Charles Dinsmore

Charles Adrian Dinsmore (July 23, 1903 – December 5, 1982) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 100 games in the National Hockey League. Known variously as Chas, Chuck, or "Dinny" Dinsmore, he was born in Toronto, Ontario, where he played for the amateur Toronto Aura Lee Juniors hockey team and the Toronto Argonauts football team, before eventually playing pro hockey for the Montreal Maroons. The 1924–25 NHL season was the first for both the Maroons and the Boston Bruins, and on December 1, 1924 Charles earned the first goal ever scored against the Bruins (the Bruins won the game 2-1).[1] He won the Stanley Cup in 1926. He left the game in 1928 to take a job as a bond trader. But in the middle of the 1929-30 NHL season, he asked the Maroons about getting his old job back because he said the stock market did not offer the same thrills as playing in the NHL. Montreal team officials told him that they had no more money in the budget to sign another player, but Dinsmore was insistent and struck a deal by signing a contract to play for the Maroons which would pay him one dollar for the remaining nine games.[2]

Charles Dinsmore
Charles Dinsmore
Born (1903-07-23)July 23, 1903
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died December 5, 1982(1982-12-05) (aged 79)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight 155 lb (70 kg; 11 st 1 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Montreal Maroons
Playing career 1924–1930

Early life

Dinsmore played on high school teams for Oakwood Collegiate Institute. In 1919, he was the quarterback of their senior rugby team, which won the High School Rugby League Championship.[3] In 1920 he was on Northview in the junior ORFU league that won the Junior title over Sarnia.[4] He got involved in Canadian football as well as hockey, and also paddled for the Toronto Canoe Club.[5] In 1924, he paddled in the Bala Regatta in Muskoka.[6]


Football

Dinsmore was a halfback for the 1922 Toronto Argonauts teams with Lionel Conacher, Canada's Athlete of the Half-century.[7] Dinsmore, "is a thick set youngster, powerful and tireless ... and he is as tough as a pineknot."[8] The smallest man on either team, "Little Hercules" slid through the line[9] and he picked up more loose balls than two men on either team.[10] The team went to New York for an exhibition game, struggled with the American rules, losing 55 to 7; Dinsmore had a 32-yard run.[11] "Dinsmore's loss was one of the most severe a team can suffer. He was one of the greatest secondary defence men ever produced in Canadian football, and his absence weakened the Argo wing line."[12]

Hockey

In December 1919, 16 years old, he joined the Toronto Aura Lee Juniors, playing left wing and centre. Their club was on Avenue Road near Davenport. "Dinsmore is only a little fellow, but he is fast and a tricky stick handler."[13] In 1922, Aura Lee defeated St. Mary's to be the OHA Champions.[14] Headline in the newspapers was that Dinsmore was a "Backchecking Star."[15] Dinsmore "roamed the whole front line breaking up rush after rush – a Trojan for work, a skating demon." And Dinsmore even scored two goals, once off the faceoff.[16] When Kitchener was defeating Aura Lee, Dinsmore and Gerald Schnarr got into a mix-up. "Dinsmore came out with a bleeding face from a cut, and he went after Schnarr with his stick. And there was nearly a free-for-all. The police had to pull the combatants apart. Schnarr was lucky not to be badly hurt. Both were chased from the game." [17] They won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeated McGill, Quebec Champions,[18] but lost to Fort William. He was awarded a Life Membership to the Aura Lee Club.[19]

Professional career

It was Dunc Munro, Captain of the Montreal and Olympic Gold Medal team (Ice hockey at the 1924 Winter Olympics), who used to play with him on the Argos, that got him to sign with the new team Montreal Maroons.[20] He got a no-cut three-year contract. The two also helped training the Montreal football team.[21] Dinsmore checked the whole St. Patrick's team to a standstill. His stick-handling was immense. They couldn't take that puck away from him at all. He saved the game for the Maroons when numerous penalties threatened to bring about their downfall.[22] In the playoff semifinal with the Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL), coach Eddie Gerard said the star of the game was Dinny Dinsmore,[23] In the NHL championship game in Ottawa, Montreal in the third up 1-0 over the Ottawa Senators (original), finally Coach Gerard sent out "Kid Disturbance," sometimes known as Dinny Dinsmore, to break up the avalanche. He did, He grabbed the puck and heaved it down the ice and then chased down into the thinly populated backfield after it. That brought the Ottawans back ... He certainly is the prize pest of the N.H.L.[24] Each player will get around $1,500 in extra money for winning the playoffs,[25] defeating the Victoria Cougars for the Stanley Cup. 1925–26 NHL season When he returned in 1929 he was coached by Dunc Munro and played in the 4 playoff games against Boston Bruins, including a 4-hour game with 45 minutes of overtime that was longest in Montreal's history until then.[26]

