April 6, 1926 was a day of decisive endings on the ice and wobbly, yet enthralling beginnings in the air. The entity in the latter event would later have an indirect connection with an NHL team established the same year.
On the day in question, the NHL’s Montreal Maroons captured the Stanley Cup with a 2-0 shutout in Game 4. The in-house rivals of the Canadiens were capping only its second year of operation at the time. While they would last only 14 seasons, the Maroons would appear in two more finals and win one more Cup.
In claiming their first title, they thwarted the last bid by a non-NHL team for hockey’s No. 1 trophy. With their 3-1 loss in the best-of-five final, the Western League’s Victoria Cougars fell short of a repeat title. After the 1925-26 season, the WHL folded, leaving only NHL teams to compete for the Cup.
While the last interleague Stanley Cup saga was finished, April 6, 1926 saw the advent of a future in business-oriented air travel. Varney Airlines formed in Boise, Idaho. A precursor to United, Varney began on an inauspicious day with an ambitious first flight.
Walter T. Varney, an aviation pioneer, operated a flying school near San Francisco. At that time, the U.S. government was looking for airmail routes. Rather than select a popular route from Seattle to Los Angeles or San Francisco to Chicago, Varney opted for smaller connections in Washington State and Nevada.
The day of the revolutionary flight began early and with no shortage of pomp. According to United’s history page, “The day-long jubilee included a baseball game, a golf tournament and over-flights by National Guard planes. At 11:00 am the formal part of the celebration began and a granite slab commemorating the beginning of Air Mail service was erected at the airport.”
The weather and the challenging terrain, coupled with aircraft problems and an accident that sent two pilots to the hospital, nearly derailed the entire flight. But Leon “Lee” Cuddeback delivered nearly 10,000 pieces of mail that combined to weigh 207 pounds. Upon arrival, a train sent the mail to Salt Lake City and Chicago.
In all, it took 47 hours to deliver a letter from Seattle to New York City.
Four years later, the United Aircraft Transport Corporation absorbed Varney and three other airmail companies, forming United Airlines. And nearly seven decades after Varney first took flight, its descendent brand became the title sponsor of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks new home arena. By coincidence, the Blackhawks were established as a franchise the same year as Varney.
Elsewhere on April 6, 1926, comic-book artist Gil Kane was born in Latvia. Kane, whose real name was Eli Katz, was raised in New York City, and grew up an avid comic reader. Through this passion, he went on to work with famed comic authors Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.
Kane drew art of various styles and genres, ranging from Western to science fiction. His real passion, however, was for superheroes. Kane reprised such classic characters as the Green Lantern and The Atom for DC Comics. He also worked for Marvel, playing a role in some key Spider-Man arcs.
As one of his original characters, Kane co-created Iron Fist with Roy Thomas in the mid-’70s. Present-day fans will recognize Iron Fist from the eponymous Netflix show, which premiered in 2017, 17 years after Kane’s death.
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