The Montreal Canadiens have a long and glorious history: 24 Stanley Cups, legendary Hall-of-Famers, and many other shining moments of lore. However, along with all the accolades, there are some more darker passages in their history. Moments not of triumph, but of tragedy that remain part of the organization’s story. There is the story of “Bad” Joe Hall, a feared vicious defenceman, who passed away from pneumonia following an influenza outbreak in 1919 that forced the cancellation of the Stanley Cup Final. The death of superstar Howie Morenz, passing away in hospital from a hemorrhage after breaking his leg in a game in 1937 after a career resurrection upon his return to the Canadiens. And there’s the focus of this article, the tragic drowning of Charles Albert “Babe” Siebert in the summer of 1939, a mere two months after retiring as an active player and being named head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Historical lists show Siebert had coached zero games for the Canadiens as a result, but that does not paint a complete picture of his contribution to the Canadiens coaching staff.
On January 27, 1939, Canadiens manager Cecil Hart stormed into the office of team president Ernest Savard following practice, demanding answers to rumours that Savard was planning to replace him. The team was last in the standings, so it wasn’t illogical that ownership was looking for solutions. What followed was reportedly a prolonged shouting match between the two men which concluded with Hart refusing to quit (he had just signed a new two-year contract over the summer) and Savard placing him on a permanent ‘temporary leave,’ refusing Hart’s demand to be bought out of his contract, mainly because the club’s finances were not strong enough to afford the lump-sum payment.
Savard would temporarily appoint managerial and coaching duties onto Jules Dugal, the team’s long-serving secretary, who was not unfamiliar with the role. In 1922, when Newsy Lalonde fell ill, Dugal ran the club for several weeks. Dugal ran the team again in 1932 when team owner/president/manager/coach Leo Dandurand fell ill, and the team went on a long road trip with Dugal behind the bench. Finally when Lalonde was fired from his second stint as manager in 1934, it was once again Dugal who was handed coaching responsibilities. Despite the familiarity in the role, Dugal initially declared no interest, but accepted if it lasted just a few days at most to allow Savard the time to find a replacement.
As secretary of the Canadiens, Dugal knew the books inside out, prepared the contracts, travelled with the team and made all the travel arrangements, including transportation and player loans. When he looked at the opportunity and realized that the team was much better than its standing indicated, he accepted the role under the condition that Babe Siebert take on more responsibilities as well.
Savard appointed Babe Siebert to aid Dugal as assistant manager and team captain. Under Cecil Hart, the Canadiens did not have a captain, Sylvio Mantha being the most recent, but he retired in 1936. Siebert did command the most respect in the locker room and was the players’ spokesperson with Hart since arriving to the team from Boston in 1936, but never officially held the title. The two men were entrusted with the running of the team while Savard looked around for a permanent replacement.
“Siebert seemed to be pleased when I told him,” explained Dugal in an interview in March, 1939. “What I wanted was someone I could rely on in the players’ camp. How is a coach to know what his players feel, what their desires may be, how they are behaving, what their morale is, unless he has a communicable medium through which these things may come?”
The team was immediately thrust into action, in a home-and-home series against the Chicago Blackhawks, whom they were chasing for the final playoff spot. In Chicago, the Canadiens found success, travelling a day after Dugal’s appointment to defeat the Blackhawks 1-0, when Walter Buswell scored late into the third period on assists by Toe Blake and Johnny Gagnon. The return game was less successful, with the Blackhawks coming to Montreal a day later to win 4-2. Five points separated the two teams, and the Canadiens had 16 games to close the gap, with plans for a permanent manager to be named soon, but that proved very challenging.
