Cyclone Taylor Frederick Wellington " Cyclone " Taylor , OBE , ( June 23 , 1884 – June 9 , 1979 ) was a Canadian professional forward who played for the Ottawa Senators , Renfrew Creamery Kings , Vancouver Millionaires and Vancouver Maroons . Playing career . Born in Tara , Ontario , Taylor grew up in Listowel , Ontario where he played for the Listowel junior and intermediate teams in the Ontario Hockey Association . In the 1904 – 05 season , he joined a team in Thessalon , Ontario led by Grindy Forrester when a dispute broke out as to which team held his OHA rights . The OHA , led by secretary W . A . Hewitt , refused to grant Taylor a change of residence permit and banned him from playing in the OHA . He applied for reinstatement , but was denied , and remained in Thessalon through the winter . According to some sources , Hewitt wanted Taylor to play for the Toronto Marlboros and blocked his attempts to play for other teams . For the 1905 – 06 season , Taylor played a handful of games for Portage la Prairie in Manitoba . Several teams in the new International Professional Hockey League tried to get Taylor to join them , including Sault Ste . Marie , Ontario and Calumet , Michigan , which even got Taylor to sign a contract . But in February 1906 he ended up reuniting with Forrester on the Portage Lake team , based in Houghton , Michigan . The team won the league championship with Taylor playing point . He had started as a forward , but was too fast for his linemates to keep up with him . Player salaries outpaced revenue in the league and the IPHL went out of business in 1907 . Fame in the National Capital . Taylor then joined the Ottawa Senators of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , for whom he played two seasons , for an annual salary and promise of a civil service job . While playing for Ottawa in 1907 , the current Governor General gave him the nickname " Cyclone " , based on his skating ability . In December 1907 , it was reported that Taylor had been offered $ 1 , 500 to leave Ottawa and play for the team in Renfrew , Ontario for the 1907 – 08 season . He declined the offer . Taylor played lacrosse in 1908 for the Ottawa Capitals , and was arrested during a game on June 27 1908 for punching referee Tom Carlind in the face after receiving a penalty . The referee wouldn ' t press charges but the league president was in attendance and recommended that Taylor be given a lifetime suspension from the National Lacrosse Union . The league governors decided only to issue a censure . The team expected Taylor to join them the following season , but he chose not to return and to focus on his job and hockey . He tried to return to the Capitals in 1910 , but was released by the team , but was back playing for the Caps in 1911 . At the start of the 1908 – 09 season , Taylor was given a month ' s vacation from his government job in Ottawa and went to Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania to play in the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League . The WPHL season opened in mid - November , so Taylor could play there for a month and not miss any of Ottawa ' s ECHL games . One of the Renfrew Millionaires . In December 1909 , coming off a Stanley Cup winning season in Ottawa , it was reported that Taylor had a falling out with the club over his government job and his demand for more money . The Renfrew Creamery Kings of the new National Hockey Association ( NHA ) announced that they had signed Taylor , but a week later Taylor said that he had decided to stay in Ottawa . After another week , Taylor changed his mind and said he would join Renfrew , signing for a reported $ 5 , 250 for one season ( because of the high salaries the players got , the fans called them the Renfrew Millionaires ) . Taylor then quit his federal government job with the Department of the Interior in Ottawa . At the same time , Lester Patrick was given a similar contract to join the Renfrew team , along with his brother , Frank Patrick . Newsy Lalonde joined the team mid - season . Despite the high - priced talent , with four future hall - of - famers in their starting seven , Renfrew finished third . It was reported at the end of February 1910 that the team would lose $ 17 , 000 during the season and was in danger of folding . The team played one more season — with significantly reduced salaries , and without the Patricks and Lalonde — and then disbanded . In 1911 , Taylor became the property of Sam Lichtenhein