Many have stated that Howie Morenz is the first true superstar of the National Hockey League. They may very well be right.

Another player from the inaugural Hockey Hall of Fame class from Ottawa, Hod Stuart may have played on multiple teams for various leagues, but don’t confuse him for a journeyman. Stuart was a star defenseman everywhere he went, and like many in his day was a very good athlete in other sports (Stuart also played football with the Ottawa Rough Riders). By all accounts, he was a class act and an early champion for salaried leagues and equitable pay. Stuart was also a major advocate for clean hockey as he was very much against the violent turn that the sport had taken, and governed his actions on the ice accordingly. He would win his lone Stanley Cup with the Montreal Wanderers in 1907 but would not have much time to enjoy it. Stuart retired from the game at the age of 28 (though he easily could have returned) and took a job with his father doing construction. A freak diving accident (he hit his head on the rocks in the Bay of Quinte as he was unaware that they were there) killed him instantly. A memorial game was put in place the following year that featured the Wanderers against an All Star team of ECAHA stars. It is considered the first All Star game in Hockey.

The only member of the Hockey and American College Football Hall of Fame, Hobey Baker also shatters the myth that the early stars of Ice Hockey were only Canadians. Baker could do it all. Starring for both Princeton’s Hockey and Football teams and was one of the most revered athletes of his time. The first legitimate star of American Hockey also was the first American inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (and also headlined the first class in the United States Hockey Hall). Posthumously, the NCAA created the Hobey Baker Ward, which is given to the best collegiate hockey player. They could not have chosen a better man to name it after.

A certifiable icon in the early days of Ottawa hockey, Harvey Pulford was not just a star defenseman for the Capital City, but was a legitimate athletic star in multiple sports. As hockey grew, Pulford became one of its first stars, and hands down, an important part of Ottawa sporting history. As such, Pulford was a star in early hockey and became a legitimate legend in overall athletics and likely would have been named the Canadian athlete of the first half of the 20th Century had it not been for Lionel Conacher.