Monday, June 20, 2016
Mr. Howe-Mr. Hockey
Amongst other things, Gordie Howe was perhaps the
greatest ambassador for the game of hockey. On the ice, and off the ice, he was
Hockey.
As is the case with so many other fans, I have had a
couple of opportunities to chat with the late Mr. Howe. Always genial, always
most affable, he paved the way for young players in the game. He taught them
how to relate to the public. Simply put, he said that if someone was going to
wait for him to sign an autograph, then he would take the time to sign it. As
you know, that is not always the case today.
Bobby Hull was the same way. There are countless tales
told about buses having to wait while Bobby signed the last few autographs.
Only a couple of years ago, I was chatting with a seated
Bobby Orr at a Panthers’ game in Sunrise Florida
Later that evening, Gordie asked me where I was from. I
told him I was from the Belleville
Last weekend I had one of my “catching up chats” with my
oldest and best friend, Peter Carver. I owe a great deal of my sports
enthusiasm and knowledge to Peter, and to his dad, George, who was the sports
editor at the Intelligencer in Belleville Belleville Rednersville Road
They often visited with a scrap medal dealer from Detroit County
Gardens
Almost twenty-five years ago, son Arty and I attended a
card show in Toronto
Howe turned around and stated, rather curtly, “Young man,
until you are polite about it, with a ‘Please’ or ‘Thank you’, I won’t sign
anything.” Arty apologized, and rephrased his request. Gordie signed a blowup
of the 1954-55 topps card for him. Lesson learned.
Over the past week or so, I have heard many different
stories about encounters with “Mr. Hockey”. Many local fans met Gordie and
Rocket Richard at the Quite Mall. That would be a combination of two of the
greatest players of all time, from both of Canada
When the photo was taken at the Hockey Hall of Fame with
his son Mark, Gordie elbowed me as I was trying to look pretty for the camera.
I asked, “What did you do that for?” He replied: “I’m famous for that!”
Meet me at the Quinte Sports Centre this Thursday at 11:00am , for the unveiling of the
historic plaque recognizing the efforts of Jack Laviolette, one of the founders
of the Montreal
James Hurst
# posted by James Hurst @ 6:11 PM 