and the NHA Montreal Wanderers . Lichtenhein wanted Taylor to be a drawing card in Montreal , but , in November 1911 , Taylor said he would sooner retire from hockey than join the Wanderers . To the uproar of the Wanderers , he played for Ottawa against the Wanderers on January 24 1912 . Taylor ' s play was so poor , he was replaced after one period , with Montreal in the lead 2 - 0 . Ottawa came back to win the game , 10 - 6 . The Wanderers formally protested and the game was ordered replayed . Taylor and the Ottawa team were each fined $ 100 by the league and Taylor was given an indefinite suspension . However , despite this , at the end of the season in March , Taylor was selected for an NHA All - Star team which played against the three PCHA teams in British Columbia . A Vancouver Millionaire . Meanwhile , the Pacific Coast Hockey Association ( PCHA ) was formed by Taylor ' s former teammates , Lester Patrick and Frank Patrick , and they encouraged Taylor to come west . In November 1912 , it was announced that he would be paid $ 1 , 200 to join the Vancouver Millionaires . As he prepared to leave for the west coast , Taylor said he wouldn ' t play in the NHA again under any circumstances . Before he left , Taylor said one of the two new Toronto teams in the NHA was owned by Lichtenhein , who was plotting to send Taylor to Toronto and prevent him from playing for Ottawa . The accusation was denied by the presidents of both Toronto teams and by Lichtenhein , who all said he had no ownership stake in either team . In Vancouver , Taylor was moved from cover - point ( defence ) to centre where he played the rest of his career . Taylor helped lead the Millionaires to their only Stanley Cup victory in 1915 . He won five scoring titles in the PCHA , including 32 goals in 18 games in 1917 – 18 . He had completed his career in 1921 , but came back for one more game in 1922 – 23 . Post - playing activities and legend . After retiring from hockey , Taylor was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947 . His retirement years featured some painful moments with the death of his mother in 1934 , and not being able to make it to her funeral , the loss of his wife — whom he had married in 1914 — from a heart seizure in 1963 and the death of his youngest child , Joan Franklin , in 1976 due to a heart weakness brought on by stringent dieting in her days as a figure skater . A popular legend claims that before a game , Taylor said that he could score skating backwards , and he did just that . However , Taylor himself long disputed the legend , saying he made the comments as a joke , and his famous " backwards " goal , only involved a brief period of backward skating and the actual goal was scored just like any other . Eric Whitehead ' s book " Cyclone Taylor : A Hockey Legend " says Taylor was a fixture at Vancouver Canucks games from the time the Canucks came into the NHL , sitting in the crowd with his Homberg hat . He was president of the Pacific Coast Hockey League from 1936 to 1940 . Taylor helped start the B . C . Hockey Benevolent Association in the 1950s , and served as a director until his death . After breaking his hip in 1978 , his health went downhill and he died in his sleep in Vancouver on June 9 , 1979 — two weeks short of his 95th birthday . In pregame ceremonies prior to the first game of the 1979 – 80 season , he was honoured by the Canucks and the award for Vancouver Canucks most valuable player was renamed the Cyclone Taylor Award . There is also a chain of popular hockey equipment stores in Greater Vancouver and Edmonton named " Cyclone Taylor Sports " , which were started by Taylor ' s oldest son , Fred Taylor Jr . , in 1957 . A grandson , Mark Taylor , played during five seasons in the National Hockey League with the Philadelphia Flyers , Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals , from 1981 to 1986 . Furthermore , in Ottawa , a street surrounding the Ottawa Senators arena , Scotiabank Place is named after Taylor . Career statistics . Regular season and playoffs . ‡ Taylor played one period in game January 24 , 1912 versus Montreal Wanderers . Taylor ' s rights belonged to Montreal , but he refused to leave Ottawa to join Montreal . The Wanderers protested and the game was ordered replayed without Taylor . Great Grandchildren . Justin Taylor ( BCHL ) Trevor Cox ( WHL - Medicine Hat Tigers ) Matt Cox ( SJHL ) Megan Taylor ( CIS - Western Mustangs ) Tarrah Harvey ( Team Canada - Figure Skating )