HOCKEY RULES ... not The Rules

Preface

It's 2024 and I'm 77 years old.

I’ve got lots of hockey in my head ...

My wife used to say, "hockey rules" and I don't think she meant that as a positive exclamation. But, we have both come to understand the importance of staying active. Mine is hockey ... I don't play golf or tennis and I stopped running 35 miles a week several years ago when my knees started to ache.

When I retired 19 years ago, I started to play more than 200 games of organized shinny hockey a year -- every week from Monday to Friday, in Toronto and Florida unless we're booked on a cruise boat, which happens occasionally. I bought identical equipment for each location so I didn't have to get re-acquainted with the stuff when I moved from place to place.

The following story started out as an essay about my hockey playing.

While writing it, one name led to or reminded me of another and my essay morphed into this "book".

If you can spare the time to read it, I hope some of my recollections remind you of times in your own hockey life and reconnect you with some of my hockey characters that you haven’t thought about for a while.

I’m going to spend a lot of time name-dropping. That’s what this is about so I offer no excuses. I’ve even highlighted the names so you’ll know when I’m doing it.

A friend recently sent me a note regarding my hockey exploits and said, "you've played with everybody". That may be close to the truth but if I don't mention your name, I apologize.

I’ve added some context and back-story in hopes that some of my characters come to life for you. The following could be a time investment on your part so I’ve tried to make it worth the effort and fun. 

I played weekly shinny with the outstanding "French Connection" winger Rene Robert for 3-4 years. In the middle of a game, Rene left the ice.
I followed him to the dressing room thinking he may have injured himself.
I opened the door and saw him sitting with his head in his hands. When I asked "are you ok?" he looked up and said, "I hate this game". He got showered, dressed, and never came back.

One day, it won't be tomorrow but one day, I may have a Rene-moment
and admit that I've had enough. 

So, what you're about to read is my lifelong hockey journey, so far.

Wanna come along as I retrace my steps?

                "Hockey Rules"

In the beginning … I strapped on a pair of skates for the first time in 1951 on the natural ice surface in Toronto’s Dufferin park (across the street from Dufferin Thoroughbred Race Track which was demolished in 1955 to become Dufferin Plaza).

My sister’s boyfriend was my teacher. 

I have no memory of why I was motivated to skate. With the exception of another sister, nobody in my large family was an athlete or had any interest in sports.

You may know, a natural ice rink needs only one thing - ice-cold temperatures.

So, the conditions were perfect. it’s was bitter cold, I fell down a lot, my ankles ached, my clothes were soaking wet from falling but I persisted. Maybe learning to skate is a Canadian thing or maybe it was just in my DNA. About a year later, when I went to the rink I somehow, magically, skated up-right - no more ankle bending. 

Look ma! … I can do it!

Incidentally, my sister married my skating teacher, he’s 87 years old now and we both continue to cheer for the Leafs.

By 1956, I joined my first little league, community-team coached by an 18-year-old postman named Ron Finn.


A few years after coaching me, he joined the NHL as a linesman and officiated 2,400 games. As a coach, Ron offered a rule for the ages ... "don't sit on the bench with your stick blade pointing up ... in case it catches another player who's attempting to jump over the boards" ... funny what you remember. 

In the mid-1950s, I attended grammar school at Toronto's De La Salle Oaklands. Although the school was known for its football program, with 3 or 4 students making it to the pro ranks, they built an artificial hockey rink on school property. 

A school with its own hockey rink - it had to be a first. It was so unique that Sports Illustrated magazine ran a feature on it and, in 2019, it's still there - named after my grade 8 teacher, Brother Arthur. If you got to school early, you could play shinny on the rink until classes started. It helped to get me out of bed early every day in winter.
  
Several years later, another student did the same thing and became a pretty good goalie for the school team. Later, he'd become an actor, Keanu Reeves.

At 11 years old, I joined the local church league. The games were played on an artificial outdoor rink at the same Dufferin Park where I learned to skate. The ref, who earned .75 cents per game was a huge 20-year old guy named John D’Aimico. I did a few things in that game that caught his attention and he penalized me 4 times. Not a good thing on my part. I remember it was one of those below zero, snowy, February nights.

A very short six years removed from Catholic Youth Organization hockey, D’Aimico would also be in the NHL.

Only a few games into his first pro season, he would lose most of his black wavy hair due to the stress of the job and he shifted to a linesman for 1,689 regular-season games and 52 Stanley Cup finals.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993 along with Steve Shutt, Guy LaPointe, and Billy Smith. I went to the induction ceremony hoping to spend a minute with John.

At the end of the evening, as the Hall was emptying, I went to the lower level display area. In one of the corridors, all by himself, was a newly elected honoured member, John D’Amico, examining a Bobby Hull display. I stepped up and introduced myself as a kid he'd disciplined 37 years before. He listened intently to my story and then gave me one of those D'Amico bear hugs he once used on unruly Flyers players.

When he discovered I, like him, was a Del-boy, he invited me to join him for a beer. What a fabulous hockey night.

As an eleven-year-old, I was a scrawny 4' 11". 

Till then, I'd learned everything about hockey from watching Hockey Night in Canada and from my sister who was 7 years older than me and could skate circles around anybody I played with. She was a gifted stick handler (and baseball player). 

However, I wanted to test my ability against the teenagers who'd created an
8 am Saturday morning game at Dovercourt park natural ice rink. It was a special treat to play with older players, especially these players - four of them played for St. Mike’s. They taught me the importance of passing ("if you can't pass ... you can't play” was their golden rule and they taught me the puck moves much faster with a pass than you can skate).

I guess I was coachable because they allowed me to play with them every week.

Although the game started early on Saturdays, I never made it home till dinnertime - frozen feet, hungry and exhausted and ready for the Leafs on TV at 8:30. If the Leafs won, it topped off a great day of hockey and I slept like a baby.

At the time, when playing hockey with anyone or ball hockey on the street, I was Carl Brewer. Dave Keon told me he was his cousin, Tod Sloan. Johnny Bower told me he was Frank Brimsek and Ted Lindsay told me he was Jimmy Orlando. Not surprisingly, Henri Richard was The Rocket.

"Wire"

Shortly after, I joined my first real team at Varsity Arena.  In the middle of the game, I said to the guy next to me, "what's the name of our team"? He said, "The Jets". 

Years later, at North Toronto Arena with our regular noon-hour team, we had former WHA Toronto Toros team captain, Gavin Kirk, join us. Following our game, he asked me "did you play anywhere"? Ya, I said ... my last team was The Jets. You mean The Winnipeg Jets, he said ... no, just the Jets. I'll re-visit my time at North Toronto Arena a little later in this piece

My birthdate is November. For my 1958 edition of the event, I was gifted with a pair of Grey seat tickets to watch the Leafs and had the opportunity to invite a guest from school to join me. I invited my friend and off we went to MLG. For some reason, my Leaf-fan friend didn’t seem to be into the game. He was very quiet throughout. When we got back to school, he admitted he’d never sat that far away from the players before. His father was one of The Silver Seven - what they called the Maple Leaf Gardens Directors. 

That kid’s season tickets were a little closer to the ice.

Every trip for a game at Maple Leaf Gardens was special. The building was magic. The smell of the place. The colour of the lines on the ice. Coke came in wax cups and the wax would come off in your teeth - the hot dogs tasted like they’d been left in a warm room the night before and the Cracker Jacks were stale.

To me, everything was delicious. 

The pre-game sound of the Gardens wall-filling organ always sent a charge through the crowd. But, nothing caught my attention more than the Leaf stick boy. 

