Didier Pitre Looked Splendid Anyway

Didier Pitre, nicknamed “Cannonball,” was a huge, gentlemanly player who played defence, rover, and forward, and was the first Montreal Canadien player signed in 1909 in the National Hockey Association. Pitre’s career ended in 1923 with the newer NHL, which had formed in 1917.  He skated for awhile on a line with his old friend Jack Laviolette, who had assembled the team in the first place, and another original, Newsy Lalonde

This great photo is from the recent Sports Illustrated special edition, “The Canadiens Century” and it seems there was a slight difference back then when it came to the uniform budget. Regardless, the big fellow looked like a million bucks.