Posts
Sunday
Irv Spencer
Making the NHL is never easy, but it was especially difficult in the days of Original Six.
Take defenceman Irv Spencer, pictured to the right, for example. He played professional hockey from 1957 all the way through 1974. In all those years he only got into 230 NHL games.
"You could be around for three or four years and they could still say you didn't have enough experience," he lamented, adding "Of course there was only six teams in the league. You had to wait until somebody died to get a position."
Fortunately no one actually died. Spencer graduated to the NHL in 1960 skating the next two years with the New York Rangers. He would then move to Boston for a year before joining the Detroit Red Wings organization. Over the next ten years he bounced around the Wings' minor league affiliates, only occasionally getting a chance in Detroit.
But he wouldn't get much of a chance, as he was used sparingly for long stretches.
"If you sat there long enough, it just seemed that you would lose something. I know that's what happened to me somewhat."
In 1972 Spencer was all too happy to jump to the newly formed WHA. He would play the final two seasons in the WHA, playing for the Philadelphia/Vancouver Blazers.
He retired in 1974 under somewhat strange circumstances.
"Strangely enough the person who brought me into the major leagues, Phil Watson, asked me to quit. I was ready to quit. I was finished," said Spencer, pointing out how badly worn his knees were after all the years of hockey.
Spencer settled in San Diego where he had played some minor league hockey. He got into the mortgage and loans department of a local bank.
Friday
Clint Smith
Clint "Snuffy" Smith died today. At age 95 he was believed to have been the oldest living ex-NHLer.
For 10 seasons, Clint Smith symbolized the successful combination of high skill level and sportsmanship. Smith totaled a mere 24 penalty minutes to go along with 397 career points in 483 NHL games. He was a two-time winner and three-time runner-up in the Lady Byng trophy voting. In fact, he was the first player to win this award with two different teams. He had four penalty free seasons.
A native of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Smith enjoyed a successful amateur career with the Saskatoon Wesley Juniors. He turned professional with the New York Rangers organization at the age of 18 and played his first full NHL season with the Rangers in 1937- 38. Following his rookie season Smith's strengths were recognized as he was runner-up for the Lady Byng trophy. The following season he won this prestigious award -- a feat which he duplicated in 1943-44.
Smith was also part of the New York Rangers' famous Stanley Cup team of 1939-40.
Prior to the 1943-44 campaign, after six seasons with the Rangers, Smith was sold to the Chicago Black Hawks. Smith's first season with the Hawks was very productive as he won his second Lady Byng trophy and set a NHL record for a 50 game season of 49 assists. During this same year he and his Chicago linemates Bill Mosienko and Doug Bentley, set a NHL record for a line with 219 total points.
Smith played four seasons with Chicago before retiring from the NHL after the 1946-47 season to become the playing coach of the Tulsa Oilers of the United States Hockey League. His first season with that club brought Smith a league MVP award and a berth in the USHL semi-finals. The following season Smith coached the USHL champion St. Paul Saints, the New York Rangers' farm club in that league.
After his retirement from hockey, Smith moved back to Vancouver, where his involvement with the sport has continued. Prior to the NHL setting up a fund for "needy" players and families, Smith helped found the British Columbia Benevolent Hockey Association and served as its president for six years. In addition, he maintained a strong interest in the Junior and Juvenile hockey on the North Shore, and was active in charitable endeavors of the Vancouver Canucks Alumni.
Clint "Snuffy" Smith was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.
Thursday
Walt Poddubny
I was at work all day and unable to pass this story along earlier. That's too bad, because this, as James Mirtle has already stated, really is must read material.
The Globe and Mail's Allan Maki tells us much of the story of Walt Poddubny. He never woke up on Saturday, dying at the young age of 49.
He was far from the most skilled player. He had adequate size and a good burst of speed to find open space. He had a nose for the net, too, as he exploded for 40, 38 and 38 goal seasons to close out the 1980s. Devastating knee injuries slowed him down and eventually forced him out of the game just before hockey's big money era.
It turns out Poddubny's story after the NHL is quite sad. He tried to stay in the game, partly for financial reasons but mostly because he could never deal with the game being taken away from him. But after mixed results coaching in the low minor leagues, he returned home to Thunder Bay and has been living in his sister's basement. He lost his marriage and found friendship in the form of the bottle.
His story is probably not completely uncommon, especially amongst the many players who are forgotten about not long after they have left the ice if not earlier.
Poddubny seemed to be reaching out for help, talking with the Globe and Mail columnist. The two agreed to meet in the off season and work out some sort of project. Poddubny wanted to tell his story, presumably so others would not have to go through it.
Unfortunately, Poddubny found a way to have his story heard loud and clear.
Saturday
Harry Howell
Here is an interesting trivia question. Who was the last player in to win the Norris Trophy as best defenseman before the arrival and subsequent dominance of the trophy by Bobby Orr?
The answer: Harry Howell.
It could be said that Howell was the last defensive defenseman to win the trophy, as the award took on a different definition after Bobby Orr.