Who was he? How’d he get that job? Did he travel with the team when they went on the road? Did he spend time with the players? Oh, if only I could have that job - even just one game.

I never got the job.

But, in the 1980s the Leaf trainer hired my son, Sean, as the team stick boy. He had the job for three years. Don’t ask how it came about … that story is a book all by itself. Actually, he was also the stick boy for the visiting team on some nights. As a 15-year old, he had unlimited access to chewing tobacco, which I'll explain later. When the Red Wings were in town, he became chew supplier to Joey Kocur, Wendel Clarks' cousin. imagine chewing tobacco while playing NHL hockey? 

Of all the Detroit players in the past 50 years, Ted Lindsay told me that
Joey Kocur was his favourite Red Wing.

Incidentally, former Leaf captain Clark had another cousin who made it with him to the NHL. He played for the Leafs, coached Gretzky in LA, and saved Steve Stamkos's life in his first NHL season by putting his 165 lbs in the press box for his own safety.  That decision cost Barry Melrose his coaching job in Tampa. The following summer, Stamkos went to Garry Roberts gym, put on 25 lbs of muscle and soon after won the league scoring title - I wonder if he ever thanked Melrose?

My son was the senior team quarterback at Philip Pocock high school in Mississauga in the 1980s while working his stick-boy job. He succeeded John Tavares. No, not the Maple Leaf but his uncle with the same name who was the Gretzky of Professional Lacrosse - you absolutely have to look at this guy's resume on Google.

I told Sean before he started his first Leaf game … “whatever you see or hear in that dressing room, stays in that dressing room”. I’d picked Sean up after every game and I was always quick to ask a question about what went on during the night.  Our drives home were always very quiet.

As a kid, I’d be glued to TV’s channel 6 CBLT on Saturday night to watch the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada in black and white with Foster Hewitt calling the games and Ward Cornell doing the intermission interviews (and friendly guy-next-door, Murray Westgate doing the ESSO commercials). The games came on at 8:30 pm but actually started at 8 pm. So, I prayed for a fight or some other 1st-period delay so I could see more of the game.

Foster Hewitt the voice

Ward Cornell

In addition to announcing
Dave Keon, again, as the star of the game, Foster Hewitt would often comment on how knowledgeable Gardens fans were.                                                      

One night during intermission in Bobby Orr’s second year, interviewer Cornell asked the superstar if the booing by Leaf fans bothered him. No, “I like it” said the 19-year old, “it means I’m doing my job”. For me, it was embarrassing, those knowledgeable Leaf fans never appreciated Orr’s remarkable skills - years later, Gretzky would get the same treatment.

The Three Stars of the Game … In the 1950s, Imperial Oil was one of HNIC’s major sponsors and they had a product named 3-Star gasoline. They simply adapted the product name to the post-game feature showcasing the game's best players that we still see in every NHL game today. Unfortunately for Esso, they lost their promotional blockbuster product tie-in … 3 Star gasoline doesn’t exist anymore.  

In the 1960s, Sunday afternoon doubleheaders at Maple Leaf Gardens had Tim Ryan (another Del-boy) calling the games on the radio.  The games were super popular and featured the NHL future stars playing for St Mike’s and the Marlies - both feeder teams to the Maple Leafs.

Toronto boy who made good.

During the 1960s NHL expansion, my pal of 30 years, Montreal Canadien and Hockey Night in Canada executive, Frank Selke Jr. became general manager of the California Golden Seals and hired Ryan to become the team’s head of Publicity.

While watching Gardens Sunday afternoon doubleheaders, my two favourite players were Gene Rebellato for St Mike's and tough guy, Roger Cote with the Marlies.

A special ticket offer allowed adults to buy the same section tickets for their children for $1. each. I’d stand by the ticket window and wait to hear someone ask for a rail seat (right on the glass). Then I’d give them my dollar to be able to sit on the rail beside them and pretend I was their kid - I had to be as close to the action as I could get.

At 19, I joined the Globe and Mail as an office boy. Future Hall of Fame writer, Scott Young, was Canada's most popular writer covering hockey and he had the inside info on what was going on at Maple Leaf Gardens and Punch Imlach's Stanley Cup champions of the 1960s. He was all about the Leafs. His readers and I couldn't get enough. His office was on the 5th floor and every day at exactly the same time, he'd get on the building's freight elevator on his way to the parking lot. If l timed it right, 3 out of 5 days I could join him at my 3rd floor stop and pepper him with questions about my Leafs until we hit street level.

"Scrub on Ice"

Mr. Young was always very gracious and generous with his info. If there was something of a private nature that was about to be released to the press, like the trading of Frank Mahovich to Detroit, he'd back me into the corner of the elevator and whisper into my ear, secret agent style, even if we were the only ones riding. How cool was that? Maybe even cooler was the fact that one day his son Neil would become a world-famous rocker.

Dad and the Rock Star

Around that same time, I was playing in a downtown industrial league. In those days a league like this would attract lots of players who couldn't quite make it to a Junior A team or play in the Senior Hockey circuit of Ontario small towns - every team had some very violent hombres. My defense partner was Lorne Ashby - a gifted skater. His brother Barry played for the Philadelphia Flyers and he lost an eye while playing an NHL game. A Flyer fan offered him one of his eyes in a transplant -- they liked Barry a lot in Philly. Barry had a +52 plus/minus rating and earned a Stanley Cup ring as a player and another as a Philly coach but I heard that Lorne was actually the better player. However, the family put all their support and effort behind Barry so Lorne never got a look. To our group, however, "Ash" was invaluable. If someone forgot the church key to open the postgame beer, he'd open the box of 24 with his teeth. He also had a very unusual pre-game ritual - similar to the goalie, Glenn Hall. He'd have to heave before every game. Don't know if it was nerves but he had to spend 5 minutes in the bathroom before he was good to go.

In the 1980s, I worked for Canada’s largest sports publishing magazine company, International Sports Properties Inc. and we hosted a Grey Cup Breakfast for advertising customers of our CFL publishing interests at the Hot Stove Lounge, on the morning before the championship game.

Harold at his best. 

The night before, the Leaf owner, Harold Ballard had fired Leaf coach Roger Neilson. When I saw Harold at our breakfast I asked him if either Flyers’ Fred Shero or Don Cherry could be candidates to replace Neilson. “Nope”, said Harold … "one is a drunk and the other is a comedian”.

Harold always reminded me of a used car salesman. Funny … when it came time to change cars, he sold his old Town Car to Cherry.  

Harold was a bit wacky but he did give Leaf fans Borje Salming for 16 years. 

Ballard hated CFRB sportscaster, Bill Stevenson - "he gets his radio reports from reading the daily newspapers," said Harold.  

Sports Reporter?

One day, Stevenson actually went to the Gardens hockey office and while chatting up Ballard's secretary, read the out-of-town trip-sheet when she wasn't looking. He saw "Tom McCarthy" and promptly rushed back to his studio to report that the North Stars fabulous player was now a Maple Leaf and on his way out-of-town with the Leafs. The "Tom McCarthy" on the trip sheet was actually an addition to the team's training staff, not the NHL player. Following Stevenson's bogus on-air report, Ballard banned him from the building.

At International Sports Properties, we produced the Maple Leaf game-day program - also the Winnipeg Jets and contributed to the Montreal Canadien book as well.  Our editor was a former Globe and Mail beat-writer for the Leafs, Louis Cauz. 

Following the Leafs last Stanley Cup win in 1967, Lou asked team captain, George Armstrong for his stick. Armstrong turned it over not thinking about its value. Lou gave the stick to me and I got an idea … I should collect all the Leaf captain sticks. Using Armstrong’s as the starting point, I collected sticks from, Keon, Sittler, Vaive, Ramage, Clark, Gilmour, and Sundin.

