[Click to enlarge]
[Click to enlarge]
|
|
Harold Starr was one tough workhorse of the NHL for most of the dirty thirties. Born in Ottawa in 1906,
he was an accomplished athlete who played junior hockey in his hometown with the Gunners, St-Brigid's
and Shamrock teams.
When there was no ice on the rinks, he was just as busy in the summer months playing
professional football with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the CFL along side another future NHL player,
Joe Miller. Harold was a legendary tough guy on the field, playing tackle and end positions.
The squad won Canadian Football's pinnacle, the Grey Cup, in 1925 and 1926.
In 1929, Harold was signed as a free agent by the Ottawa Senators. Once in the NHL, Harold would
play for three seasons in Ottawa, one with the Montreal Maroons and Montreal Canadiens,
two with the New York Rangers and just two games with the Detroit Red Wings.
Despite seven seasons in the NHL and five trips to the playoffs, Harold was never fortunate enough
to be on a Stanley Cup winning team. He was by all accounts a good team mate who was well liked
by fellow players both in the NHL and during his time with the London Panthers, Windsor Bulldogs
and Cleveland Falcons where he played along side Toots Holway and rounded out his pro career before
being reinstated as an amateur in 1936. He then played two more seasons in Ottawa in the OCHL.
After hockey, Starr was co-owner of the Carleton Hotel where he prospered. Hockey Hall of Famer
Frank Boucher mentioned holding hockey meetings in the Carleton Hotel with Harold as the host in
his book "When the Rangers Were Young". Long time Ottawa sports reporter Eddie MacCabe wrote an article
that quoted one of Starr's old buddies as saying "Harold was a quiet man. But he never forgot
anybody. Many's the night I drove around the city with him and he'd stop in here and there and
help out guys who were down on their luck and I'd stay on the car and he'd say 'there's a fellow
here I have to talk to for a few moments.' He was one of those great guys."
Harold's sympathy for guys who were down on their luck was obvious in his ongoing friendship with
former team mate and NHL opponent Hib Milks, who spent the better part
of the last ten years of his life drinking in Ottawa area hotels and bars.
Harold died at his home in Ottawa on Friday, September 25, 1981.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
-
7 NHL Seasons
|
|
-
6 Goals, 5 Assists
|
|
-
Born: July 6 1906, Ottawa
|
|
-
Died: Sept. 25, 1981
|
|
- Nickname: Twinkle
|
|
-
Teams: Senators, Canadiens, Montreal Maroons, Rangers
|
|
|
|
|
