The hockey puck is one of the most recognizable symbols of hockey. It is round and flat and has been used in the sport since its invention at the end of the nineteenth century.
But who invented the hockey puck? Was Bill Lindstrom of the New York Americans really the one who came up with the idea? And what was the process of creation like?
The answers to these questions are linked, and they all revolve around a businessman by the name of Charles Magnuson. To understand how and when the hockey puck was invented, it is first necessary to know a little bit about Charles Magnuson and his connections to the sport.
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A Businessman With NHL Connections
Charles Magnuson began his career in the 1800s as a fur trader in Canada. In 1872, he moved to the United States and founded a trading company in New York City. Later, he became involved in real estate and built himself a large fortune.
One of his real estate ventures was on Ward’s Island in Long Island Sound. He bought a lot of land and developed it into a large resort, popularly known as Ward’s Island during the late 1800s and early 1900s. He named the island after himself, and the hockey rink that he constructed on the property remains there to this day.
In 1899, the governor of New York, at the time, Theodore Roosevelt encouraged the development of ice hockey in the state. In 1902, Thomas Hedden founded the New York Rangers, the very first professional hockey team in the nation. He got his start in hockey by building a pond on Roosevelt’s orders and practicing with a local high school team. Hedden began to play for the Rangers in the now-defunct American Association, and after the 1907 season, he convinced Magnuson to become the team’s principal owner.
The American Association became the National Hockey League in the following year, and the New York Rangers became the New York Americans. For the next four seasons, the Americans remained competitive, even making the quarterfinals of the league once. However, other teams began to outproduce them financially, and as a result, the Americans decided to cut back on their hockey operations. They sold their assets to the Montreal team, the Tigers, in 1912 for $20,000. In addition to owning the Rangers, Magnuson now also owned the Detroit Tigers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Chicago White Sox, and the Boston Red Sox. He effectively controlled the American League.
A Hockey Rink On Roosevelt’s Island
To support his team, Magnuson invested in many different ventures. In addition to real estate, he became heavily invested in livestock and crop shares. He also owned a gold mine in Canada. But it was the construction of the hockey rink on Roosevelt’s Island that proved to be most profitable.
The team had to build a road to the island from their training facility in Uniondale, and the contractor requested a $5,000 bonus for completing the task in less than a month. On November 23, 1906, the New York Times published an article chronicling the construction of the ice rink and how it was nearing completion. The team held their first practice on the new rink on Thanksgiving Day that year. The next season, they drew a crowd of 20,000 people, making it the most popular sporting event of the year in New York City. The rink remained in use until 1932.
While the New York Americans were busy enjoying their peak earning years, the great flu pandemic of 1918 knocked the game of hockey back a few years. The league stopped operating for a year, and there were only 16 teams on the ice, down from the typical 32. Many star players simply couldn’t afford to play, and those that could only played for charity or in empty arenas.
A Businessman With A Vision
Magnuson recognized the importance of hockey to the community, and he wanted to ensure that it continued to be played in New York. He invested heavily in education and research to develop a puck that was both superior to and separable from the one that existed prior to 1914. He also hired a team of scientists to help him develop a better puck.
But before the scientists got too far ahead of themselves, Charles Magnuson passed away in 1936. He had never married, and he had no children. So, with his death, the quest to develop a superior hockey puck came to an end.
His estate was valued at $41 million, making him one of the richest men in the world at the time of his death. Over 40% of this estate, valued at over $23 million, was attributed to the creation of the hockey puck. His passing inspired the composer of Ice Cream Shop, Jerry Livingston, to write a song about him, called ‘Who Invented the Hockey Puck?’ Jerry Livingston’s song recounts the story of Charles Magnuson and his quest to invent the better mousetrap.
The Legacy Of The Hockey Puck
The hockey puck that we know and love today was invented by a man named Charles Magnuson. He was born in Scotland and moved to Canada at a young age. He began his career as a fur trader and then moved on to become one of the wealthiest men in North America. He invested in many different businesses, becoming one of the most successful real estate developers of his time. And it was the quest to invent the better hockey puck that defined his life and work.
There were many other contributors to the invention of the hockey puck. Most notably, Norwegian student Oskar Örnefors, a contemporary of Charles Magnuson’s, invented a flat, hard rubber ball that he called the “Spar ball.” However, Örnefors never made a profit from his invention, and it was another 15 years before the first practical uses of the Spar ball were found. In 1938, Örnefors and several other students enrolled at the Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, founded the Spar Corporation. The company mass-produced the Spar ball in Norway until the end of World War II, when the founder died. The company then relocated to Canada and continued manufacturing and marketing the product there until 1969, when it was bought out by a company from England and renamed “Tiger Balm.”
Although the Tiger Balm company stopped making the Spar ball in 1969, the original design lives on. In 2018, the company that now owns the ball trademarked a new version of the design, calling it the “Spar X2.” This new version is more aerodynamic than its predecessor, and it can fly further. For those interested in the history of the Spar ball, this new version is an upgrade.
A Funeral And A Memorial Service
In addition to his estate, Charles Magnuson left a legacy that continues to inspire people to this day. He died on March 11, 1936, from a heart attack. His funeral was held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on March 17, and it was a great celebration of life, honoring a man who helped create an international social experience through hockey.
After his death, the inventor’s last request was that his body be cremated and that his ashes be scattered at sea. So, on August 15, 1936, his ashes were scattered at sea off the coast of Canada. In keeping with his last request, the Nova Scotia Aquarium named a type of fish after him, the “Magnuson Fish,” and there is also a crater on the far side of the moon, the “Charles Magnuson”, that is named after him. To this day, the inventor’s estate is worth over $41 million, making him one of the wealthiest men in history.