At ISPI, we also created Canada’s first sports magazine, MVP magazine. I asked former Maple Leaf legendary captain Ted “Teeder” Kennedy if he would attend the coming-out party for our new magazine - the way he did when Sports Illustrated printed its first copy. 

I told Ted about my stick collection and asked him if still had any old sticks lying around the house. “I only had one left and I kept it behind the horse barn door and used it to clean out the stalls,” he said. 

Once my collection was complete, and on behalf of Lou and myself, I donated it to Special Olympics … they sold at auction for $16,000.

While volunteering with the charity, I was able to spend some time with Bobby Orr, Stan Makita and Dave Keon (don’t ever call him “Davey Keon”). All three Hall of Fame players were always very polite and very willing to give up their time. Makita’s connection to the charity went back to the original Soldier Field event that President Kennedy's family staged in 1968.

They were all different but also shared a unique trait. It’s a little hard to describe but when you were in their company you could sense a “personal line” that you shouldn’t cross. An innocent gesture or something you said might set-off a very unusual vibe but there was no mistaking it. I can understand why Bobby Orr had created his own filter against unwanted intrusion - the others may have developed theirs for the same reason.

As a kid, I had dreamt of becoming a Maple Leaf. I attended the Bay St. parade celebration following each of their four Stanley Cup wins in the 1960s. There used to be an aerial photo of one of the Bay St. celebrations - I’m the kid hanging from the lamppost in the bottom right-hand corner. The photo hung in the Gardens for years then I assume it was moved to the Scotiabank Centre.

If I was ever going to become a Leaf, I reasoned that I needed skates like the pros wore. They were kangaroo leather with Prolite blades made by CCM, "Tackaberrys". In 1958, they were very expensive, $29.00 (no tax). My mother promised she'd buy them for me if I could do one thing for her -- learn the Latin mass responses and become an altar boy. I thought that challenge was impossible until good luck stepped in - I got sick. So sick, I couldn't get out of bed for a week. Just the time I needed to learn the Latin, audition for the priest, and make my mother proud - I got the skates the next day.

I never got to play for the Leafs but I did get my name in the Leaf program for 4 years … Michael Travers Director of Marketing.

Ballard gave us a very unique bonus for being his program publisher. We got an hour of Gardens ice time once a week from Labour Day till April, every year for 13 years - talk about an exclusive club.

Our hour always followed the Leaf practice. Often, in that timeframe, a few Leafs would stay on the ice for extra work. Some fooled around ... some were very serious. A stick-handler who always caught my eye was goalie Mike Palmateer - in full goalie gear. He was amazing with the puck.

On another occasion, the Leafs had just signed rookie, Wendel Clark. One day after practice, he and Russ Courtnall were still on the ice. Wendel was just 18. He stood on the faceoff circle at one end and fired pucks at the net at the other end.  Courtnall would deflect his shots, 180 feet away. After a dozen tips, Courtnall yelled:  "lean into one". Wendel did. It went over the net, over the glass, and hit the out-of-town scoreboard on the wall, 20 feet above and back from the glass. It was a wrist shot. Then, he did exactly the same thing on the next shot. Not surprisingly, Wendel scored 34 goals in his very first NHL year and 37 the following year and challenged every heavyweight as well.    

Before I showed up for hockey at the Gardens, I used to go for a run around Queen's Park and then run the stairs at the Gardens from the main floor to the top-of-the-Grey seats. Incidentally, it was exactly 99 steps ... a number that would haunt Leaf fans forever but didn't have to. When Steve Stavros took over ownership of the Leafs, all he had to do was sign the contract and Gretzky would have been a Leaf. However, all the seats and advertising properties and licensing connected to the Gardens were already sold out and Stavros could afford to pay him what he wanted and what he was worth. Incidentally, the first player in the post-expansion NHL to wear #99, before Gretzky, was Toronto Maple Leaf, Wilf Paiement.

Did your mom throw them out?

Our two Gardens shinny teams had a collection of regulars from HNIC and Greg McKnight and his group from Molson’s (Greg’s dad was Canada’s biggest name in sports reporting, Wes McKnight. You may remember, his radio report was sponsored by Bee Hive Corn Syrup and the NHL hockey card collection. In 2019, if you happen to have the 1,000 card set, your retirement years will be very well looked-after).

We also had Leaf players join us for hockey. Players who were either on standby or injured. It was a terrifically interesting group.

Occasionally, we had Jimmy Jones, Ron Ellis, Tiger Williams, David Shand, Dan Daoust, Rene Robert and Stewart Gavin. One day, following a Boston practice, Bruin, Tom Fergus stood behind me while we watched the boys at play. “Hey … is that Dick Redmond on the ice”? “Yup”, I said … “all you guys eventually end up playing with us”.

Power Play Specialist

Dick Redmond (brother of Mickey) had retired from the NHL the year before. Each week, he terrorized our shinny goaltenders. One day at the Gardens, he told the goalie he could score from anywhere on the ice. The goalie called-him-out.  “How about scoring from centre ice?”, he said.

Movie Star good looks

Redmond was up for the challenge. A puck was positioned on the Maple Leaf crest at centre ice — the goalie slowly moved out to the top of the blue paint - then further to cut-down-the-angle. Redmond eyed the scene as he stood motionless staring at the puck. When someone yelled “start” Dick swiped at the puck, 9-iron style, and looped it over the unsuspecting goalie’s head 70' away and into the middle of the net. It took several players a few minutes to compose themselves... some were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe.

"Albert"

Dick Duff played with us for a few years while he was a Leaf scout in the 1970s. Dick’s NHL playing career wobbled when he started drinking too much. Beside me on the bench one day, he said “booze steals your legs” - wise advice for any hockey player. 

We had present-day HNIC hockey play-by-play, Jim Hughson join us, (we called him "Albert" after the famous Canadian Tire hockey everyman who starred in all their hockey equipment commercial on TV at the time -- if you ever run into Hughson, make sure you call him "Albert" ... he's a great guy and he'll get a kick out of hearing his nick-name). 

Great hockey player

We also had CFL star footballer, Leif Pettersen.  In goal, we had HNIC/City TV sports guy,
Dave Reynolds. 

We taught him well!

Super sports and Olympic producer/director, Ralph Mellanby sent his 13-year-old son, Scott Mellanby to join our games. Scott went on to a 1,400 game NHL career.

Lanny McDonald joined us once when he was re-habing an injury. During our game, he did a toe-drag with the puck a few times. It was the 1980s, I’d never seen that move before, now every 8-year old can do it with ease. Lanny’s now the Chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame 

Mister Chairman

He was a very good hockey player 

And, we also had a TV sports guy, John Saunders, who would go on to anchor US college basketball and football games on ESPN.

One day after a game, our goaltender asked me and Ron Simpson for some extra shots. Ron played with King Clancy's son, Terry, with the London (England) Lions -- a Detroit Red Wing minor league feeder team. Two minutes in, Ron released a slap shot from the blue line that hit the goalies' shoulder and careened into the Gardens glass behind the net -- the glass exploded. The Zamboni guy came running out to demand to know who hit the glass with his stick. I told him "it was a slap shot". Ron could really hit the puck. It was his 4th pane.

I never missed one of our noon hour games at the Gardens in thirteen years … (I played more games in that building than many Maple Leafs on the roster).

I was always running into King Clancy at the Gardens.  He was a Maple Leaf icon ... legendary player, coach, and companion to the owner Harold Ballard. In King's later years, Harold became concerned for King's safety so he bought him a fully trained Doberman Pincher and position him inside King's house. King was terrified to go home so Harold had him removed. 

