Edward Albert Gilroy (October 10, 1879August 8, 1942) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as president of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) from 1927 to 1934, and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1934 to 1936. In Manitoba, he sought to expand senior ice hockey and establish co-operation between teams and owners of the Winnipeg Amphitheatre on schedules and reducing travel costs. He wanted all players aged 21 and younger to remain in junior ice hockey and began to negotiate with professional teams to refrain from signing them to contracts. His seven years as leader of the MAHA was the longest tenure for a president at the time, during which he oversaw continued growth of the association and improvement of finances.
Gilroy sat on the rules committee while he was CAHA vice-president and sought to implement consistent ice hockey rules across the country. He advocated for stricter enforcement of rules for player safety and for adopting a delayed penalty rule. As president, he wanted to stop the migration of hockey players across the country as men sought to make a living by playing hockey during the Great Depression in Canada. He warned against the stacking of teams to win an Allan Cup championship and wanted to resolve the situation before selecting the Canada men's national ice hockey team to play at the 1936 Winter Olympics. His efforts were supported by most of Canada but led to multiple disagreements with the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association, where it was common knowledge that players were being paid for amateur hockey games. The relationship with the Maritimes worsened when the Halifax Wolverines were chosen to represent Canada at the Olympics but subsequently disbanded and their players removed from the national team after reports of demanding money.
Gilroy and the CAHA reached an agreement with the British Ice Hockey Association to halt the transfer of players from Canada to Great Britain until permission was granted. The Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace ruled that Jimmy Foster and Alex Archer were ineligible to compete for the Great Britain men's national ice hockey team since they were suspended by the CAHA for not seeking permission to transfer internationally. On the eve of the Olympics, Gilroy allowed the two players to participate as a gesture of sportsmanship towards Great Britain, and objected to other countries portraying Canada as protesting the use of Foster and Archer. Great Britain defeated Canada by a 2–1 score, and the resulting silver medal was the first time in which Canada did not win the gold medal in ice hockey at the Olympic Games. Gilroy and the CAHA were subsequently scrutinized heavily by media and players in Canada for the failure at the Olympics. He was posthumously inducted into the builder category of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987.
Early life and business career Edward Albert Gilroy was born on October 10, 1879, in Smiths Falls, Ontario. He completed his schooling in Smiths Falls. He played minor ice hockey in both Smiths Falls and Ottawa, and later became an ice hockey referee and a team executive. He also played senior ice hockey in Smiths Falls during the early 1900s.
Gilroy first arrived in Portage la Prairie to play hockey in 1905, then spent a season playing lacrosse in Nelson, British Columbia in 1906. He returned to coach the Portage la Prairie Cities team in the Manitoba Professional Hockey League from 1906 until the team disbanded in 1909. He also served on the executive of the Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association at the same time. Notable players on his team included Ernie Dubeau, Jack Fraser, Newsy Lalonde, Skinner Poulin, Don Smith, and Cyclone Taylor.
In 1913, Gilroy was elected vice-president of the Senior Independent Hockey League based at the Winnipeg Amphitheatre. The league included the Winnipeg Falcons, the Winnipeg Strathcona, a team from Selkirk and a team from Portage la Prairie. He refereed games in the league, and was re-elected twice as vice-president, serving in the role until 1916. The league grew during his tenure and added the Winnipeg Monarchs who won the 1915 Allan Cup, and the Winnipeg 61st Battalion who won the 1916 Allan Cup.
Gilroy worked as a court clerk for several years, then worked in the clothing business, then became the first commissioner of the Manitoba Liquor Commission at Portage la Prairie. He was in charge of the government warehouse for the distribution of alcohol in Manitoba during prohibition in Canada. He was the purchasing manager for the Government of Manitoba for two years based in Winnipeg, then returned to Portage la Prairie operating a wholesale business from 1922 onwards.
Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association Gilroy served as president of the Portage Hockey Club from 1924 to 1927. He also served as a representative of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA), and sat on the executive committee of the Portage la Prairie minor ice hockey league. As Portage Hockey Club president, he was appointed by the MAHA to committee to oversee the Manitoba Senior Hockey League. He noted the team had strong support from Portage la Prairie which allowed it to grow and prosper, and advocated to find non-hockey employment for players to keep them local instead of transferring elsewhere.
Gilroy was elected president of the MAHA in November 1927, to succeed newspaper executive A. E. H. Coo. A letter from Gilroy was published in the Winnipeg Free Press in December, in which he reiterated his commitment to expanding senior ice hockey in Manitoba, and restoring it to the prominence it had before rosters were depleted by professional teams. He was open to university teams participating in the Manitoba Senior Hockey League, wanted to work with owners of the Winnipeg Amphitheatre on schedules, and address concerns of attendance figures and travel costs to games outside of Winnipeg. He also sought to keep teams based in the MAHA as opposed to playing in neighbouring districts such as the Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association (TBAHA).
