Nicknamed "Bad Joe" for his aggressiveness on the ice, he played in the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA) with the Brandon Wheat Cities, Winnipeg Rowing Club and Kenora Thistles between 1902 and 1907, and in the first fully professional league, the International Professional Hockey League (IHL), where he was a teammate of Cyclone Taylor on the Portage Lakes HC during the 1905–06 season. Between 1907 and 1909 he played for the Montreal Shamrocks, Montreal HC and Montreal Wanderers in the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), after having been expelled from the MHA in December 1907 for rough play.