Background
Cattarinich grew up in Quebec City and played ice hockey and lacrosse as a young manitoba
Cattarinich grew up in Quebec City and played ice hockey and lacrosse as a young manitoba
Later, he lived in Levis near Quebec City. He is best known as the first goaltender of the professional Montreal Canadiens, then known as "Les Canadiens". He retired after Georges Vézina shut out Cattarinich"s club in a game with Vézina"s amateur Chicoutimi team (The Canadiens had been on a pre-season barnstorming tour to promote the upcoming season of the NHA).
He was so impressed, that he recommended the Canadiens sign Vézina.
And voluntarily stepped down, from his place on the team(In those days, hockey teams carried only one goaltender, as a rule)
With the re-introduction of race track betting in the United States after World War I, the pair, known popularly as "Catta-Léo", extended their activities to racetracks in Chicago, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, New Orleans, and others in Saint Louis and further afield. In 1921, along with Dandurand and Louis Létourneau, Cattarinich purchased the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from the estate of George Kennedy for $11,000.
After a series of losses (amounting to $40,000 for the 1934-1935 season alone), Cattarinich and Dandurand sold the club to a syndicate comprising J. Ernest Savard, Maurice Forget, and Louis Gélinas in 1935 for $165,000. In 1932, Cattarinich, Dandurand, and Letourneau purchased Blue Bonnets Raceway.
A shareholder with Robert South. Eddy, Junior. and others in Arlington Park racetrack in Chicago and Jefferson Park Racetrack in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, in 1934 their group purchased the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans from prominent horseman Edward R. Bradley.
Cattarinich and Dandurand continued their betting business throughout the challenging economic environment of the Great Depression in the 1930s. While recovering from an eye operation, he suffered a heart attack and died on December 7, 1938 in New Orleans. Catarinich is buried in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.
He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, inducted 1977 as a builder.