William John Tobin (May 20, 1895 – May 8, 1963) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

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, executive and head coach. He was a senior executive with the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

for the team's first 36 years of existence, also serving as coach for parts of two seasons. From 1946 to 1950, he was also the team's principal owner.

Personal information

Tobin was born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

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 ...

. Tobin died in Chicago's Mercy Hospital of

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

. He was survived by his wife Muriel, son Donald W. and daughter Mrs. Elaine Bovaird, all of Chicago, and two sisters, Mrs. Maude Sunderland and Mrs. Gertrude Ashe, both of Ottawa.

Ice hockey career

Tobin was a goaltender for several senior hockey teams of 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 ...

before signing with the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

Big-4 League The Big-4 League was a top level senior ice hockey league that operated in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta for two seasons between 1919 and 1921. Created with the intention of competing for the Allan Cup senior-amateur championship, the league's e ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. His signing provoked a controversy that helped to end the league. Tobin's eligibility to play for the Eskimos was questioned and an inquiry was held. The

Calgary Tigers The Calgary Tigers, often nicknamed the ''Bengals'', were an ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 1920 until 1927 as members of the Big-4 League, Western Canada Hockey League and Prairie Hockey League. The Tigers were revived in ...

, upset with the makeup of the panel which investigated Tobin's status, refused to accept the decision and refused to play the league championship against Edmonton. Calgary broke from league affairs along with other Calgary teams, leading to the league to fold. Tobin played from the 1920–21 season until 1924–25 with Edmonton, which moved to the

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. The WCHL's Victoria C ...

. In 1926, Tobin helped found the new Chicago Black Hawks organization. He'd traveled to Chicago after spending most of the previous year out of hockey, and hoped to find a job. Founder and owner Major

Frederic McLaughlin Maj. Frederic McLaughlin (27 June 1877 – 17 December 1944) was an American businessman and soldier. He was the first owner of the Chicago Black Hawks National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey team. Born in Chicago, Illinois, McLaughlin inherited ...

made Tobin his assistant and head of hockey operations. Tobin was head coach of the Black Hawks for parts of two seasons, 1929–30 and 1931–32. He was promoted to team president in 1938. He was included on the Stanley Cup team picture with Chicago as executive in 1934 and 1938. However, his name was only included on the Cup in 1938. In 1941, Tobin took over the independent Kansas City Americans of the American Hockey Association, later in 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, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

. Tobin operated the team until 1951, when it became part of the Black Hawks' organization. After McLaughlin's death, Tobin nominally headed a syndicate that bought the Hawks from the McLaughlin estate. However, it was an open secret in NHL circles that Tobin was a stand-in for

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

owner

James E. Norris James E. Norris (December 10, 1879 – December 4, 1952) was a Canadian-American businessman, operating companies in the grain and cattle industries, and owner of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. He also had significant owne ...

, who helped Tobin put together his syndicate. Norris had been the Black Hawks' landlord since 1936, when he bought

Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. ...

. While NHL rules prohibited the ownership of multiple teams by one owner, the arrangement effectively allowed Norris to control the two teams. In 1950, Tobin sold his share of the Hawks to

James D. Norris James Dougan Norris (November 6, 1906 – February 25, 1966) was an American sports businessman, with interests in boxing, ice hockey, and horse racing. He was the son of James E. Norris (whom the James Norris Memorial Trophy is named after) an ...

and

Arthur Wirtz Arthur Michael Wirtz (January 23, 1901 – July 21, 1983) was an American entrepreneur. He was the founder of Wirtz Corporation, a holding company that owned Chicago Stadium, the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago, the Chicago Black Hawks, and the Chic ...

. He remained vice president and head of hockey operations until 1954, when

Tommy Ivan Thomas Nathaniel Ivan (January 31, 1911 – June 25, 1999) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and general manager. He served as a National Hockey League (NHL) head coach for the Detroit Red Wings from 1947 to 1954 where he won three Stanley Cups, a ...

became general manager. He retained the title of vice-president of the team after the sale, until his death in 1963.

Coaching record

References

External links

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Bill Tobin coaching record
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Hockey-ReferenceBill Tobin
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EliteProspects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Bill 1895 births 1963 deaths Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Chicago Blackhawks coaches Chicago Blackhawks executives Edmonton Eskimos (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Ottawa Stanley Cup champions