Hammercats: The Hamilton Tigers as they lined up in their final NHL season in 1924-25. From left, manager Percy Thompson, owner Andrew Ross, Charlie Langlois, Red Green, Ed Bouchard, Billy Burch, Vernon Forbes, Mickey Roach, Ken Randall, Alex McKinnon, captain Shorty Green, Jesse Spring.

Ken Randall was born in Kingston, Ontario, on a Wednesday of this date in 1887. He captained Toronto’s very first NHL team, leading his mates to a Stanley Cup championship in 1918. He won another Cup in 1922, by which time the Toronto team had transformed into the St. Patricks. Randall’s next stop was Hamilton: in 1923, he joined the NHL Tigers. He played two seasons in Steeltown, including with the 1924-25 squad pictured here. Randall was 36 that year, and the team was good, finishing first overall at the end of the regular season. While the Tigers were touted as a Stanley Cup contender, it was not to be: after the players went on strike, demanding to be properly paid for the longer season they’d just come through, the team was suspended, the players sold — and that was the end of Hamilton’s big-league team. Along with those of most of the players seen here, Randall’s contract was sold to New York, where he made his next and final stop in the NHL with the fledgling Americans.