Samuel "Sam" Rothschild (October 16, 1899 – April 15, 1987) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player who played 102 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). Rothschild was the first Jewish player in the NHL. He played for the Montreal Maroons,

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, and

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 ...

. He was the last surviving member of the 1926

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) 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, an ...

champion Maroons.

Early life

Rothschild was born in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, to Daniel and Annie Rothschild, the city's first

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

settlers.Sam Rothschild
at Greater Sudbury Heritage Museums. Daniel Rothschild was a merchant in the city, whose retail and office property is listed on the city's register of historic properties.Early Community History: Sudbury, First Jewish Settlers
Ontario Jewish Archives.

Playing career

Rothschild played hockey in the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

area for Montreal Harmonia,

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, and the Montreal Stars before returning home to play for the junior

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...

in 1919. He played the next four seasons with the senior Sudbury Wolves before joining the expansion Montreal Maroons in 1924, becoming the first Jewish player in the NHL. He played three seasons with the Maroons before being sold to the Pirates in 1927. He finished the 1927–28 season with the

after being suspended by the Pirates in December 1927. It was his last season in the NHL.

Post-NHL career

Following his retirement from the NHL Rothschild took up coaching, and coached the junior Sudbury Wolves to the 1932 Memorial Cup championship. He married Eva Yackman in 1933. He was also a prominent supporter of

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

in the city, including stints as president of the

Northern Ontario Curling Association The Northern Ontario Curling Association is the regional governing body for the sport of curling in Northern Ontario. History The NOCA was founded in 2007 upon the amalgamation of the Northwestern Ontario Curling Association, Northern Ontario ...

and the Canadian Curling Association from 1957 to 1958, and securing the city's status as host city of the 1953

Brier Briar, Briars, Brier, or Briers may refer to: * Briar, or brier, common name for a number of unrelated thorny plants that form thicket People * Brier (surname) * Briers, a surname * Briars (surname) Places * Briar, Missouri, U.S. * Bri ...

. He was later inducted into the

Canadian Curling Hall of Fame The Canadian Curling Hall of Fame was established with its first inductees in 1973. It is operated by Curling Canada, the governing body for curling in Canada, in Orleans, Ontario. The Hall of Fame selection committee meets annually to choose induc ...

. As well, he served for two years on Sudbury's

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. He died at a hospital in Sudbury on April 15, 1987.DEATHS The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Apr 18, 1987; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. A12

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Samuel 1899 births 1987 deaths Canadian ice hockey left wingers Curling Canada presidents Jewish Canadian politicians Jewish Canadian sportspeople Jewish ice hockey players Montreal Maroons players New York Americans players Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL) players Sudbury, Ontario city councillors Stanley Cup champions Ice hockey people from Ontario Sportspeople from Greater Sudbury