Harry Howell played 24 NHL seasons and three more in the WHA. When he retired no defenseman had played more big league games than the ironman Howell.
Ironman would be an appropriate nickname for the man who never played for a Stanley Cup winner. In his first 16 NHL seasons he missed an amazingly minuscule total of just 17 games.
Although not an overly aggressive rearguard he used his hockey sense to become an extremely effective defensive player. He was quite the unsung hero, buried with the largely unsuccessful Rangers. It was rare that he was rightfully recognized as one of hockey's top players. In fact it was not until 1966-67, his 15th year in the league, that he was honored with the Norris trophy as the league's best defenseman and with all star status.
Although not regarded as an offensive threat by today's standards, Howell was a slick passer who always made the safe play. He was a reliable work horse who could always be counted on to bring his steady game every night of the week. A master of the poke check, his understated brilliance was certainly appreciated by his coaches and teammates, especially his goaltenders. He always was able to steer oncoming attackers to the boards and away from scoring spots.
Howell was all too happy to play in the shadows of more popular defense partners. His most notable co-workers were the belligerent Lou Fontinanto, a Manhattan fan favorite, and Doug Harvey, to that time the greatest defenseman of all.
“They don’t come much better than Harry," Harvey said soon after joining the Rangers.
"The thing that makes him the great hockey player he is," Emile Francis once said "is that the quality of his game seldom varies. Some defensemen, they look like all-stars one night, or maybe for three games in a row, and then they tail off. But Harry, he's like the Rock of Gibraltar."
Francis added "Hockey is a game of mistakes, and Harry doesn't make many of them."
Howell would have stops in Oakland, Los Angeles and the WHA after 17 seasons with the Rangers where he was captain for two years and one year was a playing assistant coach.
In 1979 he was elected to Hockey's Hall of Fame.
Tuesday
Lorne Chabot
Think of all the great goalies in the Hall of Fame. Ken Dryden. Turk Broda. Gump Worsley. Terry Sawchuk .... the list is seemingly endless. Or is it? If it was truly complete, then Lorne Chabot would be there too.
A veteran of 10 NHL season, Chabot retired with 73 career shutouts with a career goals against average of 2.04! His playoff GAA is an even smaller 1.50. Those stats compare favorably with Hall of Fame goaltenders, and in many cases are better. It's ridiculous that one of the game's true greats isn't in the Hall of Fame.
A veteran of World War I and a former police officer, Chabot was an outstanding senior hockey player, leading the Port Arthur Bearcats to back-to-back Allan Cup championships in 1925 and 1926.
In 1926 he caught the eye of a young Conn Smythe who signed him for the New York Rangers. The Rangers marketing department thought they could use Chabot to draw interest from the city's large Jewish population. He was, believe it or not, to be listed and promoted as "Chabotsky," although Chabot refused to play along.
Chabot battled for the starters job with Hal Winkler his first season but eventually won out. By his second season he guided the Rangers all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. However in the finals Chabot got clipped in the eye and was unable to continue the game. Coach Lester Patrick asked to use a borrowed goaltender (Dave Kerr of the Rangers, who was in the stands) as a replacement, but wasn't allowed to. Patrick, at the age of 44 decided to put the pads on himself. This move energized his Rangers. They played inspired hockey and the game went in to overtime. In a game that Hollywood couldn't dream of, Frank Boucher went on to score in overtime for the Rangers. The Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup. At that moment Patrick was immortalized forever. This is one of the NHL's most legendary moment.
Chabot's eye injury was slow to heal that summer and the Rangers feared it would end his career so they shuffled him off to Toronto. It proved to be a steal for the Leafs as Chabot enjoyed his 5 seasons in Toronto, including helping the Buds win the 1932 Stanley Cup.
Chabot was traded to Montreal for another all time great - George Hainsworth. It marked the beginning of a lot of trades for Chabot. After one season with Les Habitants he, along with Howie Morenz and Marty Burke were traded to Chicago for Lionel Conacher, Roger Jenkins and Leroy Goldsworthy.
In Chicago Chabot's job was to replace Charlie Gardiner who weeks earlier backstopped the Hawks to the 1934 Stanley Cup but died of a brain tumor shortly afterwards. After posting a league leading 1.83 GAA and winning the Vezina Trophy, Chabot lost his job to Mike Karakas. Chabot refused to be sent to the minors and spent most of his final two seasons toiling with the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans.
Interestingly Chabot played in the two longest games in NHL history. He was the winning goalie in a 1-0 shutout victory in 1933 when the Leafs beat the Bruins that went into a 6th overtime. Three years later Chabot was on the losing end of a 1-0 game while playing with the Montreal Maroons against Mud Bruneteau and the Detroit Red Wings. That game also went into a 6th overtime - lasting 12 minutes longer than the previous record.
Chabot, who has also been credited for introducing the modern day goalie blocker, died in 1946 from a kidney disease. He also had severe arthritis, leaving him bedridden late in his life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)