Finding a permanent replacement was not obvious for Savard as there was little appetite on the market to take over a badly listing team, and Savard had little time to look. In addition to his responsibilities with the Canadiens, Savard was manager of the Verdun Senior Canadiens, ran an investment firm and a bonds firm, was a member of the Montreal Stock Exchange, had just been elected president of Royal Canadian Golfers Association, and was named chairman of the committee for the Montreal bid to host the 1942 British Empire Games. Time was limited. Savard called around to a few obvious candidates, but New Haven (the Canadiens’ primary farm team) wouldn’t release Pit Lepine from his contract as player/coach, and it was the same situation for Verdun head coach Aurele Joliat, who was enjoying great success in his rookie coaching season but not ready to move up. Savard also looked around externally, asking the New York Americans for Nels Stewart, and the New York Rangers for Frank Boucher or Herb Gardiner. There was no interest. Tommy Gorman, former manager of the now-defunct Montreal Maroons, also showed no interest in returning to coaching, happy in his new role as manager of the Montreal Forum. With no obvious successor, 18 games left in the season, and sitting in last place, Dugal and Siebert were given the mandate to just finish out the season.
Dugal was a very busy businessman beyond his secretary role with the Canadiens which he held for 15 years, notably working as secretary for Blue Bonnets racetracks, owned by former Canadiens owners Leo Dandurand and Joe Cattarinich. It would be Siebert who ran the on-ice drills during practice, while Dugal looked on from the stands when he was available. Practices were intense, lasting nearly two hours, with focus on the power play and general systems. As Siebert tried to get the most out of the players physically, Dugal would try to get the most out of them mentally, having frequent sit-down meetings one-on-one on team train rides, and orating pre-game inspiration before taking his place behind the team bench. While the topic of appointing a permanent manager was still raging, Dugal bluntly said, “If we are to take a new manager from among the playing ranks, why go searching outside of our own organization? Siebert, for instance, would make a great coach.”
The Canadiens competed in a home-and-home set against Toronto, when Siebert provided the offensive spark, scoring three points on the six goals put up by the Canadiens in the two games, despite sustaining a back injury during the second game. Later that week, Siebert played against Boston, unaware of the extent of his back injury. Following a severe check in the first period by a Boston forward, Siebert exited the ice in great pain, not to return. He was diagnosed with torn ligaments on his side and back which would knock him out of action.
The team was befallen by remarkably poor luck health-wise. Herb Cain was stricken by the flu, Des Smith injured his foot, Jimmy Ward was nursing a shoulder, George Mantha fractured his ankle, Walter Buswell had a concussion, and goaltender Wilf Cude had a severe eye injury that required hospitalization. Even President Savard broke an ankle while skiing in Ste-Agathe. The team was running a bare-bones roster of 12 players, the minimum that the league allows. But Jules Dugal refused to throw in the towel, “We are not out of the race yet by any manner of means.” The Canadiens had 12 games left on the schedule, with Chicago and Detroit still to be faced two times. “We can take them all and I hope in spite of injuries we will get three out of four against the Americans and Rangers combined.”
Siebert was hospitalized, unable to play a doubleheader against the Americans, and Buswell and Wilf Cude were playing despite being severely banged up. Cude could not see out of one eye but refused to sit out the games. With Buswell, the initial fear was a fractured skull suffered against Boston, but it was only a concussion after flying headfirst into the boards. He showed up to play despite the doctors ordering him to rest at home. At least he agreed to wear a helmet. With their backs against the wall, the Habs managed to pull out two wins, sweeping the Americans and getting to within two points of the final playoff spot held by the Blackhawks.
The Canadiens would then take three out of four points from the Rangers without Siebert, who mainly sat on the bench or stood next to Dugal for both games encouraging his teammates, unable to get past the pain in his back. Dugal insisted on his presence, telling him, “I want your help running the team.” The points were banked in the standings, and the Canadiens moved into a tie for the final playoff spot.
Siebert returned to action on February 28 when the Canadiens travelled to Boston. He saw action starting in the second period playing on the wing, a less-demanding position that he used to play with the Maroons. He only missed four games, but given the nature of his injury it was obvious that he wasn’t fully recovered and his usage was very limited.
On March 16, Jules Dugal had to suddenly leave for New Orleans as he was named the manager for the estate of the late Joe Cattarinich, who passed away following complications during eye surgery. Cattarinich owned a race track in Louisiana, and Dugal had to attend an annual meeting representing the family interests. So with two games left, and a playoff spot on the line, Siebert took the bench officially for the first time.
