All World Hockey by T. Michael Travers

This is a story that marks the anniversary of the passing of one of my closest friends. I think about him a lot.  If you're 50-60-70-ish and a fan of NHL hockey and Hockey Night in Canada, you'd know him. Initially, I thought I would just send this reminder note to other friends of the "coach". Like me, they might be a little shocked at how quickly time has passed. But, I thought I'd share the story with you because you are a hockey person. I thought you might enjoy knowing a little about a guy with a surname that's part of hockey's royalty. Interviewing Howe & Bower If you proceed, it will be a time commitment because I go on a bit. This is about Frank Selke Jr. He was a Montreal Canadien executive for 21 years - he handled publicity, and his father ran the team and developed the NHL's first farm team feeder system. FYI,  when former Canadien superstar, Serge Savard, was the team's general manager, he created a special, gold Stanley C...

Only Player with 11 Stanley Cups A well-connected friend of mine offered to introduce me to his friend, former Montreal Canadien captain and hockey legend, Henri Richard. I was invited to join them for a few drinks at a Toronto hotel. My mind raced.  I had a million questions.  I was so excited to meet "Pocket" Rocket that I arrived almost an hour before the agreed-upon time. I recognized Henri immediately as he exited the hotel elevator and introduced myself. He seemed smaller than his 5' 7" biostat. How did this little guy play 20+ years in the NHL and earn 11 Stanley Cups?   He'd earned 5 consecutively following his rookie year. How did this little guy score the Stanley Cup-winning goal, twice -- only 4 other players had accomplished that in league history. I attempted to make small talk as we sank into the lobby sofa to wait for our mutual friend. Although I was anxious to talk hockey, I didn't want to appear pushy. We talked about the weather, t...

If you've ever been to a Christian church, you've heard, agreed with, disagreed with, endured or just fallen asleep listening to a sermon. They're good or bad and most take too long. Some preachers/evangelists/ use the hymn Amazing Grace to back up their plea to bring the congregation together. In the second line of the hymn,  my wife objects to "that saved a wretch like me" -- she doesn't think of herself as a wretch and neither do I.  Often I wish, just once, that the sermon giver would get up to the pulpit and simply say, "Please try not to run over another parishioner as you are leaving the parking lot ... have a nice day." and then sit down. Recently, I stayed awake long enough to steal a sermon theme from an unsuspecting orator. He claimed it was a Best Man wedding speech delivered after one of the chicken dinners he is forced to attend.         Salt         SEL           Sal...

          en - ter - tain - er          NOUN          definition:          a person, such as a singer, dancer, or comedian,          whose job it is to entertain others.           wor - lds  - great - est   en - ter  -  tain  - er           NOUN          definition:         (my definition; all of the above and more) He was full-to-the-brim with talent but couldn't read or write until he was 18 years old. His father and uncle had formed a tap dance show,  The Will Mastin Trio , and put him on a vaudeville stage with them when he was only 4 years old. By his late teens, he couldn't wait for fate or good luck to help him.  He had to make it on his own. So he stood outside the stage door following a Frank Sinatra c...

In 1991, Wayne Gretzky and comedian, John Candy, and LA Kings owner, Bruce McNall bought the CFL Toronto Argonaut franchise. Their first order of business was to sign the Heisman Trophy runner-up, Raghib Ismail to a contract. The Montreal Alouettes' had their "ordinary superstar" in Johnny Rogers but Toronto's Ismail was expected to re-write the record book in Canadian football. His nick-name was "Rocket" Ismail. We already had a legendary "Rocket" who had no equal so I wondered if this football guy knew what he was in for. When he arrived in Toronto in November of that year, I invited him to attend our Sports Celebrities Festival and asked him if he'd ever heard of the other Rocket, "Rocket" Richard. He told me that he was "well schooled in Richard's career ...  I know everything there is to know about the great hockey player".  Perfect.  The reason I asked ... I wanted to do a portrait of the "T...