1. James Cooper Smeaton was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee and head coach.
20 Facts About Cooper Smeaton
1. 2.
Cooper Smeaton served referee-in-chief of the National Hockey League from 1917 until 1937.
3.
Cooper Smeaton was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.
4.
Cooper Smeaton moved to New York in 1910 and played one season of point for the New York Wanderers, while working for Spalding Sporting Goods.
5.
Cooper Smeaton returned to Montreal for family reasons and joined Sun Life Insurance and started refereeing amateur games as a sideline.
6.
In 1914, Cooper Smeaton joined the Canadian military to serve in the First World War.
7.
Cooper Smeaton served with the 11th Canadian Siege Battery in France, and was awarded the Military Medal for his service.
8.
Cooper Smeaton was later active in the Norman Mitchell VC Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion in Mount Royal, where he lived.
9.
In September 1959, Cooper Smeaton organized a fund-raising intra-squad game by the Montreal Canadiens to benefit the branch's welfare fund.
10.
Cooper Smeaton became the NHL's first referee-in-chief when the NHL formed in 1917.
11.
Cooper Smeaton was offered the general manager's job of the expansion New York Rangers in 1926, but turned it down to remain in Montreal.
12.
Cooper Smeaton served as referee until 1930 when he became the head coach of the Philadelphia Quakers.
13.
Cooper Smeaton refereed in the NHL until 1937 when he retired.
14.
Cooper Smeaton, who officiated numerous Stanley Cup and Allan Cup finals, was inducted as an on-ice official into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.
15.
Part of the reason Cooper Smeaton retired from hockey was to attend to his business career.
16.
Cooper Smeaton retired to accept a promotion to assistant branch manager at Sun Life.
17.
Cooper Smeaton later became Ottawa branch manager before returning to Montreal to become Montreal branch manager in 1944.
18.
Cooper Smeaton continued working at Sun Life until retiring in 1954.
19.
Cooper Smeaton served as president of the Montreal Life Insurance Underwriters Association.
20.
Cooper Smeaton died on October 3,1978, at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, survived by his wife Victoria.