Jimmy Orlando was the NHLs toughest player at the start of the 1940s but the bad man was forced out of the league not by injuries from his famous, furious scraps, nor from his habit of clobbering refs and fans, but rather - because the American government accused him of forgery.
Rugged rearguard Jimmy Orlando was at the peak of his hockey prowess when forced to leave the NHL in 1943 due to a bureaucratic snafu that cost the swarthy ruffian his career as an immensely popular and effective Detroit Red Wing defenceman.
James Vinczeno Orlando grew up on the multicultural area of St. Antoine Street at 789 Versailles with three brothers and three sisters to Dominic, who ran a fish and chips shop, and mother Santa Quatrona. Orlando's family understoood his passion for hockey when he wept inconsolably after being asked to stay at the shop one day rather than go play hockey outdoors.
Jimmy also excelled at baseball and boxing, and his older brother Patsy became a lightweight champion of Canada before drowning while camping in the Laurentians in 1929.
Orlando toiled away at Rochester and Springfield where he was voted to the International Hockey League All Star squad, thus catching the eye of Detroit Red Wings coach Jack Adams, who sought young players who'd "wade in regardless of enemy or score."
Adams instructed Orlando to stay back on defense and he praised the results. When Orlando suffered a heel injury in 1939, Adams bemoaned his absence. "he was playing brilliantly on defense for a rookie. If he is out we're going to miss him badly.
World War II began in 1939 and many players were called to military service while others were exempted, sometimes without much explanation. Those included superstar Maurice Richard whose hockey injuries deemed him unfit for combat. Orlando was exempted because his non-hockey machinist job was considered essential to the war effort.
Orlando teamed up with Jack Stewart to form a nasty defense pairing that scared opponents and thrilled Detroit fans. Orlando even got a pass with foes, as his amiable off-ice personality won over enemies. Newspaper reporters and columnists loved Orlando, as his vicious play gave them plenty of material, as noted in the following passage.
Look at Orlando He's trying to take Phil Watson's head off with his stick.
It did look as if Orando was trying to do a bit of work on Watson's head. He had thrust his stick between Watson's teeth and pulled vigorously. Watson went along like a hooked fish but finally opened his mouth wide and broke away. Referee Bill Stewart looked at Orlando sternly.
"Five minutes in the penalty box for hooking and roughing."
Orlando looked crestfallen, "What did I do?
"You put your stick in that man's mouth and pulled. Look at him, he's bleeding now."
"Nuts! He really bit my stick!"
Orlando smiled faintly and settled down to serve his time. He was joined a moment later by Babe Pratt, the Ranger defenseman. Only a minute earlier Orlando had whacked Pratt over the head with his stick and had been boffed back in return. But they greeted each other like friends, not enemies
Orlando led the league in penalty minutes for three consecutive seasons from 1939 to 1942, ousting seven-time penalty champ Red Horner of Toronto. And fans loved him for it. One young Jimmy Orlando fan, when given a free pass to a game, told an usher, "put me near the penalty box, I want to be put somewhere where I can see Jimmy Orlando!"
Orlando, with his luminescent smile and palsy attitude became hugely popular in Detroit. He spent his off-seasons in the Motor City and applied for American citizenship, even promising to run for mayor of Detroit one day. "Give me 15 years and I'll do it," he told a reporter in 1941.
Orlando battled Chicago's Doug Bentley in a game in Chicago in January 1941 and then walloped a spectator who had been heckling coach Adams from a seat behind the bench. Orlando got a nod from Adams and kayoed Blackhawks fan Charles Y. Freeman Jr. the son of the CEO of Commonwealth Edison. NHL commissioner Frank Calder said he'd take no action unless there was a complaint. The Edison CEO said his son was too good a sport to prosecute.The Hawks gave Freeman a pair of season tickets.
Orlando followed up the feat by accidentally hitting a linesman in another fight soon after and was again quickly forgiven. One January 1941 article noted that ""swarthy swatter has pumped plenty of punch and pigment into the once-drab Red Wings. Jimmy’s a hot head and so is firebug Phil Watson, the Ranger. Red hot sparks will fly at the Garden."
Orlando was well-aware that his feuds were filling stands. "In Chicago there's barely room for the players to get in. The crowd's terrific and do I get any of it? not a dime!"
Orlando's likeness became iconic after a photo ran in newspapers showing him on the ice with a gaping head wound, the result of a vicious slash from Toronto's Gaye Stewart on November 7 1942, after Orlando had beaten Stewart in a fight earlier in the game. Orlando bore him no ill will and even rushed to Stewart's aid after his rival fell awkwardly to the ice in a later game.
