Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday. This week compares soaring new contract numbers like Kirill Kaprizov's Minnesota Wild deal with a similar king-sized event that shook the hockey world almost a century ago.
NHL hockey salaries increasingly have become bigger stories than ever, yet the phenomenon is almost a century old.
Kirill Kaprizov's eight-year, $136 million contract (average annual value of $17 million) he signed with the Minnesota Wild on Sept. 30 has captured the imagination of the hockey world for both its size in dollars and term. The deal, writes NHL.com senior writer Amalie Benjamin, shows the financial stability in the NHL.
The Kaprizov bonanza also sets the stage for other superstar deals. One of them was Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who signed a two-year, $25 million contract ($12.5 million AAV) Monday that begins next season in lieu of becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. Kyle Connor another pending UFA, signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets ($12 million AAV) on Wednesday, also starting next season. Later that day, Jack Eichel signed an eight-year, $108 million deal ($13.5 million AAV) with the Vegas Golden Knights, another that will begin next season.
Substitute defenseman Frank "King" Clancy for Kaprizov or McDavid and you'll have an idea about what was the biggest deal in hockey between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators on Oct. 11, 1930, 95 years ago Saturday.
"Clancy was colorful and exciting, he was also one of the best defensemen in the League," wrote William Houston in "Inside Maple Leaf Gardens: The Rise and Fall of the Toronto Maple Leafs."
Prior to the 1930-31 NHL season, speculation ran amok over Clancy, then with the cash-strapped Senators, because of his track record and the fact that he was for sale.
"Over an eight-year period, Clancy helped the Senators win the Stanley Cup three times," wrote Ed Fitkin in "The Gashouse Gang of Hockey."
"By 1930, he was recognized as one of the greatest rushing defensemen in the game, not to mention a bull terrier on skates. That's why the Leafs wanted him."
"Clancy not only is the most spectacular player in professional hockey, but one of the most useful," W.A. Hewitt wrote in the Oct. 9, 1930, edition of the Toronto Daily Star. "King is a 60-minute man and a leader on the ice."
Owner Conn Smythe had been charged with turning the Maple Leafs into a Stanley Cup winner and determined that Clancy could do the trick.
"I badly wanted Clancy," Smythe wrote in his autobiography "If You Can't Beat 'Em in the Alley."
"But, the $35,000 Ottawa wanted was the one insuperable drawback. All my Board of Directors would allow me to spend was $20,000."
Writing in his autobiography, "Behind the Cheering," former Smythe aide Frank Selke noted: "Where Conn expected to find the rest of the money, no one seemed to know. What we did know was that he was a gambler -- and often won his many bets."
Smythe's wagering hope rested on Rare Jewel, a young filly he bought for $250 and was running in the 1930 Coronation Futurity, a race for two-year-olds at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack. The judges placed 106-1 odds on Rare Jewel since it had never before won a race.
Undaunted, Smythe went to the betting window and said, "Give me $20 across the board on Rare Jewel."
Smythe's filly trailed the favorite, Froth Blower, until they hit the stretch. Rare Jewel then crossed the field and stole the race. Smythe won $9,372 on his bet while collecting $4,000 on the purse, enough to clinch the Clancy deal.
But there was a personal problem.
"Conn knew that Clancy had a bitter feud with Toronto defenseman Hap Day," Fitkin reported, "so he secretly sent Frank Selke to Ottawa to be sure King could be a good teammate with Day. Once Clancy agreed, the contract was in motion."
The Senators offered forward Eric Pettinger, defenseman Art Smith and $35,000 for Clancy. Momentarily wavering and just to be certain, Smythe placed ads in all Toronto newspapers, asking Maple Leafs followers for their approval of the Clancy deal.
"Smythe was backed to the limit by the fans," wrote Michael J. Rodden in the Toronto Globe on Oct. 11, 1930. "He has made good on his promise, and he has shown his courage by setting a new high record in paying such a huge sum for Clancy."
Without Clancy, the Maple Leafs finished the 1929-30 season fourth in the Canadian Division (17-21 with six ties and 40 points). With Clancy a year later, they climbed to second place (22-13, nine ties and 53 points). They finished the 1931-32 season with the same amount of points and then eliminated the Chicago Black Hawks and the Montreal Maroons to advance to the Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers.
Toronto won the opener 6-4 and Clancy scored twice in a 6-2 victory in Game 2. The Maple Leafs completed the best-of-5 Final with a 6-4 win for the Stanley Cup, their first NHL championship that got Clancy's name on the trophy for the third time.
"From the day Clancy came to Toronto, the Maple Leafs never looked over their shoulders again," Selke said. "King's greatest asset was his tremendous will to win and the inspiration he was to his teammates."
As for the longshot-winning filly Rare Jewel: "If the Lord gave me any talents, it's the ability to spot a phony at 1,000 yards and the ability to smell a thoroughbred -- either a racehorse or a human," Smythe told the Toronto Star on Feb. 9, 1977. "Thoroughbreds of any kind just smell like a thoroughbred. Clancy was one of the great ones."
Among the great ones who could become free agents at the end of the season are Artemi Panarin of the Rangers and Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings. This much is certain: No one will depend on a horse race to pay the freight.
