This Day in Hockey History – August 14, 1926 – An Abel American

(Photo: Boston Globe, as found on Newspapers.com)

Clarence “Taffy” Abel was born in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan on May 28, 1900, the son of John Abel, a salesman, and his wife Charlotte. He also had a younger sister Gertrude.

Abel has the distinction of being the first U.S.-born hockey player to get a regular spot with an NHL team. He was signed by Conn Smythe, who at the time was with the New York Rangers, August 14, 1926. Though Abel spent the 1925-26 hockey season playing as a member of the Minneapolis Millers of the Central Hockey League, it was actually more than likely his play at the 1924 Olympics that put him on the radar for any of the professional teams.

Of all the U.S. Olympic athletes that converged on Chamonix, Abel was the one selected to carry the flag of the United States during the parade of nations. And he would join his teammates in returning to the States sporting silver medals.

Though not signed until 1926, Abel was actually approached in March of 1924 shortly after his return from the Olympics while he was playing for the St. Paul Hockey Club.

“’Taffy Abel, star defense man on the St. Paul hockey team, has been offered $4,000 for a three-year contract to play with New York in the proposed Professional Hockey league, it was reliably reported here today. Abel also was reported to have been instructed to ‘keep his eyes on other Northwest men’ who might consider offers to enter the professional sport. The offer was said to have been made by F. L. Baldwin, one of the men interested with Tex Rickard in the formation of the league,” reported the Minneapolis Star Tribune on March 16, 1924.

Abel was a big, solid man, weighing in at 225 pounds while standing 6’1” in height. This made him somewhat of an anomaly for a hockey player in his era. In fact, when photographed with the U.S. Olympic team, he towered over the rest of the team.

By December of the New York Rangers inaugural season, there were reports that the Rangers team was better liked than the New York Americans. Abel was paired with his fellow Minneapolis Millers teammate Ching Johnson.

“Ching and Taffy are being described as the ‘patented derrick,” reported The Minneapolis Star. “One writer has fittingly described Ching and Taffy as ‘tall cedars of the forest’ and they are hard to knock over.”

Abel spent three seasons with the New York Rangers, helping them to their first Stanley Cup in 1928. After the 1928-29 season, the Rangers sold Abel to the Chicago Black Hawks, whom he played with for five seasons. While with Chicago, he earned his second Stanley Cup, while helping the Black Hawks to their first Cup in 1934.

During his time in New York, a reporter called attention to his strong ties to the United States.

“Taffy Abel, the tall defense man of the Rangers, is one of the few hockey players on the big time who learned his game south of the Canadian line and also played most of his career for American clubs. Abel’s sturdy blocking and neat stickwork have featured the Rangers’ play this season [1926-27]. Now that Taffy has shown the way it may be that more young American players will try to make good at major league hockey,” said the Daily News.

Abel retired after the Stanley Cup run in 1934 and returned to Sault Ste. Marie, where he lived with his second wife Tracy. He coached hockey and owned a restaurant known as The Log Cabin Café. He died where he’d be born, August 1, 1964.

In addition to his Olympic Silver Medal and his two Stanley Cups, Abel was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973, who said of him, “Abel’s fabulous climb from Sault Ste. Marie amateur ranks to the NHL stamped him as a legend in Hockey. He left an indelible imprint in pro and amateur circles as a player, coach and manager. Taffy Abel was a name beloved by hockey followers across the continent in the era of the 60-minute men.”

Additional Sources:

• ‘Taffy’ Abel, St. Paul Star, Is Approached By New York Pro Puck Loop,” The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, Sunday, March 16, 1924, Sports Section, p. 2.
• “Ching Johnson Gets as Much Applause in Garden as Tunney and Dempsey,” The Minneapolis Star (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Thursday, December 9, 1926, p. 12.
• “Abel Proves Hockey American, Too,” Daily News (New York, New York), Saturday, December 4, 1926, p 26.
• Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, City Directory, 1941, p. 21.