Joseph Cattarinch
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Joseph Cattarinich (born November 13, 1881 in Levis, Quebec - December 7, 1938), was a professional hockey player, horse race track entrepreneur and co-owner of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League.
Cattarinich grew up near Quebec City and played hockey and lacrosse as a young man. He is most known as the first goaltender of the professional Le Canadien club which was the forerunner of the Montreal Canadiens.
With longtime partner Léo Dandurand, Cattarinich become prominent in the Montreal tobacco wholesaling business, but it was their popularization of the pari mutuel system at local tracks that provided their greatest commercial success. With the re-introduction of race track betting in the United States after the Great War, the pair, known popularly as "Catta-Léo", extended their activities to tracks in Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis, and further afield.
In 1921, along with Léo Dandurand and Louis Létourneau, Cattarinich purchased the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. Although Dandurand was the active partner during their tenure (Cattarinich was known as "The Silent One" and Létourneau sold out in 1930), the Canadiens won three Stanley Cups with players such as Howie Morenz, Aurel Joliat, and Georges Vezina. After a series of losses (amounting to $40,000 for the 1934-35 season alone), Cattarinich and Dandurand sold the club to a syndicate comprised of J.-Ernest Savard, Maurice Forget, and Louis Gélinas in 1935.
Cattarinich and Dandurand continued their betting business throughout the challenging economic environment of the 1930s. Despite several attempts, they did not succeed in acquiring another NHL club.
Cattarinich died from complications from an eye operation in 1938.
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