Tommy Gorman

Note: This page is for minor league owner Thomas Patrick "Tommy" Gorman; for others with a similar name, click here.

Thomas Patrick Gorman
(T.P.)

• Born June 9, 1886 in Ottawa, ON CAN
• Died May 15, 1961 in Ottawa, ON CAN

Biographical Information

Tommy Gorman was one of the founders of the National Hockey League, a minor league baseball owner, and a star athlete in his own right. Born in Ottawa, ON, he was the youngest member of the Canadian team that won the Gold Medal in lacrosse at the 1908 Olympics (there were only two teams in competition - Canada and Great Britain). He later played lacrosse professionally.

He then became a sportswriter for the Ottawa Citizen daily newspaper, rising to the rank of sports editor. During that time, he worked as a recruiter for the Ottawa Senators hockey team, even though he had never played hockey, as he was a skilled evaluator of talent. The team was part of the National Hockey Association at the time, and, taking over as one of its owners, he was one of three executives who banded together in 1917 to replace the NHA with the NHL. He later became coach and General Manager of the New York Americans, the first professional hockey team to be based in New York City. He later worked in a similar capacity for the Chicago Black Hawks, the Montreal Maroons, and GM of the Montreal Canadiens. He managed four different teams to Stanley Cup championships: Ottawa, Chicago and both Montreal teams.

After retiring from the Canadiens in 1946, he became a team owner and promoter, owning the minor league Ottawa Senators hockey team, and starting in 1947, the Ottawa Nationals of the Border League. The success of that venture led him to own the Ottawa Giants of the International League in 1951. As the owner of the Nationals, he convinced up-and-coming hockey star Doug Harvey to suit up for the team, and he was an extremely good player in 1948 and 1949 before concentrating full-time on his NHL career. He was also an avid horse-racing fan and owned a racetrack in Aylmer, QC, across the Ottawa River from the Canadian capital. He also owned the Ottawa Auditorium, the city's main indoor arena. He was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.