Samuel "Sam" Rothschild (October 16, 1899 – April 15, 1987) was a Canadian 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 who played 102 games 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). Rothschild was the first Jewish player in the NHL. He played for the

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 ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, 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 () 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 ...

champion Maroons.

Early life

Rothschild was born in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

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 ...

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

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

settlers.Sam Rothschild
at

Greater Sudbury Heritage Museums The Greater Sudbury Museums are a network of four small community history museums in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Three of the four are located on heritage properties in different neighbourhoods within the city, and the fourth is located in ...

. 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 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 ...

area for Montreal Harmonia,

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, 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

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 The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

championship. He married Eva Yackman in 1933. He was also a prominent supporter of

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

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 Curling Canada (formerly the Canadian Curling Association (CCA)) is a sanctioning body for the sport of curling in Canada. It is associated with more than a dozen provincial and territorial curling associations across the country, and organizes ...

from 1957 to 1958, and securing the city's status as host city of the 1953 Brier. 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 indu ...

. 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, borough 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 Montreal Maroons players New York Americans players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Sudbury, Ontario city councillors Stanley Cup champions Ice hockey people from Greater Sudbury 20th-century Canadian municipal councillors