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Date of Birth: 1898
Place of Birth: St. John’s, Nfld.
Inducted: 1998 (Player Category)

Harry (Moose) Watson was captain of the Canadian team that won the gold medal at the 1924 Winter Olympics in France. The very talented Watson led the Canadians, scoring 36 goals in five games, a record that still stands. He had three goals in the title game that Canada won 6-1 over the United States and, in a 30-0 sweep over Czechoslovakia, he scored 13 times. The Canadians were by far the top team with 110 goals for and only three against. The gold-medal club functioned with only nine players, thus using each for 40 or more minutes per game.

In addition to his Olympic success, Watson was a key member of the Toronto Granite hockey club that was one of the finest teams of its era. With Watson as the team leader and top scorer, the Granite team won the Ontario senior hockey championship and the Allan Cup, as Canada’s best amateur team, in 1922 and 1923.

Watson, who moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba with his parents in 1913, continued his hockey there. He started his career on frozen ponds around St. John’s and expanded his skills greatly when his family moved to Toronto. Described as “star and goal-getter … head and shoulders above all others” by Toronto sports writers, Watson established himself as one of the best amateur players in Canada. He was offered a contract to play in the then seven-year-old National Hockey League by the Toronto St. Pat’s and the Montreal Maroons. He declined both, going on to enjoy an extremely successful career in the Ontario insurance field.

Watson was inducted into the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.