Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Notes From Mr. Wilson's Basement-Part Two
Last week I
featured one-third of the famous Kid Line that helped put hockey on
the map in Toronto, It was in the early 1930s, and the Leafs were in
the process of moving into Maple Leaf Gardens. It was to become a
crowning achievement for Leafs owner, Conn Smythe.
Harvey Jackson
Harvey
“Busher” Jackson also played on that famous line. His nephew was
on hand to tell us about his uncle, and about his father Art, who
also played in the NHL. He talked about his uncle with an air of
reverence. “Busher's” career was certainly chaotic. All in all,
he did earn a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with his
teammates.
He told the
audience in the basement that his uncle wore number 18 for the
Bruins. With that, he proceeded to dig into a plastic bag, and
displayed his uncle's jersey, and his father's as well. Art's dad
told his son that no one in the NHL possessed a backhand shot as hard
as Busher. He also said the Busher was “as tough as nails”.
Harvey Jackson
The Jacksons
had a summer place in Bobcageon. As was often the case in those days,
Busher would have the entire hockey team head north to his town to
play a little softball in the summer. In the winter, the boys often
skated in Toronto on the Grenadier Pond.
Busher had a
tough time following his hockey career. To put it gently, he lived in
the fast lane while playing, saving very little for a rainy day.
There is even a story that he could be found selling broken Leafs
sticks to fans outside the Gardens to get a little pocket money. When
the time came for the committee to induct him into the Hall of Fame,
Conn Smythe blocked his nomination. Five years after his death,
Jackson was inducted into the Hall. Smythe resigned the next day.
Joe Primeau
Joe Primeau
was the third member of the Kid Line. His granddaughter was on hand
to share tidbits from his life. Primeau was a classy guy, and was
considered to be the “brains” of the line. In his first five
years on the line, he led the NHL in assists three times. Primeau
retired from hockey in 1936, when he was just 30 years old. He
determined that he could be more successful with his business
interests off the ice. But once he had those businesses up and
running smoothly, he got back into the game, coaching. Over the next
ten years, his teams won the Memorial Cup, the Allan Cup, and the
Stanley Cup. He was the last surviving member of the Kid Line.
Another
participant that evening was Richard Levinsky, son of Alex Levinsky.
Levinsky played for the Leafs in the 1930s, with “Hap” Day as his
defence partner. He was later traded to Chicago, and was a popular
player with some of the well known characters in the city at that
time: ”Bugs” Segal, and Meyer Lansky, in particular. Levinsky was
Jewish, as were those gentlemen. When Levinsky was traded from
Chicago, they were furious. In their typically suggestive way, they
asked Levinsky if he wanted them “to take the coach for a short car
ride”.
"King" Clancy
Terry Clancy
was on hand to talk about his father, the legendary “King”
Clancy. He told the group his father never talked about his games,
from a personal standpoint. As a coach and observer later in life, he
realized that players continued to improve each year. Terry was a
fine player in his own right, playing for Canada in the 1964 Olympics
in Austria.
“King”
retired in the 36-37 season, then went on to referee in the NHL for
15 seasons. He returned to coaching, and was behind the bench 1n 1967
when the Leafs won the Cup,
Great
memories!
James Hurst
September
26, 2017
# posted by James Hurst @ 2:17 PM 