King would occasionally sit in the seats and watch our shinny game and give me a list of things not to do during our next game.

Here’s a sample of King’s advice ... "when the puck goes into the corner and you have a player chasing you, look at the glass and locate the guy. Then, run the toe of your stick blade into the boards - ease off your grip on the knob of the stick - step aside and let the guy impale himself on the butt of your stick”.

“Ya, but this is just shinny, King”, I said.

“So ... it's still hockey”! 

At some time in the 1980s, Ballard had the cement floor of the Gardens replaced. When nobody was looking, Harold went to the centre ice Maple Leaf logo spot and made his hand and footprint impressions before the cement dried. 

I guessed he wanted to leave his mark on a heritage building that he knew would never, ever be torn down. Funny, for me, the ice on the logo never seem to set properly after the boss left his imprints. 

When the building was renovated it was designated as a Heritage Building and was never to have been altered. However, as we all know, money talks. The space that was once the Gardens hockey rink was made into a grocery store.

The new Gardens ice surface is now about 80’ above where it used to be — at the same level as where the old Grey seat section would have been.

When the supermarket opened, I paid a visit. I was interested to know if they paid any notice of where centre ice (and the logo) would be in relation to the store layout.  I couldn’t get my bearings once inside the store so I asked a clerk who was stocking the shelves … “do you happen to know where centre ice of the old Gardens would be”? “one aisle over, aisle #25” he said … “it’s the red dot on the floor”.  And, there it was … just a red dot on the floor. There was no sign or information about the dot and centre ice, just a dot. And, a few inches directly below the dot would be Harold Ballard’s hand and footprints in the cement floor. Being part of a supermarket probably wasn’t what Harold had in mind when he left his mark.

In the 1970s, I was invited to play hockey once a week with the jockeys from Woodbine race track - on their off-day.

I wasn't a star on the ice but I was their biggest player.

In my opinion, jockeys are the best pound-for-pound athletes in the world and when they got on the ice, they never get off because they never got tired. Some were very good players like Llyod Duffy and some were exceptional skaters. Garry Leeman joined me and the jockeys a few times. Garry wasn’t a jockey - he was only 13-years old and would go on to the NHL and become only the second 50 goal scorer in Maple Leaf history.

World's Best

The most famous jockey to join us was Canadian Sandy Hawley. At the time, he'd ridden more than 5000 winners and was a very good hockey player. He was also a 14 year veteran of the NHL. What? A 4’ 10” 90lb. jockey in the NHL? 

One day in LA, the penalty timekeeper didn't show for work and an official asked Sandy, who was sitting in his Fabulous Forum seats if he would stand-in for the guy. Sandy always spent the winters racing at LA's Hollywood Park and became the official timekeeper from that day forward and collected an NHL paycheck for 14 years.

I need to stick handle away from hockey for a moment ... I was in advertising sales and marketing and promotion for 40 years. I had a friend who worked at the Toronto advertising agency that produced all of the newspaper ads for the Ontario Jockey Club & internationally famous, Woodbine Race Track. The creative director, who worked in a huge 20' x 20' office, could never quite get the meaning of "Turf Course".

For any special Woodbine stakes race run on "Turf" someone always had to explain to him what "Turf" meant. According to my friend, it was pretty annoying for everyone working on the account who were designing Woodbine advertising.

One night, after everyone had left the building, the boss's staff ordered 20' x 20' of fresh, newly cut, very aromatic sod (turf) from the local landscaping store. They removed all of his furniture and sodded his office.

This is one of those odd-ball scenarios you may expect to find on an episode of TV's "Mad Men" series which showcased the wild advertising agency times of the 1970s. I don't think even the "Mad Men" would ever have thought of this story-line.

During that same timeframe, I offered to help coach my son's little league team at West Toronto arena alongside Toronto Maple Leaf player Mike Pelyk. In our first league game, Pelyk demanded a lot from our 9-year-olds. Our player's parents expected their sons to be in the NHL in a few years - maybe because he was the coach. After watching everyone, Pelyk told the parents that none of their sons would ever make it ... so, “enjoy watching them play, have fun, cheer their success”.  Can't remember if we won but at the end of the season, the parents presented Pelyk and me with beautiful hand-painted hockey player sculptures ... I still have mine. 

Ballard asked us to leave our Gardens ice-time in the early 1980s because he'd been warned by his lawyer about the potential of a lawsuit from one of our players. We shifted to North Toronto Arena for a noon game every Friday and we played there every week for more than 25 years.

We had two teams. The BLUE TEAM were all #66 and all captains and the WHITE TEAM were all #99 and all captains. Our sweater sponsor was Toronto's best host ... The Original Hector's restaurant @ Yonge and Eglinton and iconic restaurant owner, Tom Lennox. (when we finished playing, the team donated all the jerseys to a high school teacher in Newfoundland/Labrador who was coaching a group of teenage 
Inuit players ... so the famous Hector's name lives on)

We'd start our North Toronto season in early Sept. and it ran until April.

Each year, we'd finish on the same day as the Toronto Blue Jay home opener.
We'd play our shinny game in the morning then head to the ballpark. We started this practice with the Jays first-ever opener in 1977 and continued the tradition for 38 consecutive years.

Following his NHL career, former Flyer Mike Boland joined us He'd later become an award-winning documentary filmmaker. He told me he’d shot a series of up-close interview-style videos of the Hockey Hall of Fame members. When he completed the piece, the session producer put an envelope with cash in front of Ted Kennedy as payment for his time. Mike told me “Ted wouldn’t touch the envelope and instructed me to send it to you at the Canadian Special Olympics”.

This may be a good time to mention and introduce you to the greatest  Toronto Maple Leaf of all-time, Ted "Teeder" Kennedy.

His resume is lengthy, so I'll put it in point form.

First to 5 Stanley Cups

*He started as a Maple Leaf at 18.

*He only played for the Leafs during his 14-year career.

*He was the Leafs youngest captain at 23.

*He was the first player in the NHL to earn 5 Stanley Cups.

*He scored 23 points in 26 STANLEY CUP FINALS. 
Would it be ok to repeat that because it will never happen again 23 points in 26 Stanley Cup finals. 

*He's one of only two Leafs in the team's 103-year history to earn the Hart Trophy.

They never wore red 

Ted brought honour to  our city for 14 years, 7 of those as the quintessential team captain.

"He'd beat you by himself"

He created the job description ... it's the way we think a captain should play. The recent history of captains with the Leaf storied franchise may surprise you ... we didn't have a team captain in 1989 - 90 or 2008 to 2010.

Few former Leaf captains could equal Kennedy's character.

One has become a recluse for more than 35 years, another until very recently, which is suspicious, didn't want to be associated with the team or the city, one ripped the "C" off his jersey - have you ever heard of this in any sport, ever?  One came to our city to escape alleged crime scenes in two other NHL cities, one served jail time following an alcohol-related manslaughter crime, and one who, some say, couldn't wait for the season to be over ... so, he left his equipment on for the flight home to Sweden.

Interestingly, former Leaf captain, Rick Vaive, didn't make this list of questionable captains. He's the one that produced 3 consecutive 50-goal seasons and isn't an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame like these others.

1950’s Kenedy teammate and HNIC announcer, Howie Meeker, said “Ted was a terrific leader … you wanted to play with and for him” … “he could beat you all by himself”.

