Harvey Pulford Ernest Harvey Pulford ( April 22 , 1875 – October 31 , 1940 ) was a Canadian athlete at the turn of the twentieth century , winning national championships in ice hockey , lacrosse , football , boxing , paddling and rowing . A highly regarded defenceman with the Ottawa Hockey Club , where he was known for being a large and solid player who was excellent at checking opponents . With Ottawa he won the Stanley Cup four times , and also won championships or tournaments in every sport in which he played . When the Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1945 , Pulford was one of the original nine inductees . Sports career . Born in Toronto , Harvey Pulford moved to Ottawa at an early age . Pulford joined the Ottawa Hockey Club in 1893 , playing as a defenceman . In his first season , Pulford played in the first Stanley Cup playoff games , against the Montreal Hockey Club . Pulford played for Ottawa until 1908 , the year that Ottawa became professional . Pulford was captain of the Ottawa Hockey Club during the " Ottawa Silver Seven " era when the club won the Stanley Cup in March 1903 and held it until March 1906 . After retirement from playing , Pulford continued in the game as a referee . In 1933 , Pulford was given an option to buy the Ottawa club , by then known as the Senators , and move it to Baltimore , Maryland , but the purchase did not go through . Pulford was outstanding in several sports . He was a backfielder for the Ottawa Football Club football team from 1893 to 1909 , winning national championships in 1898 , 1899 , 1900 , and 1902 . He also served as captain of the team . He played lacrosse for the Ottawa Lacrosse Club from 1893 to 1900 , winning four national titles . As a boxer , he won Eastern Canadian light heavyweight and heavyweight titles between 1896 and 1898 . He was hesitant to start the 1907 season as he wanted to row the following summer and was concerned about playing professionals on other hockey teams , which would not allow him to compete in other sports as the rules stated . Despite members of his rowing club telling him to stay out of hockey , Pulford wanted to play for the Stanley Cup and rejoined the Senators a few days before the season started . Pulford was an excellent rower , Britannia Boating Club winning national and U . S . championships and leading his crew to the semifinals of the 1911 Henley Royal Regatta . He was a member of the 1910 Ottawa Rowing Club eight that defeated every one of its opponents in 1910 , earning the Canadian and North American championships . Pulford later became president of the Ottawa Rowing Club . He served as president of Ottawa Rowing Club until resigning in 1936 . Pulford resigned as a rower with the Ottawa Rowing Club . In 1916 , Pulford was a candidate to succeed Emmett Quinn as president of the National Hockey Association ( NHA ) , though he lost to Frank Robinson . He was nominated by Eddie Livingstone to replace Frank Calder as president of the by - then defunct NHA in a league meeting on September 28 , 1918 , but Calder would retain his position . Pulford remained active in sports later in life . In his late 40s , he won the Ottawa squash championship and held it from 1922 to 1924 . Pulford was a charter member of the Hockey Hall of Fame ( 1945 ) and the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame ( 1966 ) . He was , with Russell Bowie , Harry Westwick and Alf Smith , one of the final active hockey players who had played in the 19th century . Personal life . Pulford married Annis Mae Field of Brockville , Ontario . Annis Mae died giving birth to son , Harvey F . Pulford , on December 7 , 1904 . Pulford later married Jennie Davidson . Pulford worked for the Imperial Life Assurance Company of Canada from 1921 until his death . Pulford died October 31 , 1940 and was buried in Ottawa ' s Beechwood Cemetery . Jennie , his widow lived until April 29 , 1947 , and is also buried at Beechwood . The younger Harvey Pulford became an employee of the Canadian Pacific Railway and eventually moved to Chicago .