The 1927–28 season had the greatest number of hockey teams in Manitoba at the time, with the most growth in rural areas. Gilroy advocated for support of leagues based in rural areas to grow interest in the game, and since those teams could not raise funds to travel long distances to play in larger cities. He wanted to shorten the provincial playoffs system which extended play into poor ice conditions later in the season. As growth increased, he sought to educate teams and players in Manitoba that registration requirements including transfers between clubs would be enforced in the 1928–29 season, and published letters in newspapers advising of changes to consistent with new amateur regulations across Canada.
The MAHA implemented upper and lower divisions in the Manitoba Senior Hockey League for the 1929–30 season, and received more applications from teams in Winnipeg than ice availability could support. The MAHA arranged for all of the upper division teams to play in Winnipeg to reduce travel costs, and expanded the lower division with teams from Brandon, Elkhorn, Souris, and Virden. Gilroy's desire to shorten the playoffs was realized when national deadlines were imposed. The MAHA sought for all players aged 21 and younger to remain in junior hockey, but no agreement was reached with professional teams to refrain from signing players under an age limit to a contract.
The MAHA approved an application from the Kenora Thistles based in Northwestern Ontario to play in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for the 1930–31 season. Gilroy named a committee to explore revisions to the MAHA constitution, and approved the University of Manitoba Grads to represent Canada at the 1931 Ice Hockey World Championships and a tour of Europe. The MAHA declined applications from unaffiliated teams with commercial sponsors to enter the Allan Cup and Memorial Cup playoffs, and Gilroy continued a campaign to educate teams on amateur regulations for national playoffs.
The MAHA faced a revolt from teams in the Manitoba Senior Hockey League before the 1932–33 season, when the Winnipeg Hockey Club, the Winnipeg Falcons and the Selkirk Hockey Club withdrew and formed a commercial league in protest of the Brandon Wheat City Hockey Club being admitted. Gilroy announced that any player taking part in the new commercial league would be suspended from the MAHA, and be ineligible for the Allan Cup playoffs. After a week of negotiations, an agreement was reached where the Winnipeg Monarchs and Winnipeg Hockey Club merged, and the Manitoba Senior Hockey League operated with four teams including Brandon.
When an amateur international hockey league was proposed to include teams from Winnipeg, the TBAHA and Minneapolis for the 1933–34 season, Gilroy stated it would not be approved since there was no existing international agreement for amateur leagues at the time. Gilroy retired as MAHA president after the season and A. E. H. Coo returned to the position. Gilroy's seven years was the longest tenure for an MAHA president at the time, during which he oversaw continued growth of the association and improvement of finances.
Canadian Amateur Hockey Association Gilroy was first appointed to a Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) committee in 1928, when he was named to oversee Allan Cup playoffs for Western Canada, and was named an Allan Cup trustee along with Silver Quilty. Gilroy also sought to implement consistent ice hockey rules across the country as a member of the CAHA rules committee.
Vice-president
Gilroy became the first person to be elected second vice-president of the CAHA in March 1930, when he was acclaimed to the newly created position under Jack Hamilton as president. The CAHA continued to discuss consistent application of the rules of play, and considered a proposal from the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association (QAHA) to allow the forward pass in the neutral zone of the ice hockey rink instead of it being an offside infraction. Gilroy proposed to allow body checking by players of either team in either defensive zone to meet demands of modern spectators, but the rule change was defeated.
Gilroy was re-elected second vice-president in April 1931. The CAHA confirmed complete authority of the referee over any match and interpretation of the rules of play. Gilroy travelled to Lake Placid as a representative of the CAHA, when the Winnipeg Hockey Club won the gold medal representing Canada in ice hockey at the 1932 Winter Olympics.
Gilroy was elected first vice-president of the CAHA in April 1932. The CAHA rules committee proposed multiple changes for the upcoming season, which revisited allowing the forward passes between the blue lines. In November 1932, Gilroy arranged for public meetings for the benefit of hockey players, coaches and referees, to clarify the rule change which now allowed the forward pass in the neutral zone.
Gilroy was re-elected first vice-president of the CAHA in April 1933. He oversaw arrangements for senior and junior division playoffs in Western Canada. He also sat on the CAHA rules committee which decided to implement some of the changes made by the NHL, which included allowing the forward pass in all three zones, and body checking only to the puck carrier. He also advocated for stricter enforcement of rules by referees for player safety, specifically junior ice hockey.
President, first term Gilroy was elected president of the CAHA on April 4, 1934, to succeed Frank Greenleaf, and was the third Manitoban to become president of the CAHA following W. F. Taylor in 1914, and Toby Sexsmith in 1922. Gilroy was also a governor of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada (AAU of C) in his role as CAHA president, and was named to the legislation committee of the AAU of C.