My first encounter with Ted was a business meeting. By this time, he'd retired from hockey and was a Steward at the Ontario Jockey Club. We decided on a convenient location … the “members only” Hot Stove Lounge Restaurant at Maple Leaf Gardens.  I arrived late to find him standing in the lobby. I asked him why he didn’t just go to the table I’d reserved. He said, “I’m not a member of the Hot Stove Club”. I told him, “you earned 5 Stanley Cups in this building with this team … you built this place”.

In 1997, former Montreal Canadien goalie, Ken Dryden became the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. What? How was that possible? I hated the Canadiens and hated Dryden. Why not just make "Little Charlie Hodge" or Danny Gallivand the vice president of the Leafs while you're at it?

Dryden approved an idea as the Leafs were finishing their term at Mecca - Maple Leaf Gardens. He produced a classic set of season tickets featuring the photo of one of the team's great players - Mahovlich, Horton, Duff, etc. on each gameday ticket.

Dryden claimed to have sent each player a release form and a $1. payment
(that's one dollar) for each player to sign off on the use of their name and their image on the new flashy tickets.

Everyone apparently knew about this grand dollar-gesture except Kennedy. When I told him the team was going to print tickets with his image to commemorate some special event in Leaf history, he said, "no they aren't". When he learned the details of the offer, he didn't think any player should simply sign off on the value of his image to make someone else look good without proper compensation. Ted had bad memories of Original Six players who were taken advantage of by super-rich NHL owners. Following my call to him, he contacted the Leaf hockey office to warn them not to use his image on any tickets.

If you don't know ... here's something about race track Stewards like Kennedy ... nothing ever moves or gets approved or happens at a race track in North America without the involvement of the track Steward - they are god.

Can you imagine a former goalie ... let me re-phrase that ... a Montreal Canadien goalie telling the former Leaf captain of the storied Toronto Maple Leaf team how things were going to be?

Ted was firm. "Don't use my picture", he said.

"Too late", Dryden's secretary said. "The tickets have already been printed and are about to be sent out".

After Ted threatened to sue everyone connected with the creation of these tickets, Dryden finally got involved. He started by trying to reason with Kennedy ... it was way-too-late for that and he really didn't realize who he was dealing with.

Kennedy's one time offer to Dryden ... "make out a cheque for $5,000 to Special Olympics Canada and have it hand-delivered to the attention of the charities' VP, Frank Selke at the Tronto office in the next 24 hours or we are going to court".

The cheque arrived within the hour.

Actions such as these speak louder than words, much louder. How do you measure someone? Maybe these transactions tell you all you need to know about the principled gentleman, Ted Kennedy.

Ted's son, Mark and I, connected before I developed a friendship with "Teeder". Mark was the principal of a Toronto non-denominational Christian school and both of our children were entrusted to his care and educational strategy. It worked!

Two years before he passed away, Ted spent 24 hrs a day, every day caring for his wife who was very ill. It was a task. He faced it the way he did any and every game he played in the NHL ... with determination and grit, and a never-give-up attitude and love of what he was doing.

I think sometimes the caregiver ends up in worse shape than the person they are caring for and Ted may have been a victim of that.

When he passed away, there was a very simple family funeral for him in his home town of Port Colborne, Ontario. His son delivered a very heartwarming and funny speech about "Teeder".

There was a very surprising and disappointing response to his passing by the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club.

No one from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment showed up. No Leaf general manager, no Leaf brass, and nobody from the Veteran Player’s Association. The only Leafs who came to pay their respects were Ted’s former teammate, Leaf captain, George Armstrong, and former Leaf who had the honour of wearing his #9,
Dick Duff and his long-time hockey and race track pal, Frank Selke Jr.  

Rocket and "Teeder"

Where was the thing they call Leaf Nation to acknowledge the passing of the team’s best player? By contrast, in Montreal, the Canadiens had a well-deserved state funeral for the team’s best-ever player from the Original Six era, Rocket Richard. Incidentally, Ted Kennedy earned the Hart Trophy as the league’s best player in the same season that Rocket had the best point season in his career.

Look at his numbers, look at his accomplishments, look at his dedication to the Maple Leafs and the city of Toronto and look at the respect he earned from the men he played with and against and you may come to the same conclusion as me, he was the greatest Maple Leaf of all-time.

I had the luxury of spending some time with one of Kennedy's arch-rivals,
Maurice "Rocket" Richard. He agreed to pose for a charity fundraising picture - I had something very special in mind.

Isle 25

"Rocket" Rahib Ismail had just signed the largest CFL/NFL contract ($18 million for 4 years) with the Toronto Argonaut football team owned by Gretzky, John Candy, and Bruce McNall. When I contacted Ismail my first question was "do you know about hockey's Rocket"? He'd just got off the plane and claimed that was the first thing he heard. I told him about my idea -- have him and The Rocket in tuxedos for a portrait. "The Two Rockets" it would be titled. He thought it was a great idea. The picture is a good one but never attracted any money at the charity auction. Everyone who looked at the picture, including Rocket Richard, said the same thing ... "Who's the guy with Rocket"?

As you can see, I've had some unusual, unlikely hockey connections. The most far-out had to be spending time with The Spaceman.

"Spaceman"

About 20 years ago, I wandered into the saloon at Harrah's Casino in Reno, Nevada. It was the middle of the afternoon and there was just one single cowboy sitting at the bar by himself. I wanted to appear neighborly, so I pulled up a stool beside him and introduced myself as Michael from Toronto. He caught me off-guard when he said, "I'm Bill from Montreal" and reached out the biggest hand I've ever seen for a shake. Before I could order a drink, he peppered me with three questions; how old are you, do you play hockey, and do you know about The Sweater?

For a moment, he caught me off guard with The Sweater question. "Do you mean the Canadian children's novel about the boy and "Rocket's" Montreal Canadien hockey jersey"? I said.  "That's the one"!  And then, he proceeded to repeat the story for my benefit, word for word, as if he was reciting a poem.  I won't revisit it here. You can access it and its history online. It's a Canadian hockey classic that's sold over 300,000 copies.

Bill understood the story's nuances and grasped the irony. He understood the rivalry and the affection that Canada has for the game and the spirit of hockey competition. I even enjoyed Bill's attempt at a French Canadian accent as he delivered the story to its end. I couldn't do anything but applaud and order him another drink and I asked the bartender if he could rustle us up some poutine.

After two hours with Bill, the light finally went on for me. I realized I was circling in the orbit of the Montreal Expo baseball pitcher, Bill Lee. Bill told me he had met and spent lots of time with Rocket Richard - "the first time was like a religious experience", he said. Just the kind of comment you'd expect from "Spaceman" Bill Lee.

Ya ... "crazy eyes"

Maurice Richard was a very, very nice guy. Engaging, friendly ... you'd love to have a beer with him. He had a great sense of humour and those eyes ... those crazy eyes that goalies said they "could see from the blue line in".

Babe Ruth of hockey

I also spent some time with Yvan Cournoyer, Guy Lafleur, Bernard Boom-Boom Geoffrion, Jean Beliveau and Rocket's brother, Henri.
Notice a pattern here?



All Canadiens. At some point in conversations with each one of them, I said: "I hated you when you played". Everyone one of them offered exactly the same response ... "you guys from Toronto always say that. (note: for your interest, I have written individual pieces for each of the players mentioned here and will post them on the site in the next few days if you have any interest).

On one occasion, following the Canadiens last Stanley Cup win in 1992-93, I asked Rocket about Denis Savard. I wasn't necessarily a fan of Savard but he really did seem to be a magician with the puck ... do you remember him doing a 360 in front of a defenseman and scoring a goal? I asked Rocket what he thought of Savard ... "he always has the same move" was Rocket's response. Really? Same move? I couldn't imagine Rocket being jealous but I was too stunned by his response to ask him for an explanation.

