Eddie Shore - Playing Career

Playing Career

Shore played with the Regina Capitals of the Western Canada Hockey League in 1925. His team finished last in the league and folded at the end of the season. Shore moved to the league champion Edmonton Eskimos in 1926, where he converted from forward to defence and was given the nickname "the Edmonton Express."

When the Western Hockey League (renamed from the WCHL) folded in 1926, Shore was sold to the Boston Bruins of the NHL. As a rookie, he scored 12 goals and six assists for a total of 18 points and accumulated 130 penalty minutes. Shore helped the Bruins win their first Stanley Cup in 1929.

In the 1925–26 season, Billy Coutu and Sprague Cleghorn of the Montreal Canadiens were traded to the Boston Bruins. During their first practice with the Bruins, Shore strutted back and forth in front of Coutu and Cleghorn. Coutu body-slammed, head-butted, elbowed and tried to torment Shore. Next Coutu picked up the puck and made a rush at Shore. The two players collided. Shore held his ground and Coutu flew through the air violently crashing to the ice. Shore's ear was almost ripped off but he barely noticed it. Coutu was out cold and was out of commission for a week. Shore visited several doctors who wanted to amputate the ear, but found one who sewed it back on. After refusing anaesthetic, Shore used a mirror to watch the doctor sew the ear on. Shore claimed Coutu used his hockey stick to cut off the ear, and Coutu was fined $50. Shore later recanted and Coutu's money was refunded.

Another unusual incident involving Shore occurred in January 1930 when he was challenged to a boxing match by baseball player Art Shires. While NHL President Frank Calder said that Shore's participation was up to Bruins' manager Art Ross to decide, baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis vetoed Shires' participation, and the match was never held. On January 24, 1933, during a game against Montreal, Shore accidentally punched NHL referee-in-chief Cooper Smeaton during a fight with Sylvio Mantha and was fined $100.

In Boston on December 12, 1933, Shore ended the career of Toronto Maple Leafs star Ace Bailey when he hit Bailey from behind. Shore had checked Bailey, apparently in retaliation for a hit that Shore had received from Bailey's teammate Red Horner moments earlier. When Bailey's head hit the ice he was knocked unconscious and went into convulsions. In retaliation, Leafs tough-guy Red Horner punched Shore, whose head hit the ice as he fell from the blow. Shore was knocked out and required seven stitches but wasn't seriously injured. Bailey was rushed to hospital in critical condition with a fractured skull, and was operated on for more than four hours and there were fears he could die. Following the incident, Shore was suspended for 16 games by the league. Shore apologized to Bailey after the game, and the two shook hands at centre ice before a benefit game at Maple Leaf Gardens in Bailey's honour on February 14, 1934.

Shore and the Bruins won their second Stanley Cup in 1939. Shore retired and bought the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, where he was player-owner in 1939–40. He was persuaded to rejoin the Bruins and played four games for the team before being traded to the New York Americans on January 25, 1940. He stayed with the Americans through their elimination from the playoffs, and was simultaneously playing with the Indians in their playoff games.