Samuel George "Goldie" Prodgers (often misspelled Prodger) (February 18, 1891 – October 25, 1935) was a Canadian

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. During his career he played for the Waterloo Colts,

Quebec Bulldogs The Quebec Bulldogs (french: Bulldogs de Québec) were a men's senior-level ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The team was officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club (french: Club de hockey de Québec), and later as the Quebec Athletic Club ...

Victoria Aristocrats The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the Western Canada Hockey League) in the W ...

Montreal Wanderers The Montreal Wanderers were an amateur, and later professional, ice hockey team based in Montreal. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), the National Hockey Association ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, Toronto 228th Battalion,

Toronto St. Pats The Toronto St. Patricks (colloquially known as the St. Pats) were a professional ice hockey team which began playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1919. The Toronto NHL franchise (league membership) had previously been held by the Toront ...

, and

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton intere ...

. He won the

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 ...

in 1912 with the Bulldogs, and in 1916 with the Canadiens, and retired in 1925.

Playing career

George Prodgers was born in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

and played amateur hockey for the London Athletic, joining its junior team in 1908, and graduating to their intermediate team for the 1909–10 season. He turned professional for the Waterloo Colts of the

Ontario Professional Hockey League The Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL), sometimes referred to as the Trolley League, and also known as the Canadian Hockey League in its time, was a professional ice hockey league in Canada. It was a fully professional league and consisted ...

for the 1910–11 season. When Waterloo folded its team, Prodgers, along with

Eddie Oatman Edward Cole Oatman (June 10, 1889 – November 5, 1973) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was among the elite goal scorers of his era. Among his 32 years (1907–39) playing professional ice hockey, Oatman was named an all-star fo ...

and Jack McDonald joined the Quebec Bulldogs of the

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), officially 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 Lea ...

(NHA). The Bulldogs won the NHA championship and the

, and defeated Moncton in a Stanley Cup challenge series. Prodgers joined the

for the 1912–13 season despite being under contract with Quebec. He returned to Quebec for one season, before joining the

for a season and a season with the

. While playing for the Canadiens, the Canadiens went to its first Stanley Cup finals, winning the series on a goal by Prodgers. He enlisted with the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...

and played for the Toronto 228th Battalion for the last NHA season (1916–17) before being shipped overseas. He returned to Canada in 1919, but refused to report to Quebec which was assigned his playing rights in the new

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). He was traded between several teams before he settled in with the new

Toronto St. Patricks The Toronto St. Patricks (colloquially known as the St. Pats) were a professional ice hockey team which began playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1919. The Toronto NHL franchise (league membership) had previously been held by the Arena ...

. After that one season with Toronto, he joined the

where he had his best offensive seasons, scoring 18 goals in 1920–21. He stayed with the Tigers until the end of the 1924–25 season. The Tigers were suspended at the end of the season after a player's strike and their contracts sold to 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 ...

. Prodgers retired at that point, but after a season away, he joined the London Panthers of the Canadian Professional League, whom he would coach in the following season.

Post-playing career

He died on October 25, 1935 in

."George Prodgers Dead – Former Hockey Star Victim of Heart Attack"
''The Montreal Gazette'', October 26, 1935.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Transactions

* Signed as a free agent by Waterloo (OPHL), January 5, 1911. * Signed as a free agent by Quebec (NHA), November 1911. * Signed by Victoria (PCHA) after jumping contract with Quebec (NHA), November 18, 1912. * Traded to Montreal Wanderers (NHA) by Quebec (NHA) for cash, December 4, 1914. * NHL rights transferred to Quebec by NHL when Quebec franchise returned to NHL, November 25, 1919. * Suspended by Quebec after refusing to report to training camp, November 27, 1919. * Traded to Montreal by Quebec for Ed Carpenter, December 21, 1919. * Traded to Toronto by Montreal for

Harry Cameron Harold Hugh Cameron (February 6, 1890 – October 20, 1953) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played professionally for the Toronto Blueshirts, Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators, Toronto St. Pats, and Montreal Canadiens. Cameron won three St ...

, January 14, 1920. * Traded to Montreal by Toronto with Joe Matte for Harry Cameron, November 27, 1920. * Traded to Hamilton by Montreal with Jack Coughlin, Joe Matte and loan of

Billy Coutu Wilfrid Arthur "Billy" Coutu (March 1, 1892 – February 25, 1977), nicknamed "Wild Beaver", was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, the Hamilton Tigers, ...

for 1920–21 season for

Harry Mummery Harold "Mum" Mummery (August 25, 1889 – December 9, 1945) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. Mummery played professionally from 1911 until 1923, including six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Arenas, Qu ...

, Jack McDonald and

Dave Ritchie David Ritchie or Dave Ritchie may refer to: * David Ritchie (cricketer) (1892–1974), English cricketer * David Ritchie (diplomat), Australian diplomat * David Ritchie (footballer) (born 1971), former English footballer * David Ritchie (moderator) ...

, November 27, 1920.

Awards

* Played on the OHA-Jr. first All-Star Team (1909) * Inducted into the London Sports Hall of Fame (November 2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prodgers, George 1891 births 1935 deaths Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian military personnel of World War I Hamilton Tigers (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Ontario London Panthers players Montreal Canadiens (NHA) players Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Wanderers (NHA) players Quebec Bulldogs (NHA) players Sportspeople from London, Ontario Toronto St. Pats players Toronto 228th Battalion players Victoria Aristocrats players