Joseph Jean Étienne Stanislas Cattarinich (November 13, 1881 – December 7, 1938), 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 ...

player, and co-owner of

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

tracks in Canada and the United States as well as a co-owner of 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 ...

of the

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 ...

Biography

Joseph Cattarinich's father was a Croatian sailor. Cattarinich was originally spelt Katarinic, and other immediate surnames in the family tree included Bradicic and Nikolic. He went to sea with fellow Croats Zaninovich, Soussich and Lukinovilch. He visited

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n islands with them and others.

Sports career

Cattarinich grew up in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

and played

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 ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

as a young man. Later, he lived in Levis near Quebec City. He is best known as the first

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

of the professional

, then known as 'Les Canadiens', playing for the team during the inaugural 1910

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) season. He retired after

Georges Vézina Joseph Georges Gonzague Vézina (; ; , 1887 – , 1926) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played seven seasons in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and nine in the National Hockey League (NHL), all with the Montreal C ...

shut out Cattarinich's club in a game with Vézina's amateur

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...

team (the Canadiens had been on a pre-season barnstorming tour to promote the upcoming season of the NHA. He was so impressed, that he recommended the Canadiens sign Vézina, and voluntarily stepped down from his place on the team. In those days ice hockey teams carried only one goaltender, as a rule.

Business career

With longtime business partner

Leo Dandurand Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * '' Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts a ...

, Cattarinich became prominent in the Montreal

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

wholesaling business, but it was their popularization of the

Parimutuel betting Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winnin ...

system at local tracks that provided their greatest commercial success. With the re-introduction of race track betting in the United States after

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 ...

, the pair, known popularly as "Catta-Léo", extended their activities to racetracks in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Jefferson Parish (french: Paroisse de Jefferson; es, Parroquia de Jefferson) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 440,781. Its parish seat is Gretna, its largest community is Metairie, and its ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, and others in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and further afield. In 1921, along with Dandurand and

Louis Letourneau Hilarion Adolphe "Louis" Letourneau (1868? – April 29, 1952) was an ice hockey team owner of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. When George Kennedy, Montreal Canadiens owner, died in October 1921, Letourneau, Leo Dandurand and Joseph Cattar ...

, Cattarinich purchased the

of the

from the estate of

George Kennedy George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academ ...

for $11,000. Although Dandurand was the active partner during their tenure (Cattarinich was known as "The Silent One" and Letourneau sold his stake in 1930), the Canadiens won three

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 ...

s with players such as

Howie Morenz Howard William Morenz (September 21, 1902 – March 8, 1937) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Beginning in 1923, he played centre for three National Hockey League (NHL) teams: the Montreal Canadiens (in two stints), the Chicago Blac ...

Aurel Joliat Aurel may refer to: Places * Aurel, Drôme, France * Aurel, Vaucluse, France Other uses * Aurel (given name) * Aurel Awards, a Slovak music award * AuRel, a dragon in E. E. Knight's ''Age of Fire Age of Fire is a series of fantasy/adventu ...

, and

Georges Vezina Georges may refer to: Places * Georges River, New South Wales, Australia * Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 19 ...

. After a series of losses (amounting to $40,000 for the 1934–35 season alone), Cattarinich and Dandurand sold the club to a syndicate comprising J. Ernest Savard, Maurice Forget, and Louis Gélinas in 1935 for $165,000. In 1932, Cattarinich, Dandurand, and Letourneau purchased

Blue Bonnets Raceway The Blue Bonnets Raceway (later named Hippodrome de Montréal) was a horse racing track and casino in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed on October 13, 2009, after 137 years of operation. Demolition of the site began in mid-2018, after sitting ...

. A shareholder with Robert S. Eddy, Jr. and others in

Arlington Park Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago regi ...

racetrack in Chicago and Jefferson Park Racetrack in

Jefferson Parish Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foot ...

, Louisiana, in 1934 their group purchased the

Fair Grounds Race Course Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC. As early as 1838 Bernard de Marigny, Ju ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

from prominent horseman

Edward R. Bradley Edward Riley Bradley (December 12, 1859 – August 15, 1946) was an American steel mill laborer, gold miner, businessman and philanthropist. As well as a race track proprietor, he was the preeminent owner and breeder of Thoroughbred racehor ...

. Cattarinich and Dandurand continued their betting business throughout the challenging economic environment of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in the 1930s. Despite several attempts, they did not succeed in acquiring another

NHL 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 ...

club. While recovering from an eye operation, he suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

and died on December 7, 1938 in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. Catarinich is buried in

Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

. He is a member of the

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 ...

, inducted in 1977 as a builder.''Hockey Hall of Fame'' Joseph Cattarinich

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cattarinich, Joseph 1881 births 1938 deaths Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian people of Croatian descent Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Quebec City Montreal Canadiens (NHA) players Montreal Canadiens coaches Montreal Canadiens executives National Hockey League executives National Hockey League owners Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery People from Lévis, Quebec Stanley Cup champions