This Day in Hockey History – July 23, 1897 – A Red Letter Day

Jul 23, 2019

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Over 120 years ago, on July 23, 1897, a boy was born at Russell, Manitoba who would rise through the ranks of the NHL only to walk away almost completely following a bitter disappointment. Mervyn “Red” Dutton faced extreme personal challenges during both world wars but still managed to become a Hall-of-Fame hockey player, coach, and even the NHL’s second president.

Lying about his age, 16-year-old Dutton left school to enlist. As he carried a stretcher to the front lines on April 27, 1917, shrapnel shredded into his leg and rear to the point of medics debating whether or not to amputate. Dutton protested, explaining, “I felt that a young soldier who had played hockey all his life would find things rather empty in Western Canada if the game were to be denied him when he was discharged from service.” Fortunately, he returned to Canada in two years later with scars but both legs. As a way to strengthen them, he juggled skating for seven local teams. He later wrote that he was “determined to be a hockey player again if I died in the attempt.”

Soon enough, the “rugged and physical” Dutton turned pro. For the 1920-21 season, he played defense for the Calgary Canadians of Alberta’s Big-4 League. On November 20, 1921, he signed with the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). He spent five seasons there, including 1923-24, when they won the championship (though they then lost the Stanley Cup Final). Dutton led the team in penalty minutes throughout and twice led the WCHL. Said league had so many financial issues, on September 11, 1926, the Tigers had to sell Dutton off to the Montreal Maroons.

Dutton signed his first NHL contract at $7,000 per season. He remained with the Maroons for four seasons, including another attempt at the Cup in 1928 and leading the league in penalty minutes in 1929. On May 14, 1930, the Maroons sold Dutton and three others to the New York Americans for a total of $35,000. Again, he led the NHL in penalties in 1932, and this style made him quite popular with the fans. Still, the Americans failed to make playoffs until Dutton’s final season as a player. During his NHL career, Dutton amassed 96 points (28G, 68A) during 449 games in ten seasons, landing himself in the top ten for penalty minutes for all but two of them.

That did not mark the end of Dutton’s work with the Americans, not by a long shot. In 1935-36, Dutton became the second player-coach in NHL history, finally leading the Americans to the postseason. Around that time, owner Bill Dwyer borrowed $20,000 from Dutton to keep the team from declaring bankruptcy. When Dwyer essentially abandoned the team, Dutton took over management and continued coaching the team without an owner. In addition to increasing their success, he made them the first team to fly to away games. Over his four years as coach, the Americans earned 161 points (66-97-29).

World War II caused many Canadian players to leave for service, which further hurt the struggling New York Americans. In an effort to gain more fans, in 1941, Dutton moved the team to Brooklyn (out from under the competition with the New York Rangers). Just two months later, the U.S. entered the war, and travel restrictions further hindered the Americans. At the end of the season, on May 15, 1942, NHL governors discussed the problems. President Frank Calder noted that the franchise’s debts had reached $185,000 while the team had not made as much as expected. Dutton’s efforts to buy or relocate the team failed. Despite Calder’s request to renew the lease, Madison Square Garden’s owners declined. The NHL was forced to suspend the franchise, causing Dutton to remark bitterly, “We didn’t quit, we were scuttled.”

Familial tragedy compounded Dutton’s loss. His elder son Joseph went missing in June 1942 during a bombing mission in Germany. His younger son Alex disappeared over enemy waters while laying mines in March 1943. Neither was recovered.

The month before Alex’s disappearance, President Calder died suddenly. In May 1943, NHL governors elected Dutton as his replacement, thanks to his popularity with the players. Although they again suspended the Americans for a season, Dutton agreed to take on the presidency with the promise that he receive a Brooklyn franchise after the war. He had grand ideas of expanding the NHL to 15 teams divided into three divisions. After two attempts to resign, in 1945 Dutton signed a five-year agreement to remain president.

Almost exactly one year after the war ended, on September 4, 1946, Dutton raised the issue of his Brooklyn franchise. Despite arranging the financing, he had not found a site for the new rink, and he had not done much towards purchasing the team. Thus, the NHL reneged on its promise. According to Dutton, “I looked around the room and nobody was looking at me. I got the message.” He told off his peers as he left the room. “Gentlemen, you can stick your franchise up your ass.” He primarily blamed the Rangers and purportedly cursed that they would never win a Stanley Cup in his lifetime, which they did not. That same day, Dutton resigned upon the promotion of his chosen successor, Clarence Campbell.

Dutton mostly left hockey behind for the next 34 years, refusing to attend another NHL game until October 9, 1980, when he dropped the ceremonial puck at the Flames’ first game in Calgary. At the time, he told the press, “People think that I still bear a grudge against NHL governors because they didn’t give me back my New York team. The truth is that they did me a big favor. They sent me back here to work … in a business which has brought joy and success.” That successful business, Standard Gravel and Surfacing Company, was a Calagary-based construction company that built (among other things) airports, highways, McMahon Football Stadium, the Chinook Centre mall, and Canada’s first drive-in movie theater. Meanwhile, despite his beef with the NHL, Dutton served as a Stanley Cup trustee from 1950 until his death on March 15, 1987.

Any lingering bitterness did not prevent Dutton from receiving many honors. After being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player in 1958, Dutton served on the selection committee for 15 years. For his hockey work in the U.S., he received the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1993. The Sports Halls of Fame in Manitoba and Alberta inducted Dutton in 1998 and 2005, respectively. In Calgary, locals compete at Red Dutton Arena, and annually, Canada West University’s best defenseman receives the Mervyn (Red) Dutton Trophy.