Frank Nighbor first played professionally for the Port Arthur Bearcats of the Northern Ontario Hockey League in 1911. Fellow Pembroke native Harry Cameron was invited to play for Port Arthur but refused to go without Nighbor. The club agreed to bring Nighbor along, but they left him on the bench until injuries gave him an opportunity to play. He made the most of his opportunity by registering six goals in his first appearance. In 1912, he joined the new Toronto Blueshirts of the NHA where he scored 25 goals in 18 games. He only played the one season in Toronto, jumping to Vancouver of the PCHA the following season for two seasons, and was an important member of the Millionaires team which won the Stanley Cup over the Ottawa Senators in 1915. He returned east after the Stanley Cup series and joined the Senators, whom he would play for until 1930, an important part of the dynasty of the 1920s winning four more cups in 1920, 1921, 1923, and 1927. He had his best season in 1916–17, scoring 41 goals in 19 games, finishing tied for the league lead with Joe Malone. In 1919–20 he scored 26 goals and 15 assists in just 23 games, then had a further 6 goals in 5 playoff games and led the Senators to their first Cup in the NHL. Nighbor would win the Stanley Cup again with Ottawa in 1921, 1923, and 1927. Late in the 1925 season, Lady Byng, wife of the Governor-General of Canada and an avid Senators fan, invited Nighbor to Rideau Hall after a game. She showed Nighbor an ornate trophy and asked him if he thought the NHL would accept it as an award for its most gentlemanly player. Nighbor said he thought it would be a good idea—and to his surprise, Lady Byng presented him the trophy on the spot, making him the first winner of the Lady Byng Trophy. A year earlier, he had been the first winner of the Hart Trophy. In 1929–30, Nighbor was traded to Toronto, as part of the fire sale of the failing Senators, for Danny Cox and cash. He played 22 games for the Maple Leafs and retired in the off-season.
Playing style
Nighbor was considered a master of the "sweep check," the act of laying the stick down flat on the ice and moving it in wide, circular motions, as well as the "poke check", an almost entirely different action, taking the puck off the opponent's stick. He was skilled and crafty with the puck and a good scorer. He impressed with his sportsmanship, inspiring Lady Byng to donate the Lady Byng Trophy in his honour to the "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability." and she presented it personally to him. In a 1960 interview with Bill Westwick of the Ottawa Journal Nighbor claimed he had learned his famous poke checking technique from watching Port Arthur teammate Jack Walker, denying a claim from Jack Adams that he must have learned it from watching Fort William player Joel Rochon.
