Toronto Granites
{{short description|Defunct Canadian ice hockey team}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=February 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox sports team
| name = Toronto Granites
| logo =
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| sport = Ice hockey
| founded = 1880s
| folded = {{end date|1924}}
| league = OHA (1890-1924)
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| arena =
| location = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| affiliations = Toronto Granite Curling Club
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| championships = 2
| league_titles = 3
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The Toronto Granites were an amateur senior ice hockey team from Toronto, Ontario. The Granites were Allan Cup champions in 1922 and 1923. They were chosen to represent Canada at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. The Granites won the second consecutive Olympic gold medal for the Canada national men's ice hockey team.{{cite book|first=Dave|last=Holland|title=Canada on Ice; The World Hockey Championships, 1920 – 2008|year=2008|publisher=Canada On Ice productions|pages=24–25|isbn=978-0-9808936-0-1}}
History
File:Toronto Granites, 1921–22.jpg. Second row: H.S. Smith, Dr. J.M. Sheldon. Third row: H.E. Watson, D.B. Munro, A.J. McCaffrey, H.J. Fox, D.J. Jeffrey. Bottom row: F.G. Sullivan, E.J. Collett, A.E. Romeril, R.F. Anderson, J.T. Aggett.]]
Formed in the 1880s, the Granites were the first organized ice hockey team in Toronto. The ice hockey team was an offshoot of the Toronto Granite Curling Club, which still exists today as The Granite Club. At first, games were only exhibitions, such as visits from teams in Ottawa or Montreal, or local competition from the Caledonian Rink or other curling clubs which formed ice hockey teams, with no championships or tournaments. The team joined the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) for the 1890–91 season. The team would play in the OHA until 1924, adding a junior club in 1893, which continued until 1923. The Granites won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1920, 1922 and 1923, as the senior champion of the OHA.{{cite web|url=http://www.ohahockey.ca/view/oha/about-us/oha-history-8683/senior-series-2|title=Senior Series|year=2019|website=Ontario Hockey Association|access-date=February 1, 2021}} The club was the Canadian champion, winning the 1922 Allan Cup and 1923 Allan Cup, becoming Canadian champions.
1924 Winter Olympics
Ontario Hockey Association president W. A. Fry recommended to have the Toronto Granites, being the 1923 Allan Cup champions, represent Canada in ice hockey at the 1924 Winter Olympics.{{cite news|title=Hockey Moguls To Meet Today|date=March 20, 1923|newspaper=Winnipeg Tribune|location=Winnipeg, Manitoba|page=7|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-mar-20-1923-1353473/}}{{free access}} The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association approved the Granites to represent Canada, and W. A. Hewitt was chosen oversee the team's finances at the Olympics.{{cite news|title=J. H. Crocker Is Olympic Head|date=October 24, 1923|newspaper=The Winnipeg Tribune|location=Winnipeg, Manitoba|page=13|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-oct-24-1923-3012866/}}{{free access}}{{cite news|title=Billy Hewitt Again In Charge of Hockey Team; Granites Sail January 11|date=October 17, 1923|newspaper=The Brandon Sun|location=Brandon, Manitoba|page=4|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-oct-17-1923-2980660/}}{{free access}} Hewitt was also empowered by the CAHA to name replacement players as needed,{{cite news|title=Bar Commercial Teams From Race For Allan Cup|date=December 5, 1923|newspaper=Lethbridge Herald|location=Lethbridge, Alberta|page=6|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-dec-05-1923-3012873/}}{{free access}} and recruited Harold McMunn and Cyril Slater as replacements when four players from the Granites were unable to travel to the Olympics.{{cite news|title=Sports Highways|last=Rodden|first=Mike|date=September 13, 1966|newspaper=The Kingston Whig-Standard|location=Kingston, Ontario|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93582099/hewitt-1966/}}{{free access}}
In his weekly report to the Toronto Daily Star, Hewitt wrote that the Granites would face multiple changes in conditions compared to hockey games in Canada. He did not feel the team would be affected by playing outdoors on natural ice in the morning or afternoon, despite that the team was accustomed to playing indoors with electric lighting on artificial ice. He also felt that the larger ice surface and lack of boards around the sides of the rink would mean more stick handling and less physical play.{{cite news|title=Canadian Team Find Change In Match Conditions|date=January 22, 1924|newspaper=Brandon Daily Sun|location=Brandon, Manitoba|page=4|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-jan-22-1924-3012883/}}{{free access}} The Granites defeated the United States team by a 6–1 score, and won all six games played to be the Olympic gold medallists.{{cite book|last=Podnieks|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Podnieks|title=Canada's Olympic Hockey Teams: The Complete History 1920–1998|publisher=Doubleday Canada|date=1997|location=Toronto, Ontario|isbn=0-385-25688-4|page=17}}
Team roster{{Citation | title = The Official Olympic Games Companion: The Complete Guide to the Olympic Winter Games 1998 Edition | place = London - Washington | publisher = Brassey’s Sports | year = 1998 | page = 128 | isbn = 1-85753-244-9 }}[http://www.databaseolympics.com/country/countryyear.htm?cty=CAN&g=27 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407105647/http://www.databaseolympics.com/country/countryyear.htm?g=27&cty=CAN |date=2007-04-07 }}
References
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{{succession box
| before = Winnipeg Falcons
| title = Canada men's Olympic ice hockey team
| years = 1924
| after = University of Toronto Grads
}}
{{end}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Men's ice hockey}}
Category:Ice hockey teams representing Canada internationally
Category:Ice hockey clubs established in the 1880s
Category:Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1924