Born in Platsville, Ontario in 1904, Albert “Babe” Siebert was one of the outstanding players in the NHL’s early years, playing a vital role on the ice for several clubs before an untimely death robbed him of furthering his years in the game as a coach.

He starred with teams in Zurich and Kitchener, Ontario before joining the Montreal Maroons in 1925-26. He scored 16 goals and spent much of his time feeding the puck to fellow rookie, Nels Stewart, who potted a league-leading 34 goals. When the playoff ended in the spring of 1926, the Maroons took home the Stanley Cup.

The 5’10”, 185-pound left wing had both the size and inclination to play a tough physical game. Often at odds with what the rulebook permitted, Siebert spent considerable time in the penalty box in his early years.

In 1927-28 Montreal acquired right wing, Hooley Smith from the Ottawa Senators and assigned him to complete he line that featured Stewart and Siebert. The Three S Line played as a unit for the next five years and was generally regarded as the top offensive trio in the hockey world.

In 1931-32 Siebert picked up 21 goals, his career high, and the only time he’d get more than 20 in a season. Montreal rewarded his efforts with a change of scenery, trading the star forward to the New York Rangers.

Playing on the second line, Seibert picked up 19 points and earned a second mention on the Stanley Cup when the Rangers went all the way in his first season in Manhattan. Siebert started the following campaign with the Broadway Blueshirts but was shipped to Boston shortly after he schedule began.

Rejoining Nels Stewart who had been traded to the Bruins at about the same time the Maroons dispatched Siebert to New York, the two resumed their productive partnership, spending two years as linemates in Boston. Stewart was dealt to the New York Americans after the 1934-35 campaign and Siebert left town after the following campaign. While in Boston, goaltender, Tiny Thompson, passed the puck to his left wing, who promptly took it up the ice and put it into the enemy net, making Thompson the first NHL goaltender credited with an assist.

While Boston had decided that his best years were behind him, Siebert, who had slowed down a bit proved that he was far from washed up. The veteran forward was picked up by Montreal’s other team and spent he last three years of his career as a valuable member of the Canadiens.

Coach, Cecil Hart, assigned the task of rebuilding a team that had fallen from the upper echelons of the standings in recent years, saw Siebert as a big piece of his solution to Montreal’s woes on the ice. He turned Siebert into a defenceman and also named him team captain the 32-year-old responded by becoming the best blueliner in the NHL. He earned all-star status all three years he played with the bleu, blanc, rouge won the 1937 Hart Trophy, donated by Dr. David Hart, his coach’s dad, and presented to the league’s most valuable player.

When the stars of the NHL gathered in Montreal to play a benefit game for Howie Morenz’s family following his death in 1937, Babe Siebert suited up.

After announcing that he was hanging up his skates following he 1938-39 season, Siebert was immediately announced as the coach for the next year’s edition of the Canadiens.

He never got to run the team. The summer before he was to take over the Habs bench, Babe Siebert drowned in Lake Superior while on a family vacation. He left two children and a widow, paralysed from the wait down since the birth of the couple’s second child a few years earlier.

On October 29th, 1939, 6000 fans attended as NHL All-Stars took on and defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 in a benefit game that raised $15,000 for the Siebert family.

Albert “Babe” Siebert was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1964.