All World Hockey by T. Michael Travers

  This is not a hockey story. You may have seen the photo below. It's the Buffalo Sabres' fabulous French Connection line featuring, from left to right, Rene Robert, Gilbert Perrault and Richard Martin. They acquired the catchy nickname at the same time the movie by that name was released in 1971. I had the three players attend a black-tie charity function. It occurred to me that if I could get them to pose for a photo and have them autograph it, I could use it as a fundraising item for the charity's silent auction for years to come. To prepare, I approached a Toronto poster company to see if they had any original Gene Hackman French Connection movie posters. When I explained why I wanted them, the proprietor loaned them to me with a promise that he would receive a copy of the finished, unframed autographed photo. Next, I visited an army surplus store that had a collection of 200-year-old war swords. That proprietor agreed to the same terms, and I marched out of his store w...

A Young Gordie Howe in his Prime Yikes! If you played hockey and wondered if you were ever good enough to play at the game's highest level ... how do you think you could play against a guy with a body like that ... it might be equally difficult to play with a guy who had a body like that and think you were equal to his level of play -- he had muscles on muscles I have a friend who was given that opportunity. I can't imagine how excited he must have been. He was a Marlie, a Toronto boy drafted by the Original Six Red Wings.  He went to training camp in the 1950s, barely still a teenager. He was on the ice for the afternoon drills with the hopefuls. The morning group, made up of the starting lineup, used the other changing room but shared the same showers. My buddy walked into the bathroom/shower room and he looked at the guy taking a shower through the mist ...it was Gordie ... on full display ...with that farmboy physique. He said, "seeing that body was enough for me ......

Woodbine Racetrack opened in downtown Toronto in 1874. In 1963, it was renamed Greenwood Race Track and featured both harness & thoroughbred racing. One afternoon, I got a call from my next-door neighbour, Ron, ... "We're going to Greenwood tonight,     I've got an insider tip on a horse that's going to win easily and he'll go off at great odds". Ron had worked for the Jockey Club for years and was a senior official working alongside former Toronto Maple Leaf captain, Ted "Teeder" Kennedy who'd been a track steward since his hockey retirement. Ron repeated, "My lawyer friend has a trotter running in tonight's 5th race and says he can't lose" "Sure Thing" ... the myth: Leo Cahill People who claim a "sure thing" are legion. We all may say those words from time to time. However, there are occasions when that sta...

I watched "Elvis" the recently-released Baz Lurmann film about The King of Rock n Roll. The lead, played by Austin Butler gives an outstanding performance. You should see it. Butler has the moves, the voice, the look ... but this guy really, really has the moves. As a teenager, I never liked Elvis or his music (I was Motown). I didn't get the hair or the wiggles.  I watched his performance on the Ed Sullivan TV show - I didn't understand --  especially the screaming girls. And, even though I didn't really care for Beatles music,  I understood their appeal as they played for the first time on a later Sullivan's Sunday night show. Perhaps Elvis set the table for his music competition with those screaming girls. "The Fab Four" and the rest of the British Invasion owe much of their fan success to Elvis. But, enough about "The K...

Every football fan knows "Broadway Joe" Namath.  He's a legend. There's a story about him. The night before the Super Bowl, he returned to the hotel following practice with a bottle of Kentucky whiskey and was in the company of a lady-for-hire. She apparently wasn't up on her football heroes and didn't know Joe. In the morning, while the lady was getting dressed, she said ... "What about payment, Joe"? He responded, "It's OK, just buy me a few ties"!  But, enough about Joe ... he'll be back in a few minutes. I’m a Blue Jay fan. But this story really isn't about baseball.  It's about what we should expect from our sports heroes. I met Jay's batting instructor, Cito Gaston, in 1985. A Young Clarence "Cito" Gaston That's when we became friends. When he took over as team manager, his game insights helped to frame my thoughts about the game and about my home team. His coaching style was very unique and his accom...