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Home > Hockey > Hockey Hall of Famers > Harry L. (Punch) Broadbent
Harry L. (Punch) Broadbent
A multidimensional star, Harry Punch Broadbent was born on the 13th of July 1892 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and died on the 6th of March 1971. Many considered Broadbent to be one of the first true power forwards of the game. Broadbent was inducted to the NHL Hall of Fame in 1962.
A star in the Ottawa city league with the Cliffsides and the New Edinburghs, Broadbent became a local hero at an early age. In 1912 he joined the Ottawa Senators on a part-time basis when they played in the National Hockey Association.
Broadbent scored an incredible 24 goals in only 20 matches in 1914-15. That year he was part of an Ottawa expedition that traveled to Vancouver for an unsuccessful Stanley Cup challenge against the Millionaires. In 1918-19, the Senators they were playing in the newly formed National Hockey League. Broadbent, who had just returned from World War 1, scored 19 goals in 21 games during the 1919-20 season but enjoyed his greatest success two years later. In 1921-22, he scored 32 goals in the 24-game schedule. Included in this run of good fortune was an NHL record of 16 consecutive games with at least one goal, eclipsing Joe Malone's previous record of 14.. In addition to goal-scoring skills and toughness, Broadbent possessed superior backchecking. This last quality helped the Senators play smothering defensive hockey when protecting a lead.
His offensive wizardry and robust style of play contributed significantly to the Senators' three Stanley Cup wins in 1920, 1921 and 1923. He was the right winger on one of hockey's top forward lines. Prior to the 1924-25 season, Broadbent and future Hall of Fame goalie Clint Benedict were traded to the expansion Montreal Maroons in a blockbuster deal. 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.
The Montrealers won the Stanley Cup in 1925-26 with Broadbent at his roughest. He scored two goals in eight post-season matches but also accumulated 36 minutes in penalties. Old Elbows was a force throughout the series that serves as a microcosm of his impact throughout his career.
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