In 1932, he returned to the ice as a reserve referee,[27] but was suspended for inefficient refereeing in 1934.[28] In 1942 he played in an oldtimers benefit game for Victory Loans, Montreal Canadiens versus Maroons.[29] He was a coach at Loyola College (Montreal) (now part of Concordia University),[30] winning the Dominion Intermediate Intercollegiate Championships[31] and one of the first ten named to their Hall of Fame in 1967.[32]

Between hockey seasons, he became a manufacturers' agent and travelled to England to get novelty lines.[33] Later developed a welding business. He sold Dinsmore Co. in 1962 for $945,000[34] and in retirement played golf. He had season tickets for the Montreal Alouettes CFL team, but didn't watch hockey. In 1963 he told a reporter, "I'm strictly a one-sports rooter these days. I love football. The game has developed in so many directions and never ceases to intrigue me.... I'm sorry to say that NHL games don't catch my fancy any more. I'm one of those old fogies that was weaned on stickhandling, precision passing, and good old bodychecking. I dislike the board checking, the hooking and holding. It's just not for me, that's all."[35]

References
  1. Anson, P. (2014). "Game Summary: Dec. 1, 1924 – Montreal Maroons 1 @ Boston Bruins 2". FlyersHistory.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-29. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  2. Toronto Daily Star, March 26, 1930; p. 10.
  3. Toronto Daily Star. November 22, 1919. Toronto Daily Star, November 19, 1924; p. 10.
  4. The Globe, December 6, 1920; p. 13.
  5. Toronto Daily Star, June 21, 1923; p. 15.
  6. The Globe, August 12, 1924; p. 8.
  7. The Globe, September 18, 1922; p. 8. Toronto Daily Star, October 16, 1922.
  8. Toronto Daily Star, November 17, 1922; p. 30.
  9. Toronto Daily Star, November 3, 1924; p. 10.
  10. Photo; Toronto Daily Star, November 4, 1924; p. 12.
  11. The Globe, November 5, 1923; p. 8.
  12. The Globe, October 21, 1925; p. 8.
  13. Toronto Daily Star, December 4, 1919; p. 28.
  14. The Globe, March 10, 1922; p. 8.
  15. Photo, giving weight 145 lbs; The Globe, March 16, 1922; p. 10. Toronto Daily Star, March 10, 1922; p. 22.
  16. Toronto Daily Star, March 7, 1922; p. 8.
  17. The Globe, February 7, 1924; p. 8.
  18. Player portraits; Toronto Daily Star, March 15, 1922; p. 18.
  19. The Globe, November 24, 1924; p. 13.
  20. Photo; Toronto Daily Star, November 19, 1924; p. 10.
  21. The Globe, August 20, 1925; p. 8.
  22. The Globe, December 28, 1925; p. 6.
  23. Toronto Daily Star, March 22, 1926; p. 8.
  24. Toronto Daily Star, March 29, 1926; p. 9.
  25. Toronto Daily Star, March 22, 1926; p. 8.
  26. Montreal Gazette, March 21, 1930; p. 18.
  27. Montreal Gazette, November 29, 1932; p. 12. The Globe, December 12, 1932; p. 8. Wore number 15: November 7, 1933; p. 13; and October 22, 1935; p. 6.
  28. The Globe, February 1, 1934; p. 13.
  29. Globe and Mail, February 19, 1942; p. 16.
  30. The Globe, September 20, 1934; p. 11. Montreal Gazette, August 30, 1929; p. 11.
  31. Globe & Mail; February 7, 1939; p. 14. St. Maurice Valley Chronicle; April 11, 1940; p. 12.
  32. Toronto Star, May 27, 1967; p. 37. Montreal Gazette, May 24, 1967; p. 23.
  33. Montreal Gazette, August 13, 1963; p. 19.
  34. Montreal Gazette, February 17, 1966; p. 13.
  35. Montreal Gazette, August 13, 1963; p. 19.
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