Howard Dennis McNamara (November 22, 1891 – September 24, 1940) was a Canadian 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

. He played professionally from 1908 to 1920, including two seasons with the

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 ...

, including the 1916

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 ...

champions. McNamara is the younger brother of

Harold Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts a ...

and

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, who also played professionally.

Playing career

Born in Randolph,

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 ...

, Howard moved to Sault Ste. Marie when he was 12 years old. Along with George, he joined the

Halifax Crescents The Halifax Crescents were an early amateur and later, professional ice hockey team operating in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The team operated in several leagues, gone defunct and been resurrected. The original club challenged for the Stanley Cu ...

in the

Maritime Professional Hockey League Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

in 1911–12, thus forming the "Dynamite Twins". The pair were unusually large for players of that era and formed a formidable defensive pair. Howard moved on to become

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

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 ...

when they won their first Stanley Cup in 1916. McNamara played in an exhibition series in 1912–13 with the

Toronto Tecumsehs The Tecumseh Hockey Club, also known as the Toronto Tecumsehs and nicknamed the Indians, were a team in the National Hockey Association in 1912–13. They then became the Toronto Ontarios. History The NHA was founded in 1909 without any teams ...

Personal life

Both Howard and his brother George served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. George rose in the ranks from lieutenant to major. After returning from Europe, George and Howard founded the McNamara Construction Company and developed it into a prosperous firm. Howard McNamara died of heart seizure on his yacht "Brigadier" during a fishing trip near

Deseronto Deseronto is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, in Hastings County, located at the mouth of the Napanee River on the shore of the Bay of Quinte, on the northern side of Lake Ontario. The town was named for Captain John Deseronto, a n ...

, Ontario."H. McNamara Dies on Yacht At Deseronto"
''Ottawa Journal''. September 24, 1940 (pg. 11).

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Howard 1891 births 1940 deaths Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian military personnel of World War I Cobalt Silver Kings players Ice hockey people from Ontario Montreal Canadiens (NHA) players Montreal Canadiens players Stanley Cup champions Toronto 228th Battalion players Toronto Ontarios players Toronto Shamrocks players Toronto Tecumsehs players