Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Season's Greetings 2012!
Last Monday I
attended the annual Christmas luncheon of the National Hockey League Players’
Association. There is a monthly luncheon, held at a dear old Shopsy’s north of
the 401 in Toronto
At the past few
December meetings, a member of the group has taken to the makeshift stage to
share a few tunes with the gathering. Michael Burgess has always known how to
captivate an audience. This group is special to him, as he has played with the
Legends of Hockey for several years. He loves the game, and he makes it clear
that it is his honour to be there
amongst the old pros.
Michael brings along
an accompanist, and strolls around the room, warming the crowd with some of his
personal favourites, and a few Christmas carols. He began with Love,
then added You Raise Me Up. He sang Music of the Night from the Phantom
of the Opera, and quipped, “Not a bad tune!”.
He had to contend
with carts full of rattling plates, and noisy patrons at the back of the
restaurant. Always the consummate act, he was never fazed by the interruptions.
He finished with Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, O Holy Night,
and Silent Night, encouraging the rabble to join him in song.
I met “Bo” Elik for
the second time in my life. As kids, playing street hockey and a variety of
other sports, we all had nicknames. On the football field, I was “Spider”, as
in Spider Lockhart, a defensive back who played for the Giants. Another one of
the crew was “Bo”, taken from “Bo” Elik. He was likely the original “Bo”,
predating Bo Jackson and all the other Bos.
In the 1960s, many of
us took to the roads, and dangled our thumbs for transportation. We hitched
rides up and down the 401 for years. On one occasion, I hopped in and introduced
myself to the driver. He told me his name was “Bo” Elik. I then explained to
him why I was impressed. He thought little of it. When I explained that to him at the luncheon,
he was equally nonchalant about the whole situation.
I also met Sue
Foster, the tiny yet powerful pen behind the undoing of Alan Eagleson. She
wrote the book, “The Power of Two-Carl Brewer’s Battle Belleville
Frank Mahovlich does
not often attend the functions. It was like a great homecoming for him. Many of
the other NHL players naturally played for the Leafs, as did Frank. He was able
to renew acquaintances with many of them.
We lined up for
lunch, and I was directly in front of Frank. I turned to give my pal Will his
twenty dollars for the meal, and Frank stuck out his hand. “I will be out of
work soon,” he pleaded. I remembered that he was about to turn 75. Senators in Canada
Needless to say, I
felt sorry for Frank, but not that sorry. I put the $ 20 back in my pocket. I
made the mistake of discussing Frank’s junior career in Toronto St.
Mike’s”. Ah, yes. That’s quite correct.
To his credit, he has
experienced a fine life. Many of the group at the luncheon remember the
Mahovlich kids at the Leaside arena, where his dad sharpened skates. His
brother Peter also enjoyed a wonderful NHL career, and now works with the
Panthers in Florida
At no time was there
mention of a lockout or labour negotiations. That was a good thing.
# posted by James Hurst @ 7:34 AM 
