1923 NHL Toronto St. Pats letters to Edmonton Eskimos GM Ken MacKenzie from Toronto St. Pats Treasurer, Percy Hambly
These are two separate letters sent from NHL Toronto St. Pats Treasurer, Percy Hambly to Ken MacKenzie. Each letter is in regards to different subject matter. The first letter dated October 2, 1923 is pertaining to a discussion the two had regarding potential exhibition games in Toronto and a possible trade or acquisition. Percy Hambly indicates that he is not in favour of the games on the terms previously provided by Ken MacKenzie due to the past lack of success with them. And also that they are not in the market for a forward but could use a defense man.
The second letter is dated May 9th, 1924 and focuses on potential player transactions and brings up such names as (Red) Stuart, (Reg) Noble, (Babe) Dye. Percy Hambly states that he has for sale outright: (Bert) Corbeau, (Amous) Arbor, (Lloyd) Andrews and (Stan) Jackson. He indicates that (Newsy) Lalonde told him that "you were looking for a frenchman and Corbeau is also french".
Both letter heads are magnificent with a team photo of the Stanley Cup Champion Toronto St. Pats from 1922. This is the only such time I have seen a team photo placed in the letter head. The names of all the administrators of the team are placed to the left and right of the photo. They include:
- President: Fred Hambly
- Secretary: Chas. Querrie
- Vice President: Paul Ciceri
- Treasurer: Percy Hambly
It is interesting that the Treasurer, Percy Hambly is handling details of player negotiations and exhibition games with another team. The Society for International Research has Chas. Querrie listed as the "General Manager" while this letter has him as "Secretary".
I would have to guess that these letters are very rare and shine a great light on the St. Pats organization and their correspondence with other professional teams in matters of player movement and other revenue concepts.