Previously mentioned, Maple Leaf, Garry Leeman was on that Hab Cup team along with Gilbert Dionne.  Dionne ring a bell? This one, who played 223 NHL games, won the Stanley Cup. His brother Marcel, who played 1348 NHL games and was one of the highest point-getters in NHL history never won a cup. Stories like this add to the allure of the championship prize ... it's hard to get and everybody wants one.  

Talking about Stanley Cups ... how do you think the citizens and the Leaf fans of Toronto would reward a Leaf, like Ted Kennedy who’d brought the city 5 Stanley Cups? In the 1960s, they made Maple Leaf and 4 time Cup winner, “Red” Kelly a Member of Parliament, twice.

While on the subject of Teds, my other favourite childhood idol was Detroit's, Terrible Ted Lindsay, he told me he never thought he was terrible ... he thought he was good.

My "coach" Frank

I worked alongside Frank Selke Jr. as a volunteer with Special Olympics for 26 years. One night, at a Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Frank and I were trolling the list of honoured members to see if any of them would be interested in joining our Toronto fundraiser. Frank zeroed in on Lindsay (I think Ted actually dated one of Frank's sisters when they were teenagers - incidentally, she went on to become a nun). Frank didn't have to sell the notion to participate to Ted ... he was all-in. First to arrive and last to leave for 12 consecutive years.

Interview with 9 and 1

35 years ago, because of the charity connection, he and I became pals.

Our friendship meshed on several levels. In November 2002, I found myself having lunch with him in downtown Toronto on the day he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and I was his nominator. How did that happen? He was my childhood idol - our lunch was unsettling - we were friends but I still had to remind myself who I was having lunch with, and why.

March 4, 2019, was a very sad day for me and hockey fans everywhere. Ted passed away in his beloved Michigan. The team created a wonderful send-off for their fallen warrior at the team's downtown arena.

The Heart of The Wings

He could find the net 

The "best trophy" from players

Ted's casket was at centre ice and the family received visitors. The floor of the rink was beautifully decorated with flowers - it looked more like a large room rather than a hockey rink. There were fabulous photos of Ted and the Hockey Hall of Fame featured all of the actual trophies he'd earned through his career - a Hall custodian was there to explain the significance of each award. The room was very, very quiet.

I arrived at about 4pm and it took about an hour to actually reach the family through the receiving line. There were people in wheelchairs and people with walkers and people with Red Wings jerseys and people with Lindsay jerseys -- many of them looked like they'd lost a close relative.

The four most surprising mourners were in front of me in line. They were in their 20s and they were all Asian. When they reached the Hall of Fame custodian, they couldn't get enough of the information he offered regarding Ted's trophies. Their questions about him and his playing days went on for several minutes.

Ted would have been so interested in their questions and so interested in them.

At the end of the requiem mass the following morning, 40 former Red Wings players and a local Rochester Michigan women's team, who wore their hockey jerseys, formed an honour guard, with hockey sticks raised, to lead Ted to the hearse and his final destination.

Ted's reputation as a fierce competitor is common knowledge - he earned every one of his career 2,000 minutes. Very few people know, however, how charitable and generous he was. By my definition, "classy people do things for other people when nobody is looking". Ted was his "brother's keeper" ...  I'll offer an outstanding example. When he learned about autism, he created The Ted Lindsay Foundation and hosted an annual golf tournament to raise funds to help search for a cure. To date, over $3million has been raised and 3 American universities will soon be releasing the findings of their work that the Lindsay Foundation financed. Who does that?

I wrote an obituary for Ted. If you didn't receive it, let me know and I will forward one on to you. In it, I mention an undeniable fact ... Ted Lindsay was hated by every single player he played against.

Ted's struggle in a movie

How was it, at the very height of his career, he reached out to every player in the NHL and asked for their support to create a Player's Association (not a union ... he told me players would never agree to a union).

He wanted better salaries and better working conditions for the same players who hated him. His struggle as the architect of the National Hockey League Players Association was so significant, the CBC created a movie "Net Worth".

Architect: Ted Lindsay 

All of today's players ... the ones that command enormous salaries and private plane travel, not trains and multi-million dollar endorsements owe Lindsay a tap-on-the-pads for the sacrifices he made on their behalf.

Last summer, he and his two daughters came to my place in Toronto for dinner. Previously, an old-timer hockey buddy had gifted me with a bottle of Wayne Gretzky Estates 99 ... a special bottle for a special occasion. I shared it with Ted. Afterward, I had him sign the label on the bottle - under Wayne Gretzky's signature. I told him I would give the bottle to Gretzky as a keepsake.

My sports collectible room is special -- all things that I have a personal connection to, including a photo of Ted and I in Tuxedos the night he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. That evening, he really enjoyed looking at the stuff -- especially the baseball collection. I put the Gretzky/Lindsay signed wine bottle on top of one of the display cases.

Last night, I moved the display case and the wine bottle toppled to the floor.  It didn't break!  Impossible, especially from six feet! I guess Ted wants to make sure it gets to Gretzky.

However, this whole transaction made me think ... without Ted Lindsay doing what he did for fellow players, would a kid from Brantford ever be in the position to own his own winery? Let alone, make millions as hockey's best player?

"Beetle"

I've recently found that when I start talking about #7, I can't help myself, he reminds me of so many great hockey and personal memories ... but now would be a good time to move on to my hockey mates at North Toronto Arena in the 1980s.

It included former Flyer tough guy, Reid (Beetle) Bailey who had surprisingly soft hands and was really fun to play with. “Beetle” went on to be the General Manager of the Harlem Globetrotters, The Ice Capades, and The World Westling Federation.

1/3 of French Connection

"Goldie"

Former Hab and LA King Glenn Goldup played.

I Attended several Hall of Fame induction events and heard lots of speeches. None were more interesting than Glenn's when he was inducted into the Etobicoke Hall of Fame.

When he arrived in LA, during the summer, before the NHL season began he bought an Indian Motorcycle and rode out to Alice's Restaurant in Malibu and dropped in for a beer. Somebody tapped him on the shoulder at the bar and said ... "is that you're Indian parked outside?". He wanted a look and Glenn obliged. Long story short, they rode their bikes through the canyons of Malibu for weeks to come. The interloper was the most famous movie star in the world at the time, Steve McQueen.  

We also had the aforementioned French Connection fireplug, Rene Robert.  I think Rene is the only NHL player who completed a 14-year career without the help of an agent (and 10% commission on his negotiated contract - he just hired a lawyer to handle the details). He started and finished his career as a Maple Leaf. 

Former Toro/Canadien/Oiler Mark Napier played with us and became the president of the NHL Veteran Players Association.

One day, Mike Boland brought a guest. He sat in the corner, nobody recognized him and Mike didn't introduce him to anyone. First shift on the ice, I hear tap-tap-tap from the new guy, which is pretty annoying. Next time I got the puck, again, tap-tap-tap. When we got to the bench, I said to the tapper "please don't tap your stick - I see you and, actually, it's a little insulting to me that you don't think I can see you". The guy apologized and said it wouldn't happen again. Next shift, I set him up for a pretty goal, and another just seconds later. Then Boland came up to me and said ... "You know that's Glenn Anderson, right?". The former Oiler/Maple Leaf was a very special player. I told him ... "tap whenever you want".

We were also joined by the captain of the fictitious NHL team who starred in 26 TV episodes of Power Play ... he'd later collide with 90210's Tori Spelling, get a divorce from his Food Network on-air chef wife and move in with Spelling's millions in LA,
Dean McDermott.

For our time at North Toronto Arena, I couldn't wait to get there to play alongside Dave Gardner.

