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Reply to "Capturing a country through sport: The crossovers"

Conn Smythe

Conn Smythe with the Stanley Cup.
Conn Smythe with the Stanley Cup.  (Michael Burns)  

In just five months in the height of the Great Depression, from June to November 1931, Conn Smythe oversaw the building of old Maple Leaf Gardens, as famous a sports shrine as has ever, or ever will, exist in Canada.

Smythe’s name is on the Stanley Cup eight times and horses he owned won the Queen’s Plate twice and 145 stakes races overall.

That alone would be an impressive Canadian legacy but Smythe, born in 1895, was so much more.

He was a war hero who served in both World Wars, earning the Military Cross for bravery in 1917, for “dispersing an enemy party at a critical time. Himself accounted for three of the enemy with his revolver.”

FM
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