Barney Holden

Bernard "Barney" Holden (March 21, 1881 – October 27, 1948) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 146 games in various professional and amateur leagues, including the National Hockey Association and International Professional Hockey League. Amongst the teams he played with were the Montreal Shamrocks and Quebec Bulldogs.

He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Career

Barney Holden started out his amateur ice hockey career in his hometown of Winnipeg, playing for the CPR and Shamrocks teams in the local amateur leagues between 1901 and 1903.

In 1904, he became one of the first professional ice hockey players in history, playing with the Portage Lakes Hockey Club in Houghton, Michigan, in the IPHL. He scored the first goal in the first game of the first professional hockey league game on December 9, 1904, in the Pittsburgh Duquesne Garden. Holden won two IPHL championships with the Portage Lakes Hockey Club, in 1905–06 and 1906–07. The 1905–06 team included four future Hockey Hall of Fame members in Riley Hern, Joe Hall, Bruce Stuart and Cyclone Taylor.

In 1907, Holden moved back to Winnipeg to play for the Maple Leafs aggregation, and in March 1908 the team challenged the Montreal Wanderers for the Stanley Cup, losing 8–20 (5–11, 3–9) over two games on March 10 and 12.

For the 1909–1910 season, he moved to Montreal to play for the Montreal Shamrocks in the CHA and the NHA.

Personal life After his playing career, Holden settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he worked for the Rat Portage Lumber Company.

He died in Burnaby, British Columbia and is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.

Statistics Holden, second from left in the top row, with the 1905–06 Portage Lakes Hockey Club. Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1904–05 Portage Lakes Hockey Club IPHL 24 9 0 9 47 – – – – – 1905–06 Portage Lakes Hockey Club IPHL 20 9 0 9 31 – – – – – 1906–07 Portage Lakes Hockey Club IPHL 20 4 3 7 35 – – – – – Winnipeg Strathconas MHL 1 1 0 1 – – – – – – 1907–08 Winnipeg Maple Leafs MHL 15 4 0 4 – – – – – – Stanley Cup – – – – – 2 0 0 0 2 Exh. 3 0 – 0 – – – – – – 1908–09 Winnipeg Maple Leafs MHL 9 3 4 7 9 2 1 0 1 0 1909–10 Montreal Shamrocks CHA 3 1 0 1 – – – – – – 1910 Montreal Shamrocks NHA 12 5 0 5 23 – – – – – 1910–11 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 16 4 0 4 40 – – – – – 1911–12 Saskatoon Wholesalers SPHL 7 6 0 6 – – – – – – Stanley Cup – – – – – 1 0 0 0 12 IPHL totals 64 22 3 25 113 – – – – – NHA totals 28 9 0 9 63 – – – – – Stanley Cup totals – – – – – 3 0 0 0 14