Jack Laviolette ✝

Laviolette was one of the first francophone stars of ice hockey. He was born in Belleville, Ontario, but grew up in Valleyfield, Quebec. He was an outstanding scorer from the defenceman position. But Laviolette\'s true place in hockey history has less to do with his scoring prowess and more to do with his role as the true founding organizer of the Canadiens hockey club. He was their first player, coach and general manager in their inaugural 1910 season.\n', ' With the formation of the National Hockey Association (NHA) in December 1909, (replaced 7 years later by the NHL), team/league owner Ambrose O\'Brien asked Laviolette to put together a team made up of French Canadian players to play as the "Les Canadiens" franchise in Montreal. Laviolette completed the task in time for the NHA\'s inaugural season. Among those that would sign on to that first team would be future hall of famers Newsy Lalonde, Didier Pitre and the "Chicoutimi Cucumber," Georges Vezina. The team he built would go on to be the most successful franchise in professional hockey.\n', ' Laviolette would first play elite-level senior men\'s amateur hockey in 1904 for the Montreal Le National, famous for being one of the first men\'s teams composed of francophones. From 1905 onward, he would play as a professional, first with the Soo Indians of the International Professional Hockey League for three seasons, and then return to Montreal to play for Montreal Shamrocks in the 1908 and 1909 seasons.\n', '