All World Hockey by T. Michael Travers

T oday would have been Ted Lindsay's 94 birthday. Captain Lindsay @ 29 (1955) Gentleman Ted @ 70 (1995) Superstar, "Golden Jet" Bobby Hull,  called Ted the best left winger to ever play the game. High praise for a boy from a little northern Ontario mining town. He passed away on March 4, 2019 in his beloved second home, Detroit.  PHOTO FOOTNOTE: I posed Ted with his playing days' captain photo and we used it as a fundraiser for Special Olympics Canada.  He signed 50 copies and I had each beautifully framed. This Lindsay photo sold for an average of $600.  A simple gesture and a wonderful gift on his part that provided $30,000 for what he called "my fellow athletes". The Two Teds - "2 Lions at Dusk" All-Star Game, Toronto 2000 If you read my obituary/tribute  for Ted, you may recall that when he was a teenager in Kirkland Lake, his Holy Name Irish team met another teenager's team in  Port Colborne, for th

This journey began 65 years ago and concluded last week  In 1954, when I was 8 years old and Toronto had a population of less than a million (today it's 5 million), we talked differently. For instance, then, it was very common for people of any colour to be called negro  and anyone with any accent was a foreigner or a DP and mentally challenged people were called crazy. It was a different time - those words were somehow acceptable.  Perhaps in other Canadian communities during my time as a child, mentally handicapped people were referred to as retarded. I grew up in the middle of the city in an Anglo Saxon neighbourhood with corner grocery stores and bakery shops  and shoe stores and family-run restaurants and a movie theatre that charged 15 cents for a Saturday afternoon of newsreels, serials, cartoons plus a Roy Rogers shoot em up. Lots of different churches and parks were within walking distance. My tree-lined street with 3 storey homes  on both s

52 years Today,  Our Moon Landing Party and  You're invited! We were married in 1968. We moved into a brand new apartment building that had a swimming pool. Our first-ever, $ 124-a-month 2-bedroom apartment was on the 3rd floor overlooking the pool and a fairway for the golf course that backed onto our property. Our apartment was close to my wife's first-ever job at  Madonna High School  (no, not named after the singer ...  the "real" Madonna). Every day, weather permitting, we were at the pool.  Often, we'd stop for take-out dinner at a new fast-food restaurant that opened just up the street - it was the first of many that would open in Toronto.  We thought it had a hokey name for a restaurant, McDonald's. Interestingly, we never saw another tenant of the building at the pool - we always had it to ourselves, until one day. Sunday, July 20, 1969, APPOLO 11 was scheduled to hopefully and successfully land safely on the moon.

In 1994 I volunteered to help out at Canada's Sports Hall of Fame inductions.  Quebec Loved "Boom" One of the inductees was Bernard "Boom Boom" Geoffrion. All of the inductees arrived early at Toronto's Royal York Hotel for the evening's festivities. It was funny to see them wandering the halls of the hotel during the afternoon looking for something to do. One of my jobs was to set up the reception area for the inductees and their family members. I was alone and hard at it when "Boom Boom" Geoffrion walked into the room. He was tanned with a million-dollar smile. He was beaming and obviously very excited about what was to take place that evening. He greeted me like I was a buddy and suggested we "take a seat and have a drink".  I poured. The moment reminded me of a Sinatra story. Sinatra was still a rookie in Hollywood when he found himself in a room alone with his childhood idol Ronald Coleman. He said he was "n

David Many Canadian fathers share the same dream. If only their sons could make it to the NHL. It happens for a select few dads.  Almost never when the dad who was doing the wishing is a former NHL player himself.  There are a handful of success stories -- Bobby and Brett Hull top the list along with the Howes. Paul Rarer are the NHL dad's with 2 children who  made it to the "show"  Calvin Pearly Gardner  was blessed.  Ryan His two boys, David and Paul both made it. And, grandson, Ryan ( Dave's son) has just finished  a 20-year career in the  Swiss League. Cal Gardner was from rural Manitoba and turned professional with the New York Rangers.  He was a raw-boned, shifty player who didn't take any guff from the veteran players on his own team or his opponents.  They all made him earn his place among them. His playing statistics were proof that he was a generous passer.  Cal (left) holding Barilko aloft Follo