William Mitchell Northey (April 29, 1872 – August 9, 1963), was an executive in 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 ...

Hockey career

Born in Leeds, Quebec, Northey became secretary at the

Montreal Hockey Club The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA) and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team was t ...

in 1893. He would help lead the team to two

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. In 1909, he helped convince

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 ...

executives to change two rules still in place today. The first was the change from a game consisting of two 30 minute halves to three 20 minute periods. He was also instrumental in the decision to discontinue the rover position. The number of players on the ice per team was dropped to six. Northey formed the Canadian Arena Company and was instrumental in building

Arena Gardens An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

in Toronto, and owned

Montreal Arena The Montreal Arena, also known as Westmount Arena, was an indoor arena located in Westmount, Quebec, Canada on the corner of St. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue. It was likely one of the first arenas designed expressly for hockey, opening in 18 ...

, which burned down in 1918. In 1924, Northey helped construct the famous

Montreal Forum Montreal Forum (french: Le Forum de Montréal) is a historic building located facing Cabot Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by ''Sporting News'', it was an indoor arena which served as the h ...

. From 1947 to 1956 he served as vice president with Montreal. He spent the 1956–57 season as President 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 ...

. The Canadiens were sold to Molson Family in summer of 1957, and Northey retired from hockey. His name was engraved on the Stanley Cup three times in 1953, 1956, and 1957. Northey was inducted into 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 ...

in 1947.

Personal life

On November 25, 1922 Northey survived a serious traffic accident near

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

when three

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

s collided on the Hamilton highway, killing one man."Hamilton doctor killed and eight persons injured"
''Montreal Gazette''. Nov. 27, 1922 (pg. 13). Retrieved 2021-12-22. Outside of ice hockey Northey was also involved in

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 ...

as a secretary-treasurer with the Jockey Club of Montreal.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Northey, William 1872 births 1963 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Quebec Montreal Canadiens executives Montreal Maroons National Hockey League team presidents People from Chaudière-Appalaches Stanley Cup champions