You a Hockey Fan? Don't ever forget what this person did ...

I say "person" because that's what Bobby Orr called him ... he refused to call him a man.

R. Alan Eagleson.

If Eagleson had won a seat in the 1963 Canadian federal election as the Progressive Conservative candidate, he may have gone on to a lengthy political career ... maybe, even become Prime Minister. His only connection to hockey would have been to drop the occasional ceremonial puck at a tournament - the hockey world would never have heard of him. However, ironically, he lost the election to a hockey player, an eight-time Stanley Cup champion, Leonard "Red" Kelly.

When Eagleson was defeated in the election, he turned to sports and started small.  Do you remember the Toronto Rifles football team of the Continental League? 

Toronto Rifles ... Eagleson's sports launchpad

They played at the old Toronto Maple Leaf Baseball Stadium on Fleet St. and were coached by legendary Leo Cahill. Eagleson's in the far right of the photo. I'm not sure what his role was but it was important enough to be included on photo day. "The Rifles" may have been his sports launchpad.

Bobby and The Devil

His first real egregious act was sitting in the Parry Sound kitchen with the teenager, Bobby Orr's parents and promising to "look after their son" if they would sign a contract giving Eagleson the right to represent him as he entered the NHL for the 1966-67 season to begin his career.

Like any predator, he was teaching himself how to be evil. It's a process. It doesn't happen overnight and often ego and the drug called celebrity come into play. The Orr meeting may have been the first clue of what he was about to become.

From that moment, he created and then lived a life of crime. These aren't my words.  When it was proven he'd stolen and cheated players that he'd represented, The Law Society of Upper Canada disbarred him. He was removed from the Order of Canada and from the Hockey Hall of Fame (builder category). His crimes are too lengthy to mention, but I will.

The FBI charged him with 34 counts of racketeering and the RCMP included 8 counts of theft and fraud. If you were related to him, would these charges be enough for you to change your surname?

Fun Fact: My dentist at the time was also the Team Canada dentist for a decade as selected personally for the job by Eagleson. I visited him for my annual check-up during the height of the Eagleson FBI investigation. Since the dentist was so close to Eagleson, I asked if he'd been part of any questioning. He said, "I've been interviewed by the FBI three times".

And, the FBI also interviewed Eagleson's two tailor shops ... one of which he was a partner. That was the one that provided all the players with their Team Canada suits and blazers for decades. I guess the FBI was thorough.

It always seemed strange to me that the early, illegal Adventures of Alan Eagleson were never uncovered by hockey's most inquisitive, Canadian sports media. Nobody was prepared to question the antics of Eagleson even after he bankrupted and almost ruined the life of one of the game's greatest players, Bobby Orr.

The scenario reminded me of another criminal, LA King owner, Bruce McNall. Nobody ever questioned his antics either. Every hockey fan was taken in by his gee-shucks attitude and way of conducting himself. We all loved the guy. Then it was discovered he had no money, it was all a hoax. Shame on the six international banks he fooled for $263 million with all that nonsense about his valuable coin collection.

McNall didn't know about the "favour thing" that Eagleson built his hockey empire on -- a classic example of the scheme will show up in a minute.

"Hey, Bruce" ... "do you want to buy the Toronto Argo football team with Gretz and comedian, John Candy"?

"Sure! Where do I sign?"  Gawd, we loved Bruce.

When they finally caught him, he was sent off to a real prison in LA for 5.5 years. (Incidentally, "The Hollywood Madam, Heide Fleiss" was housed in the same building) and he had to pay $7 million in restitution.

The media seemed willing to ignore the Eagleson red flags.

Then there was Mike Milbury - remember him? He was the lead offender in hockey's greatest brawl.

 Don't Throw Beer on a Player

That is, as a Bruin, during a game, he climbed over the glass with his skates on at Madison Square Garden and went into the stands and pummeled a fan (with the guy's own shoe). Anyways, Milbury wasn't a disciple of Eagleson's character and challenged him for the presidency of the NHLPA. Milbury never had a chance. Several voting players, who'd later became Eagleson's enemies, had previously selected "Uncle Al" to be their children's godfather. Eagleson's reach didn't stop with hockey's administration. He was able to stickhandle his way into players' private lives as well.

Eagleson had become an expert in offering favours to anyone who'd accept one then cashing in those favours at a later date ... a manner of doing business we learned may have started with organized crime. In the famous Eagleson-designed 1987 Canada Cup Tournament,

This Business Card
Opened Lots of Doors

(remember ... "Gretzky to Lemieux") a high-ranking judge friend claimed that all the best seats in the house for the final game were filled with Ontario's most famous, influential judges and lawyers. Eagleson knew these were the same people who he may have to rely on at some time in the future. He proved that favours can be helpful.

There it is ... Bruce McNall didn't get the memo about favours.

But, for some reason, the investigative reporter departments of Canada's premier newspapers and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation chose not to be suspicious of R. Alan Eagleson.

Russ Conway

That responsibility fell on the shoulders of someone no one had ever heard of who worked for a newspaper no one had ever heard of ...Russ Conway of The Eagle-Tribune - a small New England daily with a minuscule circulation of 50,000.

As a reporter, he'd covered the Bruins and may have developed a friendship with some of the players. Maybe, and this is just me guessing, Conway got the inspiration to begin his investigation from another New Englander, Bobby Orr.

Maybe it was something simple ... they had a beer sitting on a dock on a warm summer's night when Bobby floated the story idea by Conway ... "have I got a story for you"!

The Eagleson fiasco came back to me when I found the attached letter among some of my memorabilia. It's from Conway to hockey's first colour commentator and Montreal Canadien executive Frank Selke Jr. He'd asked for Conway's opinion on whether Selke's golf course should ban Eagleson as a member. The date is 1998 - in the midst of uncovering all of Eagleson's wrongdoing. 

Conway doesn't mince words. He was right on all counts.

Without Conway's curiosity, investigative skill and bravery, Eagleson may still be running the NHLPA.

For once, the National Hockey League, the FBI, The Law Society of Upper Canada, the RCMP and the Order of Canada got it right ... thanks to a little know writer from a little-known newspaper in Bobby Orr's backyard.

Eagleson was fined and paid $700,000 US and was sent to prison for 18 months -- 

only serving 6 months at the Mimico Correctional Facility which may be a synonym for the                    Holiday Inn ( apologies to the Holiday Inn). Apparently, he may have cashed all those favours mentioned earlier.

Then FBI Agent Tom Daly, left, holds the mug shot of Alan Eagleson, as Russ Conway takes a call during the party to celebrate Eagleson's plea in Boston 1998

The noise about the devil, R. Alan Eagleson, may have settled but we should never let it.

Some high-ranking former players stood firmly by his side during his investigation led by Hall of Famer, Bobby Clarke. According to the Eagleson tell-all book written by Carl Brewer, Eagleson sold the Flyer ownership on a lifetime contract for Clarkie at $250,000 per year ... that's why he's been a fixture around the team for the past 40 years and the reason Clarkie remains a loyal soldier for Eagleson.

You'd be surprised and very disappointed to know the names of others who continue to support the thief. I'm certain they are happy that interest in the Eagleson story has faded away and they've become quietly disconnected from him.

Hockey fans should never let the story of the damage he caused to players and their families fade away.

During his heyday, Eagleson was nicknamed the Czar of Hockey. Now, we know better.

It's 2023.

For what he did he should still be in jail. 

 

R.I.P. Russ ... Thanks for being hockey's 7th player