Tubby Schmalz

Clarence Vincent "Tubby" Schmalz (December 19, 1916 – December 7, 1981) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator.

Schmalz was born on December 19, 1916, in Breslau, Ontario.

He was one of eight children to Charles Schmalz and Alice Rhinehart, in a family of four boys and four girls.

He played hockey as a youth, and was a stick boy for the Preston Riversides.

He played three seasons of junior ice hockey while at school in Kitchener, followed by one season in Brantford.

He graduated from St. Jerome's College then went into his father's hotel business.

The family moved to Walkerton, Ontario in 1939, to establish a hotel business.

Schmalz and his brother Lorne owned and operated the Hartley House hotel.

Schmalz was the head chef at Hartley House, and won several culinary awards.

He later served as president of the Ontario Hotel Sales Management Association.

Schmalz became a hockey coach and a team manager in the 1939–40 season.

He served as vice-president of the Western Ontario Athletic Association from 1940 to 1950, and coached and managed the senior ice hockey team in Walkerton, Ontario.

He served as vice-president of the Western Ontario Athletic Association (WOAA) from 1940 to 1950, which oversaw the WOAA Senior Hockey League.

He and his brother used Hartley House to sponsor an intermediate softball team that won four consecutive Ontario Amateur Softball Association championships in the 1950s.

Schmalz operated an intermediate senior ice hockey team named the Walkerton Capitols during the 1950s.

His team had a local rivalry with the Durham Huskies, and he reportedly sheltered visiting teams in his hotel during inclement weather.

He coached and managed the Walkerton Capitols team that were provincial champions during the 1954–55 season.

He was elected to the Ontario Hockey Association executive (OHA) in 1956, and served as its president from 1969 to 1972.

Schmalz was elected as a director of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) in 1956, and remained with the OHA until 1978.

He used Hartley House as his office for hockey business, and occasionally hosted OHA executive meetings there.

Schmalz was elected to Walkerton Town Council in 1965, then served continuously on the council for 17 years.

He was the deputy reeve for Walkerton from 1965 to 1967, and also represented Walkerton on the Bruce County Council.

He later served as chairman of the town's finance committee, chairman of the recreation and community centres committee, and was elected president of the Chamber of commerce in Walkerton.

Schmalz served as president of the OHA from 1969 to 1972, succeeding Jack Devine.

During the summer in 1970, Junior A hockey leagues in Canada were reorganized into Tier 1 and Tier 2.

Schmalz was instrumental during the changes which saw the Tier 1 division become the OHA Major Junior A Series.

He was the first commissioner of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL), serving from 1974 to 1978.

He brought the OMJHL into the same umbrella organization with junior leagues from Western Canada and Quebec, to establish the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League in 1975.

His career was recognized with life membership in the OHA, and the Order of Merit from the CAHA.

He became vice-chairman of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) in 1979, and was elected its chairman in 1981.

He was a graduate of St. Jerome's College, and operated the Hartley House hotel in Walkerton.

He served on the Walkerton Town Council for 17 years, including three years as reeve from 1979 to 1981.

Schmalz began the practice of referee and coach clinics in the OHA, and assisted in development of the National Coaches Certification Program in Canada.

He was instrumental during junior ice hockey restructuring that saw Ontario's top tier of hockey evolve into the OHA Major Junior A Series and subsequently into the OMJHL.

He implemented a revised player contract to recuperate costs of developing players for professional leagues, and oversaw academic standards which included the league paying tuition for the players' education.

His tenure included multiple lawsuits to defend the interests of junior hockey against the World Hockey Association.

He was elected reeve in 1979, and served until 1981.

He sat on several committees, including the legislative and resolutions committee, the industrial committee, and the planning board.

During this time, he was chairman of Walkerton's business improvement association, and was the town's representative on the Bruce County Council.

He was posthumously made the namesake of the Clarence Schmalz Cup by the OHA in 1982.