He'd been the 1st round draft choice of the Canadiens following two years with the Toronto Marlies where he scored 137 pts in 62 games and to show it wasn't a fluke, backed it up with a 129 pt season in only 57 games the following year.


I've played with a lot of really good stick-handlers. Some had lots of flash - lots of moving parts, lots of speed. Gards showed me what real stick-handlers do ... he never made his move until his opponent made his and committed himself. Then,  Gards was by him and on his way to the net.

Dave was just a superb player and following his 8-year NHL career, moved the Swiss League where he was dubbed the “Gretzky of Swiss Hockey” scoring 374 pts in 190 games. Regularly on Hockey Night broadcasts, Toronto Sun sports guy, George Gross, interviewed Dave in Europe and filed a report on his take of the European hockey league and Canadians who were playing there.

A few years ago, the HHOF announced that a minor league player for the Erie Otter's had just done something nobody else had ever done in hockey ... scoring on two penalty shots in the same playoff game. They should have done their homework. I contacted them to alert them to their mistake. Former Marlie, Dave Gardner, did it against Roger Neilson's Peterborough Pete’s in the 1960s.

It would be safe to say that many Canadian dads would love to have a son playing in the NHL. How about having two?

2019 marks the 70th anniversary of Maple Leaf, Cal Gardner, scoring the winning goal in game 7 against the Canadiens for the Stanley Cup. Cal's sons Dave and Paul both made it to the show and Cal's grandson, Ryan Gardner enjoyed a distinguished 20-year career in the Swiss League. When he returned to Toronto in the summer, Ryan organized a shinny game with his pro buddies and a group of pylons (me) to make up a second line while the pros had a breather. Some of the pros were American League players and some were European players - the puck moved pretty quickly when they were on the ice. Michael Cammalleri was one of the pros. He wasn't, according to me, the best player out there but he did sign with the LA Kings and enjoyed a 15 year NHL career.

Paul Garner

Cal on the left - we won

mini Gards - 6' 5"

About 10 years ago, I played with a group of 50+ guys at a Mississauga rink.  One guy, a retired Toronto policeman who had a pro-like touch for the puck is the grandfather of three current NHL players, the Strome brothers. Wow! Three! If I was him, I'd go broke flying from city to city to watch each of them play. 

now an NHL trio ... how'd that happen? 

I attempted to identify and remember and collect all the names of all the players I played with for 13 years at Maple Leaf Gardens and the 25 years at North Toronto and my research revealed 357 names. I'm probably 40 - 50 short. 

The top-of-my-list keeper hockey memories was being invited by hockey novelist and super promoter, Ross Brewitt to play against his Labatt’s Old Stars NHL old-timer team.

The Old Stars were made up of former NHL players who missed being on the road and missed each other. They played a tune-up game once a week in Toronto before heading across Canada on the weekend to play in small rural towns to help local charities.

"Howie" after Howie Young

My team of pylons got a weekly thrashing from Jim McKenny, Pierre Pilote, Dale Tallon, and Bob Nevin, Norm Ullman, Ed Shack and others. You’ve heard of the Harlem Globetrotters? Ya, we were the other team. What a dream for any hockey player, especially me, to be on the same sheet with this group, every week for four years. One of the best things about playing with them was the beer after the game - their NHL road trip stories were too outrageous to be made-up. 

Normie ... relentless

"Clear the Track"

Superstar

Fabulous career

"Pete"

But a favourite
non-road trip story involved super-quiet, Norm Ullman.
A player was trying to get Norm involved in the dressing room conversation … “who was the best winger you ever played with” he asked. Without hesitation, Normie said “Floyd Smith”.

Considering Norm had played with several Hall of Fame players, especially Gordie Howe, his response seemed like a joke. “Why him?” enquired the player …  “because he always gave me the puck back”. Just the response you’d expect from a relentless, forechecking, Hall of Fame centre-man like Ullman.

Another Labatt's Old Stars who joined us was retired NHL/WHA referee, Ron Ego.

One night, in 1986, there was a fundraising dinner for Ron at a banquet hall on 
Hwy. 427. Ron had been diagnosed with a life-threatening health issue. 
Lots of his pals showed up. Jim McKenny, who worked for CITY-TV Sports had a video crew at the event to make a film tribute to Ron from his pals - he was so sick, he couldn't attend the event. It was a very good evening but sad.

Recently, a Florida hockey buddy told me that miraculously, remarkably, unbelievably Ron Ego is a councilor in Wasaga Beach ON - elected in 2014.

  

Loved hockey more than music

In the last 15 years, I’ve also had the pleasure of sharing the ice with some major league Canadian entertainers; the Godfather of Celtic music, Nova Scotia’s John Allan Cameron and Toronto based Rock n' Rollers: Andrew Scott of Sloan, The Sadies' Mike Belitsky and Sean Dean, Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and Tim Bovancoti who’s with Burton Cummings and banjo playing icons, Tim Postgate & Duncan Fremlin.  I've patrolled the wing for actor/singer-comedian, Sean Cullen and I've found the 5-hole on actor Burke Lawerence whenever he feels generous.

He can fly.

Stay at home defenceman

Surprising good hockey player

Great cross-over forward

Stares down shooters

Learned the game: Toronto Island

Lives it. Teaches it.

The eyes are deceiving

Playing the Hockey song

Occasionally, when playing hockey with some of the musicians, Paul Coffey joined us. It happened when he was slated to play a charity hockey game and needed some ice time. Playing against him is an eye-opener. While watching him play during his career, he always looked to me as if his skates barely touched the ice. He was like a water-bug.

It’s even more evident when he’s 30’ away and going full (old-timer) speed. I have to be careful when he’s on the ice. I get mesmerized by his style. The puck can be 50’ ahead of me before I know it. The fun of playing with Coffey doesn’t stop on the ice. The stories he shares in the dressing following games are very funny and often stuff that can never be repeated.   

Toronto Maple Leaf, Les Costello, left the team in the 1950s to enter the priesthood. In 1969, he formed a charity fundraising hockey team and named them The Flying Fathers. 

Leaf Player Les Costello

Father Les Costello

In 2019, the monks are still flying and have raised more than $4 million dollars through our game to help the less fortunate.

In the 1970s, I was asked to fill in on their practice team twice. The Fathers needed a few warm-ups before one of their big events. The best player on the team was Father Peter Vallely. In all my years of playing, I’ve never seen anyone who could match his speed, even Coffey. Peter would have really been something special if he'd chose the NHL instead of the priesthood ... he passed away at 96 on April 9, 2023.

Incidentally and incredibly, The Fathers’ biggest take at a charity game … 

$240,000 for one game in Toronto.

“Hockey is Heavenly” …  should be their motto.

14 years ago, I dropped into the local hockey rink in Ellenton FL (30 minutes south of my winter home @ St Pete) to see if there was any shinny being played. Luckily I met a group that had been together for 20+ years and still plays every Thursday morning at 6 am for two hours. They were willing to have me join them.

Following the first game, they asked if I'd like to come along to the local gas station for a coffee. Gas station? Their go-to coffee hang-out was actually the gas station on the corner.

We got a coffee and all 20 players assembled at the front door for conversation until players started peeling off to get to work. I dubbed the location and the team Corner Gas and now years later, we’ve had several team get-togethers, and I created a Corner Gas Blog that offers up as much hockey nonsense as everyone can stand.

Two years ago, Corner Gas made the trip north to Toronto to play a tournament at the revised Maple Leaf Gardens. By the tournament's end, every player could claim to score at least one goal at hockey's most famous address, 60 Carlton Street.

