 21, 1919 – Signed as a free agent by Ottawa Senators. * December 30, 1920 – Rights transferred to Hamilton Tigers from Ottawa Senators by NHL with

Sprague Cleghorn Henry William Sprague "Peg" Cleghorn (March 11, 1890 – July 12, 1956), also known as "The Big Train", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player from Westmount, Quebec who played 17 professional seasons between 1911 and 1929 for the Renfrew ...

. Both Broadbent and Cleghorn refused to report. * January 4, 1921 – Rights traded to

by Hamilton Tigers for cash. Broadbent refused to report. * February 21, 1921 – Rights returned to Ottawa Senators by NHL. * October 20, 1924 – Traded to

by Ottawa Senators with

for cash. * October 7, 1927 – Traded to Ottawa Senators by Montreal Maroons with $22,500 for

. * October 15, 1928 – Traded to

by Ottawa Senators for $10,000. * January 1, 1929 – Fined $25 by NHL for trying to start a fight in the penalty box during game with Montreal Canadiens. * October 31, 1929 – Announced retirement.

Records (1)

* Longest goal streak, season: 16 in 1921–22 (December 16, 1921 to February 15, 1922)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadbent, Punch 1892 births 1971 deaths Military personnel from Ottawa Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery personnel Canadian ice hockey forwards Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Ottawa Montreal Maroons players National Hockey League scoring leaders (prior to 1947–48) New York Americans players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Ottawa Senators (1917) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Ottawa Senators (NHA) players Ottawa Senators (original) players Canadian recipients of the Military Medal Stanley Cup champions Burials at Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa)