John Reed Kilpatrick (June 15, 1889 – May 7, 1960) was an American athlete,

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

, and sports businessperson. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. Kilpatrick was born to a Canadian mother and American father, raised in New York City, and later attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. He competed in football and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, and was recognized as one of the top players of the era. After college, he worked in New York City before being drafted to serve in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

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 ...

. During this service, he won several honors including the Distinguished Service Medal. After the war, he commenced a successful business career in New York that led him to becoming the president of the Madison Square Garden Corporation. Kilpatrick ran Madison Square Garden for more than twenty-five years, personally overseeing the operations of the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

NHL club from 1935 to 1960. The Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1940 while he was in charge. Kilpatrick introduced a number of other professional events at Madison Square Garden, such as ice shows and, with the assistance of

Ned Irish Edward S. Irish (May 6, 1905 – January 21, 1982) was an American basketball promoter and one of the key figures in popularizing professional basketball. He was the founder and president of the New York Knicks from 1946 to 1974. He was enshrined in ...

, college and professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. In 1936, he was elected an NHL Governor. In June 1942, Kilpatrick was recalled to active military duty to serve in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. He retired from the army in 1949 and resumed his career at Madison Square Garden. Kilpatrick continued to make contributions to the sport of ice hockey, including establishing the National Hockey League Pension Society in 1947. Posthumously, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960, and in 1968, he received the

Lester Patrick Trophy The Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the National Hockey League and USA Hockey since 1966 to honor a recipient's contribution to ice hockey in the United States. It is considered a non-NHL trophy because it may be awarded to players, c ...

for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.

References

External links

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Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilpatrick, John 1889 births 1960 deaths Military personnel from New York City All-American college football players American football ends American ice hockey administrators College Football Hall of Fame inductees Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Lester Patrick Trophy recipients New York Rangers executives Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Stanley Cup champions United States Army generals Yale Bulldogs football players Yale University alumni American people of Canadian descent United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army generals of World War II