Siebert took a few minutes to get used to the role, sitting at the end of the player bench despite trading his skates for a suit. Old habits die hard. As the game progressed, he underwent a metamorphosis, from sitting on the bench to standing behind the players and becoming animated and vocal. Siebert the player took a proverbial seat on this day, and Siebert the coach was born. He had the support of plenty of returning players, like George Mantha, Bill Summerhill, and Stew Evans, who were all back from injury and in the Canadiens’ lineup as the Canadiens clinched a playoff berth with a 5-1 win.
After the game he was congratulated by all of his players and the gathered media on his first win as coach. One of the journalists asked what Siebert attributed his coaching success to. Babe answered dryly, “Well, it’s very deep stuff to go into, boys. But I’ll let you in on the secret. I hang on firmly to that rail at the back of the bench, and drink more water than all the players put together. And now that I’m batting 1.000, I think I’d be smart to abdicate.”
But not only was he not going to abdicate, there was a building sentiment in the organization that Siebert should be given a full appointment for next season. An unnamed Canadiens player gave his thoughts to the Gazette following the game: “Babe directed us without a flaw in action, and made his line changes perfectly. Before the game, he gave us a nice little talk, and then between periods he checked us up on errors, and gave us some good technical advice and information.”
Siebert continued to coach for the final game of the season, when the Canadiens travelled once again to Boston to take on the powerful Bruins. The Canadiens showed tremendous composure, overcoming a 3-0 deficit after the first period to send the game to overtime tied at five. Two quick goals in the extra period (back then overtime was not played under sudden death rules) by Boston gave the home team a 7-5 win, and Siebert tasted defeat for the first time.
The Canadiens were paired up against the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs, and Dugal was back just in time for the first game. Siebert dressed, but only skated slightly in the first period and did not return to the ice, still suffering from his back injury. The Canadiens won the first game 2-0, and Siebert remained on the bench, in frequent discussion with Dugal. Siebert saw limited action for the rest of the series, missing the second game and doing his best to help the Canadiens in the third decisive game, jumping on the ice late in the third to try to spark the team, but the Canadiens came up short and the season came to an end, along with what many suspected was the end of Siebert’s playing days.
In early June, Ernest Savard announced that Siebert had signed a one-year contract to become the full-time head coach of the Canadiens, retiring in the process, and that Dugal would be the team’s business manager for the 1939-40 season. As the story goes, Savard was going through many application letters, and he asked Siebert to write a letter as well. “Tell me in your letter just how you would go about restructuring the team. In your own words, put down what you think of our problem and what you would do if given the chance.” Siebert’s letter impressed Savard, who judged it head-and-shoulders better than all other applicants.
“I had to quit sometime and it might as well be now,” said Siebert. “I like the idea of continuing on in hockey as a coach and I think that the team will make good. We’ll have a fighting club, you can be sure of that.”
In his first official act as coach, Siebert attended the NHL meeting in New York, where he, Dugal, and Savard were hoping to make some personnel moves to bolster the lineup for the new season. Siebert’s vision for the team was to be more of a hard-hitting Maroons-style team rather than a small, speedy, skill team. He wanted his Canadiens to be very difficult to play against, in his image, and in this spirit the Canadiens acquired Ray Getliffe from the Bruins, the first personnel movement of the Siebert era. Despite this, in his final words to the press, the Waterloo Region Record on August 23, Siebert said that few other changes would be coming to the core of the lineup.
Siebert drowned in Lake Huron on August 25 while vacationing with his family. He swam out after one of his daughter’s floats and got into trouble and began calling for help. By the time someone swam out to him, Siebert had gone under. Ultimately the back injury that ended his season and his career may also have been the underlying cause for him getting into difficulty while swimming. He was 34 years old.
“The greatest ambition of any professional hockey player is one day to become either coach or manager of a club,” eulogized Reverend H. A. Kellerman at the funeral in Kitchener. “We congratulate the City of Montreal and the Canadien hockey team on choosing the one we honour today to coach the Canadiens during the coming season. We have confidence that if by the kind providence of God he had been able to carry out his duties as coach, he would have filled his place well.”
