Horace Jefferson Merrill (November 30, 1884 – December 24, 1958) was a Canadian

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 who the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

in both 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 ...

and

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 ...

from 1912 to 1920. 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 ...

with Ottawa in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

. He was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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 ...

, but lived most of his life 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 ...

. Merrill was also an accomplished canoeist, holding the Canadian title from 1907 until 1909 in the single canoe.

Playing career

Cliffside Hockey Team IAHU team champions, Allan Cup holders, amateur champions of the world,1909 (HS85-10-20692)

Born in

, Merrill moved to

, Ontario at an early age. By 1907, Merrill was playing senior-level hockey with the Ottawa Seconds 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 ...

. The following year he also started playing for the

Ottawa Cliffsides The Ottawa Cliffsides were a senior ice hockey team that played in the Inter-Provincial Amateur Hockey Union from 1908–1911. From 1905 to 1908 they played in the Ottawa City Senior League. They were the first winner of the Allan Cup in 1909 ...

and was a member of their

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

-winning squad in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

. By 1912, he joined the

of the

(NHA). He stayed with the Senators as they joined the

in 1917, playing 9 games over 2 seasons until his retirement in 1920.

Canoeing

Merrill was an outstanding paddler in the decade 1902–1912. He was a member of the Rideau Canoe Club’s first war canoe crew in 1902. Paddling for Ottawa Canoe Club (OCC) in 1904 he won the senior singles in the Canadian Canoe Association (CCA) competition. By 1906 he had switched to the New Edinburgh Canoe Club (NECC) and took second place in the senior singles at the CCA championship. In 1908 and 1909 he took the title as Canadian senior singles champion. In 1908, 1909 and 1910 he led the NECC war canoe crew to second place finishes in the half-mile Canadian championships. The crew came second in the mile race in 1908 and finished first in 1909, 1910, and 1911. In 1912 he served as rear commodore of the CCA.C. Fred Johnston, ''100 Years of Champions - The Canadian Canoe Association 1900-2000''. Queens University, Kingston. 2003.

Personal life

Merrill retired to live and marry in Ottawa. He became the president of the Dadson-Merrill Press Company until his retirement from that business in 1945. He also served as a school trustee. In 1958, he suffered a stroke on an automobile trip to Florida with his wife, while driving through

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556. The city of Cortland, near the county's western ...

, and was returned to Ottawa on December 19, 1958. He died a week later and is buried in Ottawa at Beechwood cemetery along with numerous other Senators players.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Horace 1884 births 1958 deaths Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Ottawa Ottawa Senators (1917) players Ottawa Senators (NHA) players Ice hockey people from Toronto Stanley Cup champions