TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
Since I'm in the middle of a 100+ wait between picks and don't feel like finishing the Glen Sather bio yet, I'll post a few more tidbits here:
Montreal Gazette, Jan 24, 1948
Fun to see what constituted an argument about hockey history in 1948.
"The Malone-Richard Argument"
"The Would be Great in Any Era"
Nice bit about Newsy Lalonde's thuggery
Seems some things never change, even if the names of the players do:
Montreal Gazette, Jan 24, 1948
Fun to see what constituted an argument about hockey history in 1948.
"The Malone-Richard Argument"
Fans debated the merits of his record on street corners, in taverns, in restaurants, in clubs, and in the corners of the Forum between periods. It was pointed out that The Rocket had scored 50 goals in 50 games, an average of one per game, whereas Joe's average was 2 goals per game. The Rocket's admirers shouted that Joe had played in the era of 60 minute men and that he was on the ice as long or longer than The Rocket. Joe's adherents shouted just as loudly that there were no blue lines, forward passing, and power plays when he compiled his great record.
It petered out, as all such arguments do, without either side proving its case to the other.
"The Would be Great in Any Era"
Nice bit about Newsy Lalonde's thuggery
Newsy Lalonde was a great hockey player and a great goal-getter in his own right, but he was mostly in the headlines because of the ice wars he set in motion. He was one of the so-called "bad men" of his time. There is a story that Conn Smythe once wandered down to the old Mural Street Arena in Toronto to watch the Toronto Arenas play the Canadiens. Newsy and Minnie McGiffin went into action that night, carving each other like super-surgeons with their sticks, and the affair is supposed to have delayed Smythe's entry into hockey for a number of years. He didn't think the public would patronize it, even if the players survived.
The story is probably without foundation, in fact, considering the brawls the Toronto entry has been in since Conn took over.
Seems some things never change, even if the names of the players do:
We listened to Jack Adams, manager of the Detroit Red Wings, discussing the great players of the past a few nights ago with Mr. and Mrs. Decker, a pair of Red Wings enthusiasts. Eventually they got around to discussing the greatest player of all time, which seems inevitable in discussions of this time. The Deckers came out flat-footed in favor of Eddie Shore.
"A great hockey player," said Jack. "But did you ever see Howie Morenz?"
The Deckers admitted they hadn't, though conceded that he might have been a great hockey player. But they had seen Shore and they couldn't visualize another player quite in his class.
That's where these arguments seem to start and finish. Old-time fans who haven't seen a game in 20 years refuse to admit that any of the modern stars could appraoch the idols of their own era. The youngsters who have only been watching hockey for five years are just as stubborn in their conviction that any of those old-timers could match the present-day stars.
But those who have seen them all agree that a fellow who was great in his own era would have been great in any time.