Friday, December 27, 2013
Maurice "Moe" Benoit
Date of Birth: July 26, 1932
Died: December
10, 2013
Hockey fans in the
Quinte area, and in many parts of the United States
Moe’s hockey career
really began in Montreal, when he played one game for the Royals in the Quebec Trois
Rivieres
Prior to the 1956-57
season, Floyd Crawford was one of the first players selected by manager Drury
Denyes to come to Belleville North Bay Quebec
Along with some
guidance from Wren Blair, general manager of the Whitby
They say that great
teams are designed from the goaltender outward. Gordie Bell was responsible for
the net. Crawford, Jean Paul Lamirande, and Benoit formed an awesome defensive
corps. That was the nucleus of the Belleville
team which won the World Championship in 1959 in Prague , Czechoslovakia
Benoit endeared
himself to the Belleville Belleville
Floyd Crawford had a
monumental fight with Harry Sinden, with both men tumbling ten feet over the
side of the penalty box in the fray. They were both cautioned by one of Belleville Whitby
George Carver’s
description in The Ontario Intelligencer:
“Gagnon, it appears, also made the unfortunate mistake of selecting Moe Benoit
as target bait. Moe was in his element, and politely pulled the sweater over
Gagnon’s head, and proceeded to pummel what was underneath it. It took two
minutes for Gagnon to get his hair back in place.”
Former teammate David
Jones was amazed at Benoit’s game. “Moe was an exceptional hockey player, and
led the defense. He was very effective on the power play. But above all, he
mixed really well with people.”
Lionel Botly also
patrolled the blueline with the Macs. He described Moe as “The People’s
Choice”. But he also loved his unbelievable hip checks. Benoit cruised the ice,
looking for unsuspecting foes foolish enough to have their heads down. He would
send them flying, some times over the boards. (Note: There was no glass around
the boards at The Memorial Arena. Andre or Paul Mercier, or perhaps Harry
Rollins would shove the opponent back onto the ice.)
Lionel also recalled
Moe’s restaurant on Front Street, a place where people congregated to talk
hockey.
Moe played four games
for the Kingston Omaha Knights, the Toledo
Blades and the Dayton
In 1960, he joined
several Whitby Dunlops and Kitchener
Waterloo
Keith MacDonald also
played with Benoit for several years. Amongst other things, Keith was impressed
with Moe’s slap shot. “It was just coming into its own, from guys like Bobby
Hull and “Boom Boom” Geoffrion. Moe could really fire it, and sometimes it was
on the net”.
Russ Kowalchuck also
noted Moe’s fine people skills. “When I arrived in Belleville Wayne
Moe is survived by
his wife Sharon, two daughters and three sons, ten grandchildren and two great
grandchildren.
James Hurst
December 18,
2013
# posted by James Hurst @ 7:28 AM 
