Lloyd Pollock

Lloyd Thompson Pollock (July 26, 1909 – September 9, 1993) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator and businessman.

After running the Windsor City Hockey League, he assisted in the foundation of the Windsor Softball League, and later started a junior ice hockey league in Windsor, Ontario.

Lloyd Thompson Pollock was born on July 26, 1909, in Pine River, Ontario.

In the early 1930s he became involved with the Windsor City Hockey League and became its secretary-treasurer, and was also involved in the foundation of the Windsor Softball League.

He moved to Windsor in 1933, and began working for the Canadian Pacific Railway as a cashier.

Pollock was involved in establishing a junior ice hockey league for the 1942–43 season in Windsor.

The league competed at the Junior B-level in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), with the ultimate goal of obtaining a Junior A-level team in Windsor.

He was a cofounder of the International Hockey League in 1945, and founder of the original Windsor Spitfires junior team in 1946.

On December 5, 1945, at the Norton Palmer Hotel in Windsor, Pollock was one of the eight attendees of the inaugural meeting which founded the International Hockey League (IHL), which included Jack Adams and Fred Huber both of the Detroit Red Wings.

The league began operations in the 1945–46 season with teams in Windsor and Detroit, and operated as semi-professional league.

Pollock served as general manager of the Windsor Hettche Spitfires in the IHL, which acted as a farm team for the Detroit Red Wings.

Pollock's goal of a Junior A-level team in Windsor was realized in 1946, when he established the original Windsor Spitfires for the 1946–47 OHA season.

He and business partner Jack Dent obtained franchise rights from the OHA for C$500, and purchased uniform for another $100.

The team lost its first game 15-0 to the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, but attracted a crowd of 4,062 spectators at the Windsor Arena.

Pollock served as the team's general manager.

The original Spitfires operated in the OHA from 1946 to 1953, were coached by Jimmy Skinner, and reached the J. Ross Robertson Cup final during the 1947–48 OHA season.

Pollock convinced the Detroit Red Wings to relocate prospect players from the Galt Red Wings to Windsor in 1947.

The team produced several future star players for Detroit, including Glenn Hall, Marcel Pronovost, Earl Reibel, Johnny Wilson, and Glen Skov.

Pollock moved up to provincial level hockey in 1952 and served on the OHA executive committee until 1963.

During this time, he acted as a convenor for OHA and Allan Cup playoffs.

The team was sold in 1953, and relocated to become the Hamilton Tiger Cubs.

During the 1956 Allan Cup tournament, Pollock commented on the rising salaries in hockey.

He felt that players were overpaid and stated that team budgets should correspond to attendance figures and ticket sales.

As an OHA convenor in 1960, he ruled that the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen missed the final playoff berth in the OHA standings based on goals, despite protests by the team which represented Canada in ice hockey at the 1960 Winter Olympics.

He served as president of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1961 to 1963, welcomed the Montreal Junior Canadiens into the OHA when it was divided by the Metro Junior A League, and supported measures to preserve the Northern Ontario Hockey Association.

Pollock was elected president of the OHA in 1961 and served as its leader until 1963.

In 1961, Pollock was faced with the junior teams based in Toronto splitting off into the Metro Junior A League, which left the OHA's junior division with only five teams.

In August that year, Pollock applied to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) to permit the Montreal Junior Canadiens from the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association to play in the OHA as its sixth team.

The request was denied by CAHA president Jack Roxburgh, who stated that CAHA rules do not allow en masse transfers between provincial associations.

Pollock briefly considered operating the OHA outside of the CAHA's jurisdiction but decided against doing so.

The proposal for the Canadiens to play in the OHA's junior division was later approved in September 1961, when the CAHA branch presidents voted in its favour.

An agreement was also reached that saw the OHA junior champion play the Metro Junior A League champion during the Memorial Cup playoffs.

In November 1962, the Metro Junior A League began its second season separated from the OHA.

Pollock stated a continued desire to have only one Junior-A league in Ontario and to reunite the teams under the OHA's jurisdiction.

He also spoke out against players under the age of 16 being asked to move away from home to play hockey.

He served four years as a vice-president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1964 to 1968, and was its president in 1968.

He oversaw international tours between the Canadian and Soviet national teams, and arbitrated disputes in Memorial Cup competition as vice-president.

He served as the CAHA president at a time when the Western Canada Hockey League left the CAHA jurisdiction and joined the rival Canadian Hockey Association over disputes on the age limit of junior players.

He resigned in 1968 for business reasons, and regretted becoming CAHA president at a critical time.

He was inducted into Windsor / Essex County Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.