Powers was born in Elora, Ontario on September 11, 1888. From the age of 16, Powers played senior lacrosse. He played with Victoria and Nelson in British Columbia. He returned east and started coaching lacrosse. He was coach of the 1926 Mann Cup championship team Weston Westonmen. Powers' ice hockey coaching career began when he was employed as a youth with the Eaton's department store chain, coaching the store's own team. Powers moved on to coaching amateur teams. In 1919–20, he coached Toronto Parkdale's senior team. In 1920–21, he coached the Port Colborne intermediate team. He coached the Westminster Ice Hockey Club in Boston in 1921-1922 and led them to the US Championship. In fall 1922, the University of Pennsylvania recruited Powers to coach its hockey and lacrosse teams. He took the job and coached the teams for two years, through the 1923-1924 season. Financial troubles at the university led Penn to disband the team, but Powers was offered his first job as a professional ice hockey coach, joining the Toronto St. Patricks for the 1924-1925 season. In 1926, Powers moved to Boston to coach the new Boston Tigers team. He coached in Boston for six seasons, winning the CAHL championship in 1929. Powers coached the New Haven Eagles in 1932–33 before moving to the Syracuse Stars organization. He coached the Stars from 1934 until 1939, winning the IAHL championship in 1937. He then joined the Toronto Maple Leafs organization where he was the assistant coach in 1940–41 and during the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals. He returned to head coaching in the 1942–1943 season for the New Haven Eagles. Powers' death coincided with the suspension of the Eagles by the AHL. Powers' health was poor but he travelled to a road game with the club on January 16 in Washington. On January 17, 1943 the day of the final game for the Eagles, Powers went out to buy a newspaper, and collapsed of a cerebral hemorrhage in New Haven, Connecticut. He died an hour later. The final game went ahead as scheduled and the Eagles won the game 9–4 over the Providence Reds after a minute of silence for Powers. As scheduled, the team was disbanded by the American Hockey League the next day. At the time of his death, Powers had been considering a coaching job in the Quebec Senior Hockey League offered by T. P. Gorman, who knew him from his youth, playing against him in lacrosse. Coaches Hap Day of the Maple Leafs and Dick Irvin of the Montreal Canadiens both praised Powers as a "fine fellow", "a real gentleman" and "a great hockey player."
Powers was born in Elora, Ontario and moved to Toronto as a youth. Powers married Pearl Dennahower and was the father of one daughter and five sons,, whom were in the RCAF at the time of his death. Powers was interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Toronto. Powers was also a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs and head of their farm system during his career.
