The Sault Ste. Marie Marlboros, also known as the Canadian Soo and Soo Algonquins, was a 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 h ...

team from

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...

, Canada. It was the lone Canadian entry in the International Hockey League of 1904–1907, and one of the first, if not the first, openly professional hockey teams in Canada. The league was formed at the Conference of Hockey Clubs in American Cities in

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

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, on November 5, 1904. The Canadian Soo was represented by J. P. Mooney and J. C. Boyd. The Canadian representatives presented a revenue-sharing proposal at the meeting. The idea put forward was that gate receipts should be split 60/40 home/visiting team with a minimum guarantee also in place so that the visiting team's expenses would be met. The proposal was accepted and the league was formed.

First game

The Canadian Soo Marlboros first game was played against the American Soo Indians on December 14, 1904, at the

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 census, it is the second-most populated city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette. It i ...

Ridge Street Ice-A-Torium, the local curling club. The Canadian Soo played its first home game against the American Soo at the Sault, Ontario curling club on December 19, 1904. ;Roster The lineup from the first Sault Marlboros game as reported in the Sault Star December 8, 1904 * Pete Maltman -

Woodstock, Ontario Woodstock is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The city has a population of 40,902 according to the 2016 Canadian census. Woodstock is the seat of Oxford County, at the head of the non-navigable Thames River, approximately 128 km from ...

- Goaltender * Roy Brown -

Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indepen ...

- Point * Dick O'Leary -

Ottawa, Ontario 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 ...

- Cover Point *

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

- Rover * Charles Corbett -

Omemee, Ontario Omemee is a community within the city of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada, formerly known as Victoria County. Located on Ontario Highway 7, which is the Trans-Canada Highway, Omemee is one of the communities in the Kawartha Lakes, as the proclai ...

- Left Wing * Jim McLurg -

- Right Wing * Charles Collins -

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...

- Centre

Notable players

Before the team folded in 1907,

Newsy Lalonde Édouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde (October 31, 1887 – November 21, 1970) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League (NHL) and a professional lacrosse player. Lalonde is regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse's ...

, George McNamara and

Marty Walsh Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and former union official. He has been the 29th United States Secretary of Labor since March 23, 2021. A Democrat, he previously served as the 54th mayor of Boston from 2014, ...

played for the Soo. All would go on to play for Stanley Cup winning teams and would all also be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

References

* Sault Star - November 10, 1904, December 8, 1904
The Origins and Development of the International Hockey League and its effect on the Sport of Professional Ice Hockey in North America
Daniel Scott Mason, ''University of British Columbia'', 1992

Notes

{{International Professional Hockey League Sport in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Defunct ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey clubs established in 1904 Sports clubs disestablished in 1907 1904 establishments in Ontario 1907 disestablishments in Ontario