Richard Robinson Boon
Hockey career
In 1894, at the age of 16, Boon began playing organized hockey with the "Young Crystals" at the old Crystal Rink in Montreal with another Hall of Famer, Mike Grant. In 1897, he joined the Monarch Hockey Club. In 1900 he joined the Montreal Hockey Club of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association's junior club. The following year he was promoted to the senior team. He played the position of cover point, similar to today's defenceman. Considered to be 'fast and wiry', Boon is credited with being the first player to use the poke check, which he used to great success in stopping opposing forwards.
In 1910, Boon, along with Jimmy Gardner was instrumental in setting up the National Hockey Association (NHA) (predecessor of today's National Hockey League (NHL)) when the Wanderers were refused entry into the new Canadian Hockey Association (CHA), along with Renfrew. Gardner, Boon and Ambrose O'Brien conceived of founding the NHA on the spot, after the CHA had met to expel the Wanderers and in the same hotel, the Windsor Hotel in Montreal. The NHA would be innovative in making professional hockey more business-like.
In 1924, Boon was approached by James Strachan, former owner of the Wanderers and part-owner of the new Montreal Hockey Club franchise entering the National Hockey League to negotiate the use of the name "Wanderers" for the new team. The negotiations were unsuccessful and the team was instead nameless, until the nickname "Maroons" came into use, after the colour of their sweaters.
After hockey
After retiring from playing hockey, Boon became a co-founder of the Boon-Strachan Coal business, and he took up curling and golf. He continued playing golf until the fall of 1960 not long before his death. Boon was survived by his widow Kathleen Fitzgerald. He was later buried at Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.
Awards and achievements
- 1952 – Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame