IMAGE INFORMATION
EditHarold Lawton "Harry Punch" Broadbent - Born July 13, 1892 in Ottawa, Ontario – Died March 5, 1971 in Ottawa, Ontario was an Canadian ice Hockey right winger and coach.
Broadbent started playing junior Hockey for the Ottawa Emmetts in the Ottawa City Hockey League / OCHL for the 1908-09 season, and then played for the Ottawa Seconds and Hull Volants in the 1909-10 season. He joined the Ottawa Cliffsides for the 1910 Interprovincial Amateur Hockey Union / IPAHU playoffs, scoring 1 goal in 3 games played, helping the Cliffsides win the 1910 IPAHU championship.
Broadbent played for the Cliffsides for 1 more season in 1910-11.
Broadbent then joined the Ottawa New Edinburgh Hockey team for the Interprovincial Hockey Union / IPHU 1911-12 season, scoring a league high 20 goals in 10 games, as the the New Edinburgh team went undefeated during the regular season. they also won the 1912 IPHU playoff championship.
Broadbent started his professional career with the Ottawa Senators, then of the National Hockey Association / NHA, and was paired on a line with Jack Darragh, finishing seventh in the NHA in scoring (20 goals) during his rookie year of 1912-13.
Broadbent had a couple of injuries during the 1913-14 NHA season, which slowed his scoring touch (6 goals) in 17 games played. He then finished fourth in NHA scoring the following year with 24 goals. The Senators reached the 1915 Stanley Cup finals against the Vancouver Millionaires in 1915, with Broadbent scoring 3 goals in a losing cause.
Broadbent left the Senators in July, 1915 to join the Canadian Overseas Expedition Force for World War I, serving three years before returning to Canada - Regimental number 89198. He was awarded the Military Medal for his service, given to a soldier "for individual or associated acts of bravery on the recommendation of a Commander-in-Chief in the field."
While the Senators were in the National Hockey Association / NHA before he left, the NHA had folded, and Ottawa was now a member of the newly-formed National Hockey League / NHL. Broadbent resumed his career with the Senators in late 1918, and teaming with forwards Frank Nighbor and Cy Denneny, he starred for the Senators for the next six seasons.
Broadbent had a strong 1919-20 season, scoring 19 goals (6 assists), then helped the Senators win the 1920 Stanley Cup championship.
Though he was a holdout for most of the 1920-21 season, including having his rights transferred to the Hamilton Tigers from Ottawa by the NHL with Sprague Cleghorn on December 30, 1920. Both Broadbent and Cleghorn refused to report. The Hamilton Tigers then tried to trade Broadbent to the Montreal Canadiens for cash on January 4, 1921. He refused to report. Broadbent's rights were returned to the Ottawa Senators by NHL on February 21, 1921, and He came back to help the Senators defend the cup, scoring 2 goals in the playoffs, as Ottawa won the 1921 Stanley Cup championship.
Broadbent then won the NHL scoring title in 1921-22 with 32 goals, 14 assists. He also set a record that season by scoring goals in sixteen consecutive games, eclipsing Joe Malone's previous record of 14. The streak began during a 10-0 rout of the Montreal Canadiens on Christmas Eve and lasted through to a 6-6 tie with Canadiens on February 15. It remains the NHL record.
Broadbent was the right winger on one of Hockey's top forward lines with Frank Nighbor and Cy Denneny. In the 1923 Stanley Cup series versus the Edmonton Eskimos, Broadbent became the star, scoring 6 goals (1 assist) in the playoffs, including the 1923 Stanley Cup championship goal on March 31.
On October 20, 1924, Broadbent and future Hall of Fame goalie Clint Benedict were traded to the expansion Montreal Maroons for cash. Those who felt that Broadbent was past his prime were silenced by his five-goal performance on January 7, 1925 during a 6-2 win over the Hamilton Tigers. In reality, Broadbent and Benedict had been sent to the new club to make the league appear as balanced as possible. Broadbent was the Maroons' leading scorer that first season. In his second season with the Maroons, the team won the 1926 Stanley Cup championship against the Victoria Cougars, with Broadbent at his roughest. He scored 1 goal in each of the 3 series leading to the championship, but also accumulated 36 minutes in penalties, 22 of them in the finals. "Old Elbows" was a force throughout the series that serves as a microcosm of his impact throughout his career.
Broadbent was traded back to the Senators on October 7, 1927, along with $22,500 for Hooley Smith. The reunion lasted only one year as he was sold to the New York Americans on October 15, 1928 for $10,000. The 1928-29 season with New York proved to be his last in the NHL, scoring just 1 goal all season long.
After retiring as a player, Broadbent coached for several years in the Ottawa City Hockey League, winning the championship in 1933 with the Ottawa Rideaus.
Broadbent finished his career with 50 NHA goals and 10 assists in 57 regular season games, 3 goals in 5 NHA playoff games.
In the NHL, he scored 121 goals, 51 assists in 303 regular season games, 13 goals, 7 assists in 31 playoff games.
Harry Punch Broadbent was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.
Harold Lawton ‘Punch’ Broadbent was inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame in 1966.