On 25 November 1942 Orlando was visiting his hometown in Montreal when Sport Fan magazine awarded him its trophy for being the NHL's most popular player. But on the same day RCMP agents met Orlando at the Mount Royal Hotel to question him about details of his military exemption.
Orlando Red Wings, meanwhile, were finally tearing up the league on a season that would end with a Stanley Cup victory but before that, at the end of March 1943 Orlando received devastating news.
US federal authorities charged Orlando with violating the selective service act by failing to notify his board of change of occupation and with falsifying information. A judge freed Orlando on a $2,000 bond to await a grand jury hearing.
Orlando had toiled briefly as a machinist before switching to a less physically-demanding office job and said he planned to continue his work as a machinist at the end of the season.
A handwriting expert concluded that a signature on Orlando's documents had been forged. But Orlando pleaded his innocence and said he had been planning to enlist in the Canadian army at the end of the season. "I'm no draft dodger. I tried to enlist in the US Army last fall but was turned down because I'm Canadian."
Oralndo and his Red Wings swept the Bruins in four straight games but it would be his last stint in the NHL.
Orlando's NHl career spanned 6 seasons in which he scored 6 goals and 25 assists in 199 games with 415 penalty minutes. Orlando narrowly missed playing with legendary Ted Lindsay, who joined the Red Wings the next season and Gordie Howe,who suited up three years later.
The bittersweet 1943 ended as Orlando's mother died in December after a brief illness, aged in her early 50s.
In April 1944 a U.S. court of appeals sentenced Orlando to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine but he had already returned to his hometown of Montreal Canada rather than fight Uncle Sam. Orlando's NHL career was over, as he could no longer enter the United States without being sent to the clink.
Orlando joined the Canadian Army but was sidelined with injuries from a motorcycle accident. In 1945 he returned to hockey with the newly-formed Valleyfield Braves of the 6 team Quebec Senior Hockey league.
The league featured stars like Doug Harvey, Floyd Curry, Punch Imlach, Gerry McNeil, Larry Kwon, Toe Blake and many other future NHl stars. Orlando kept up his rugged style, in one instance causing an opponent to lose a number of teeth.
He moved to the Montreal Royals for a couple of seasons before ending his career with a pair of seasons back with Valleyfield before finally retiring.
Orlando became a nightclub impresario in 1947, as manager and co-owner of Aldo's on Mountain Street, a stone's throw from where the Bell Center hockey arena now sits. Aldo's was a lively place with a mixed crowd that ranged from judges to gangsters.
In 1954 Orlando's name appeared alongside prominent journalists, police officers and politicians on a document seized from the home of gangster Frank Pretula, who listed people he had paid off, mostly in the aim of fixing the Montreal election. The list, only released two decades later, came with a description of Orlando as "a former hockey player loosely connected with crime in the city."
On March 17, 1955 Orlando was attending a game at the Montreal Forum when a fan approached NHL President Clarence Campbell to shake hands. The fan, irritated by a suspension handed out to Habs Str Maurice Rocket Richard, then hit Campbell in his face. Orlando, who had alertly followed the assailant, stopped the attacker as he was attempting to kick him.
A later description claims Orlando hit the assailant so many times that teeth were flying out like chicklets. Campbell declared the game - which the Habs were leading 4-1 - a forfeit, leading to the Rocket Richard Riots.
Montreal newspaper columnists kept the retired Orlando in the news, cheerfully reporting on his charity hockey initiatives, his work as a pro-wrestling referee and they would report it when Orlando shot a moose, hit a hole in one, caught a big fish or took a trip to Mexico.
Orlando was still a partner in Aldo's nightclub when he opened the Champ's Sho Bar on downtown Crescent Street below St Catherine in late 1958. The bar featured comedians, dancers and strip tease acts including the legendary Lili St. Cyr, supposedly the girlfriend of the divorced father of two.
According to gossip columnist-turned publicist Norman Olson, the union was a contrivance, as the bombastic stripper was, in fact, dating married wrestling manager Eddie Quinn and Orlando was merely playing the role of the decoy.
By 1973 both of his bars had closed and Orlando spent his time scouting for the Red Wings.
In his later years Orlando still watched hockey and admired fellow montrealer Mario Lemieux but complained the players were overpaid
Orlando married Doris Quinn - daughter of Eddie Quinn in 1988 and died in his West Island home after a lengthy illness in October 1992. He left a widow and son Ricky and daughter Jamee Carangelo.
The newspaper reporters who had avidly reported on every one of Orlando's activities were largely silent. French language papers failed to note his passing, with one reporter later misidentifying him as a former Montreal Canadien.
Orlando left the legacy of a vicious nice guy who put cuts and bruises as well as smiles on faces.