Somewhere along the way, one of the players told me ... "you play a level above All American ... you are All-World”.

So, the official title of the MLG gettogether is the AW Tournament. And, my
All World moniker has now morphed into a variety of upgrades like, "Eh Dub" etc. 

Also, at Ellenton, I met legendary Norm Foster. He is the Godfather of Florida Hockey and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame 80+ category.

He created a 50+ players shinny group and a 60+ players shinny group and a 70+ players shinny group and he organized a 20+ players group that plays at noon twice a week. 

Bionic MAN ... Norm Foster

He manages them all in a fabulous atmosphere of friendship and safety-first.  Foster hockey has become so popular with snow-bird hockey players, it's necessary to arrive for your slotted time at least an hour ahead for fear of being shut-out. 

Norm has a few minor health issues. They're minor to him because he says they are. At 82, He plays 7 times a week in winter and often plays twice in one day.  He’s not as well known as most of the folks mentioned here but he is as big a hockey hero to his Florida players as anyone mentioned here.

Bruce never had a bad day.

Foster Hockey has attracted some interesting players like my buddy of more than 30 years, Bruce Hood. Following our games, we’d hit the local beanery to tell each other how good we are. Nobody ever left while Bruce was still there - they didn’t want to miss anything. He told us his best NHL memory was standing into the Maple Leaf logo on Saturday night at 8 o’clock with the Hockey Night in Canada theme song playing in his head and listening to Dave Keon move in for the face-off while snapping his bubble gum. Bruce was the first NHL referee to officiate 1,000 games.

L'll Marty

Rob Martel is a 25 year NHL veteran referee who also joined the 1,000 game club two years ago and is a regular with us as well ... (next to "Red Kelly" Rob is the best player I've ever seen who can control the puck with his feet). 

Retired veteran NHL ref Dan Marouelli often joins us. He still skates 100mph and has a stylish Dave Keon look to the hop in his cross-over.

There's also current NHL linesman, Johnny Murray, NFL Super Bowl champion Tom Nutten, former St Mike's grad and Keon's roommate on the road from the 1950s, Edwin Lowe and the remarkable former MLB player and 3-time Bowl Game quarterback, Phil Bradley who only started skating 4 years ago - what an athlete -  you have to see this guy play.

In the '80s, my son Sean was (also) the bat boy for the Toronto Blue Jays (ah, finally, the chewing tobacco connection) actually, he performed the duties for every visiting team as their official bat boy. In 1983, Phil Bradley broke into the league with the Seattle Mariners - my son was the Mariners and Phil Bradley's bat boy. 

In 2016, I attended my first Snoopy's Senior World Hockey Tournament in Santa Rosa, California - it was the event’s 40th anniversary. Its founder was an iconic cartoonist, Charles Schultz - creator of Charlie Brown&Lucy&Snoopy. He was a hockey nut. So, why not build a hockey rink in his tiny home town, 60 miles north of San Francisco, and invite the world. 

I played with a team from Connecticut …
The Connecticut Old Crabs. I only knew one player on the team and, before our first game, the coach asks me to tell my new teammates, who’d played together for years, a little about my self. The only thing I could think to tell them was, “I haven’t played a hockey game with referees and linesmen in about 35 years”. They promptly issued me their guest jersey, #99.

Long story short, we won all the games in our 60+ division (I was 69 at the time) even beating a talented group of Saskatchewan farmers in the series finale. They’d played together since they were teens.

If you play hockey, you absolutely must put the Snoopy Tournament on your bucket list. When I played, there were 800 players signed up in a variety of divisions and age groups.

Incidentally, at the 1st ever Snoopy, the aforementioned Dave Gardner (representing the Golden Seals) dropped the ceremonial first puck. 

My joy of the game and the people I’ve played with doesn't stop here. I had the pleasure of sharing the ice with Quebec Aces' Paul Cates who also joined me as a business partner in Studebaker’s Toronto restaurant and one of my favourite hockey playing people of all-time, Phil Branston who played for the Johnstown Jets (remember the Slapshot movie? He played for the real team, not the movie team).

And, there was the nifty-shifty Bill Durnan Jr., the most natural hockey player I’ve ever played with. He never saw his dad play goal and captain the Montreal Canadiens.

And, Wayne McAlpine who ran the Kirkland Lake XL’s (the Ontario town that built the NHL, according to Foster Hewitt, with 42 former citizens making it to pro hockey).

And, there was former American League scoring champion, Tom McCarthy (not to be confused with the McCarthy previously mentioned). I played against Tom in the old Toronto Star industrial league. Tom’s knees were shot but if you chased him into the corner, he always came out with it. He proved that the game is played between the ears and not in the knee joints.

And, there was Toronto born Cam Church who couldn’t quite latch on with the Red Wings. He told me at his first training camp he went into the shower and looked at the Adonis soaping himself. He said when he looked at the muscle on Gordie Howe’s body, he knew the NHL wasn’t for him.

Following a stint in the Pacific Coast League, He moved to Foster Hewitt’s CKFH radio station to sell time alongside retired Leaf Cal Gardner and soon-to-be Canadian Senator, Keith Davey, then became a high school teacher — quite an interesting guy. 

Later in life, he’d developed artistic skills and Gretzky commissioned him to create a Stanley Cup-winning limited edition portrait that he could give as a thank-you to celebrities who attended his charity tennis event in Brantford to support CNIB.

Cam and I lined up with 3 time Minto Cup Lacrosse champion Max Wooley. Max never learned how to skate very well but he was a magician when he got the puck - so much fun playing with Max.  Just when you thought he was done ... like any superior lacrosse player, he had three more moves.

A story about hockey wouldn't be complete without Gretzky.  I have a great one.

My first introduction to Gretzky was October 1971 when John Iaboni of the Toronto Sun was the first to interview the Great One when he was only 10 years old. You know the rest of the Gretzky story. In fact, most Canadians could likely write a 500-word essay on what they know about him - even those who aren't hockey fans.

In the 1990s, when he was with LA, Gretzky called Frank Selke Jr. and told him he was going to be in Toronto and would like to help Frank's Special Olympics. We looked at several different options; golf tournament, autograph day, etc. but none of them seemed right.

We decided on an original photograph that we could sell at auction.

I contacted the Hockey Hall of Fame for help. Phil Prichard (the white glove guy who presents the Stanley Cup to the winning team) and then Hall chairman Scotty Morrison who was pals with Selke. Kelley Massey was in the background making everything work properly. Everybody at the Hall wanted to help - everyone knew what something like this would mean to the Special Olympians.

I dug out a picture of Gordie Howe and Gretzky as a 10-year old and placed it
behind a row of the seats from the original Madison Square Garden. Phil pulled all of Gretzky's trophies out of the Hall display cases and we had famous portrait photographer, Kevin Birch take a fabulous photo. A photo so unique, it had never been taken before ... Gretzky and all of his trophies.

He agreed to sign/number just 15 copies. The first one sold for $6,000 at Special Olympic auction - fourteen more copies produced thousands.

As a teenager in 1963, my juvenile CYO team won the Ontario Championship.  My coach was former St Mike's Buzzer, Bill Crawford. Later in life, he would join me as an advertising salesman at the Toronto Star. And, now, 58 years after our first meeting, we are still pals and still share some time on the ice.

  

Is there another sport that forges such long-lasting friendships?

In Memoriam: Sadly many of my friends and hockey stars and idols I’ve mentioned here have passed on.  I purposely didn’t acknowledge their departures. I’d just like
to remember each and every one of them … the way we were when we played or spent hockey-time together.

THAT'S ENOUGH ... I gotta go ... I'm on the ice at 10.