The Years With Ross: Born in Naughton, Ontario, on a Tuesday of this date in 1885, Art Ross (left) was an elite defender in hockey’s early years, winning two Stanley Cups on the ice before he took up as a referee, coach, manager, and all-around architect of the Boston Bruins. From refining the designs of pucks and nets to rethinking hockey’s rules, Ross was also an untiring innovator throughout his 50-year career in and around the rink. Did anyone do more to shape the game we know today, its rules and techniques and equipment? Well, maybe the man he’s seen talking to here, in a hotel room in 1935: when it comes to hockey influencers, it’s almost impossible to pick between the titanic contributions of Ross and Lester Patrick, another old-time master of defence, the founder (with brother Frank) of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association who coached, managed, and generally shaped the New York Rangers in their earliest incarnation. (Image: Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection)