Jack Brannen

John Patrick "Jack, Doctor" Brannen (September 13, 1874 – October 25, 1964) was a Canadian amateur ice hockey player who was active in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Brannen played as a rover, a position between defense and attack, for the Montreal Shamrocks in the AHAC and CAHL between 1896 and 1901. He won two Stanley Cups with the Shamrocks, in 1899 and 1900.^[2][3] Brannen also played with the Shamrocks in a Stanley Cup challenge series in 1901, but the team lost to the Winnipeg Victorias.^[4]

Brannen was born in Kenmore, Ontario in 1874. After his career in ice hockey he moved to northern New York where he worked as a medical doctor, though he occasionally acted as an umpire at hockey games in Montreal.^[5][6] He died in 1964, 90 years old.^[7]

Jack Brannen was noted for his speed, which made him suitable for the free roaming rover position, and occasionally competed in speed skating events. In 1900 he won a 220-yard race in Montreal against some of the best speed skaters in the world, among them Norwegian Peter Sinnerud and American world titleholder Morris Wood.^[8] On the Montreal Shamrocks team Brannen played on a forward line with Harry Trihey, Arthur Farrell and Fred Scanlan, all three of whom later on were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Statistics per SIHR at sihrhockey.org