The football career of Harry Hobbs was a bit of a winding one as he moved between the junior, university and senior ranks in a way you don't see today. Hobbs was a native of Calgary* and played football at Central High School. From there, Hobbs went on to play junior ball with an army cadet team and the West End Tornadoes. The army team, nicknamed the Blizzards won the Albert junior football title in 1943. Hobbs then served two years in the Canadian Navy, playing some footbal there against senior grade players during this time.
With the war over, the WIFU (the future West division of the CFL) started up operatoins again in 1945 after suspending play during the war. 1945 was the first year for the Calgary Stampeders, though there had been various senior teams in the city before the war and going back to the early 1900s. There was no regular season in 1945, only a set of playoffs. The Stampeders defeated the then Regina Roughriders in the West semi-final before losing to Winnipeg in the West Final. Hobbs is credited with throwing the first touchdown pass in Stampeder history, a 60 yard pass and run play to George Alexander in the West final against Winnipeg on November 10,1945. And while he was playing for the Stampeders, Hobbs was still youn enough to play junior ball and aslo played for the West Hill Tornadoes in 1945 as they lost in the final of the Alberta junior football league championship to a team from Edmonton.
In 1946, Hobbs was with the University of Alberta Golden Bears as their training camp opened, but he still played 6 of the 8 games for the Stampeders that season. In 1947, Hobbs played just one game for the Stampeders, spending the rest of the time with the the Golden Bears as they won the Hardy Cup. Hobbs remained with the Golden Bears in 1948, and then played 1949 and 1950 with the Edmonton Eskimos.
Hobbs was not just a star halfback in football, he was also an acccomplished hockey player and track and field athlete. One of Hobb's teamates with the Golden Bears and the Eskimos was Peter Lougheed. Besides being teammates, they were good friends and Hobbs was one of the group of friends who helped propel Loucheed into eventually becoming premier of the province of Alberta.
Harry Hobbs passed away on December 6, 2012.
* It is not clear if he was actually born in Calgary.
Hobbs With West Hill Tornadoes - October 21, 1941
Hobbs Playing With the Army Cadet Bli9zzard Team, Wins Albert Championship - October 25, 1943
Hobbs Star Track Athlete With Navy - August 31, 1944
Hobbs on Roster of Stampeders - October 16, 1945
Hobbs With West End Tornadoes - October 25, 1945
Hobbs in Camp With University of Alberta - September 24, 1946
Hobbs Will Miss Game for Stamps - October 1, 1946
Hobbs with Calgary for West Semi-Finals - October 29, 1946
Hobbs had Slightly Disapointing Season for Golden Bears - November 14, 1947
Hobbs Scores Touchdown as U of Albert Wins Hardy Cup - October 18, 1948
Hobbs Signs With Edmonton Eskimos - May 3, 1950
Calgary Stampeders Mourn Loss of Harry Hobbs
| Year | Team | GP | TC | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | CAL | ||||||||||||
| 1946 | CAL | 6 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| 1947 | CAL | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 1949 | EDM | 14 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 1950 | EDM | 13 | 37 | 118 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 |
Note that in the West, no individual stats were kept prior to 1950 except scoring.
