Harold William Peel (June 21, 1879 – November 28, 1944Harry William Peel
Ancestry (ancestry.com)) was a Canadian early 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 with the Pittsburgh Keystones of the

Western Pennsylvania Hockey League The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL) was an originally amateur and later professional ice hockey league founded in 1896 and existing through 1909. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the league became the pre-eminent ice hockey league in ...

. He was a member of the Keystones 1902 WPHL championship team.

Biography

Harry Peel was one of the first openly professional hockey players. In 1902 he disclosed that he was paid $35 a week to play for the Pittsburgh Keystones. This was a violation of the team's amateur status. As a result, both Canadian and

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

officials disallowed all amateur teams to play against the Keystones and Peel's amateur status was revoked by the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

. He issued two appeals that were rejected on December 10, 1903 and again on November 30, 1904. However, professional hockey expanded and the WPHL embraced its new professional status. As a result, the league expanded to four teams by adding the

Pittsburgh Victorias The Pittsburgh Victorias were one of the earliest professional ice hockey teams. The club was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and were members of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, the first league to openly hire hockey players, from 1902� ...

, and openly enticed the best talent it could, including future

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

members Hod and

Bruce Stuart Charles Bruce Stuart (November 30, 1881 – October 28, 1961) was a Canadian amateur and professional ice hockey forward who played for the Quebec Bulldogs, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Wanderers, Portage Lakes Hockey Club, Pittsburgh Victorias ...

from the

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 ...

, Alf Smith from the

Ottawa Hockey Club 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 of ...

and

Riley Hern William Milton "Riley" Hern (December 5, 1878 – June 24, 1929) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He was the first professional goaltender to play on a Stanley Cup-winning team. Biography Hern began playing ice hockey at an earl ...

from the Stratford Legionnaires. Peel died in November 1944 and is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery and Crematorium in his hometown of

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 ...

References

Before the NHL: Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, International Professional Hockey League
ticky-box.com

pittsburghhockey.net

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peel, Harry 1879 births Canadian ice hockey defencemen Pittsburgh Keystones (ice hockey) players Year of death missing Ice hockey people from Ontario