Top Shelf: Gretzky, Indy, and the WHA
By Rob Del Mundo
DVD review: Gretzky, Indy, & the WHA by Timothy Gassen, Purple Cactus Media Productions
The Indianapolis Racers lasted only four and a half seasons in the World Hockey Association from 1974-79. While the team, and the league, may be foreign to a younger generation of hockey fans fixated on current stars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, a new DVD entitled Gretzky, Indy, & the WHA preserves the Racers’ legacy.
Arizona resident Timothy Gassen, the documentary’s producer and director, had no easy task in compiling the archival footage of Indianapolis hockey, which includes Wayne Gretzky’s first professional goal, scored as a Racer against Dave Dryden of the Edmonton Oilers.
“I was told that the footage did not exist,” said Gassen, who became an instant fan of the team as a teenager in 1974. “So I took all my research and I wrote a book which came out a year and a half ago. That led me to people who literally in their garage had kept tapes for 30 years that had been thrown away by television stations.
“We found what might be the earliest videotape of Wayne Gretzky as an Edmonton Oiler, a complete game when they played against Indianapolis, just a couple of days before the team folded in 1978. I’m delighted to bring that to fans, now.”
The Racers were more than just a historical footnote as “the team that launched The Great One’s career”. Playing before sellout crowds at Market Square Arena, the team developed an enormous following of passionate fans, coming within a game of advancing to the Avco Cup final in 1976.
The ‘75-76 team was coached by future Stanley Cup champion and Jack Adams Trophy winner Jacques Demers. Former Leafs captain Dave Keon brought his leadership skills to the dressing room, and the squad was led on the blueline by Pat “Whitey” Stapleton.
Stapleton, who enjoyed a lengthy NHL career with Boston and Chicago and played for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, truly appreciates the impact of the WHA in shaping the present-day game.
“I think it’s really important to see that history is still remembered,” said the defenceman, who served as Indianapolis’ coach and general manager in the team’s final season. “As I always say, your past is very important because it brought you right to here. The WHA was the beginning of what hockey is today, and that’s why you have to have great respect for the Bobby Hulls of the world, the Gerry Cheevers’ and JC Tremblays.”
The documentary is narrated by long-time Racers broadcaster and current voice of the Indianapolis Colts Bob Lamey. The two DVD-set is packed with vintage game footage that includes the third period of a playoff game against the Racers’ fiercest rivals – the Cincinnati Stingers.
Gassen has managed to resurrect many long-forgotten interviews, including Demers on camera after the playoff sweep of the Stingers in 1977, and also a 17-year-old Gretzky on the radio, awe-struck at having turned pro. The filmmaker has sights on similar projects involving other WHA teams such as the Houston Aeros, all aiming to serve as further tributes to the former rebel league.
“I want young fans to know that this generation of hockey players did the hard work that turned into this great game today. The WHA were the first to bring over European players. They changed the rules to open up offensive hockey. You don’t need to know anything about the WHA for this to be a fascinating story,” said Gassen proudly.
Stapleton toiled for four playing seasons in the WHA, two with the Racers. Recalling fondly the team’s interaction with the die-hard fans during his tenure, Stapleton is grateful that the stories from that era can be passed on to future generations.
“It’s wonderful for myself to have 13 grandchildren that can look back and see that part of history. I’m very proud to be part of it.”
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Top Shelf, a regular column at TMLfans.ca
Gretzky, Indy, & the WHA is available for purchase at WHARacers.com.
Top Shelf: Cohn-Head
By Rob Del Mundo
Book review: Cohn Head by Linda Cohn, The Lyons Press
Veteran broadcaster Linda Cohn has graced the airwaves of American television for over two decades. As an anchor on ESPN’s SportsCenter, Cohn’s unbridled passion for just about any activity that keeps a scoreboard has been reflected in her delivery of scores, highlights and updates for the station that markets itself as “The World Wide Leader in Sports”
One of the pioneers for women in sports broadcasting, her book Cohn-Head: A No-Holds Barred Account of Breaking into the Boy’s Club is a witty, anecdote-filled recollection of her rise to success in a male-dominated industry.
A Long Island native, but converted New York Rangers fan, Cohn received her initiation into broadcasting by working in local radio. One of her first assignments for a station named WALK was to cover a playoff series between the hated rivals the Rangers and the Islanders. Her duties included conducting post-game interviews in the dressing room; a task that seems routine and non-gender specific today, but one that was still met with some trepidation back in the early 80’s.
“I understood that I was in a men’s locker room and that, when it’s 1982, and you’re in a men’s locker room and you’re not a man, you have to expect some commotion,” recalls Cohn in a chapter titled “The Ice Melts Again”.
“The only reason a female reporter wants to get into the locker room after a game is for equal access to the players. I think I speak for 99 percent of all the female reporters who have ever traversed a male locker room when I say that there is absolutely nothing sexy, stimulating or the least bit enticing for a female reporter when she walks into a men’s locker room.”
Through perseverance, hard work and a bit of luck, Cohn steadily found jobs with increasing profiles, from covering the Olympics in Calgary for ABC Radio, to anchoring for KIRO-TV in Seattle. Home to the NFL Seahawks and (then) NBA Supersonics, Seattle holds special memories for Cohn, having bought her first house with her husband there, followed by the birth of their first child, a daughter.
Not all of Cohn’s memories of the city are found however, as she detailed a story of verbal abuse lavished upon her by an athlete, whose name she doesn’t divulge. The athlete, in a fit of rage, suggested that presence of women into the locker room was ‘morally reprehensible’. Years later, the player that delivered the vocal outburst apologized to Cohn, at the same time that he was running for public office. Tragically, he died in an accident without Cohn ever being able to determine whether his apology was genuine.
Given her rise up the ladder, a national audience seemed to be in Cohn’s destiny as she began her career at ESPN in 1992. “It’s like hanging out at a sports bar, but without the alcohol,” is the simile she uses to describe the environment. Cohn-Head shares many behind-the-scenes depictions of the daily operations of a sports network, while taking time to reflect on some of Cohn’s celebrity run-ins. She was once luckey enough to be afforded backstage access at an REO Speedwagon concert (with an incriminating DVD of her performance on background vocals somewhere in existence). On the flip-side of the coin, there have been uncomfortable moments such as an interview with Matthew Perry and a copyright snafu with rapper Jay-Z that didn’t go so well.
Working for a U.S. network where the headlines are dominated by baseball, football, basketball and NASCAR, but rarely with a stick and puck, it may surprise sports fans living north of the border that Cohn has an enormous enthusiasm for hockey. But with the pastime instilled in her at a young age, Cohn is as much of fan of Canada’s winter sport as any hoser. “Playing the game like I did as a goalie as a teenager and all through college, the love and passion stays with you,” she said in an email. “My endless obsession with the Rangers helped fill a void for me when I was young. I had very low self-esteem, not very popular, and watching the Rangers and riding that rollercoaster of ups and downs gave me something to look forward to. It was such a good feeling, I never let it leave me.”
It has been almost fifteen years since Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter led the Blueshirts to their first Cup in 54 years, but Cohn – like any Rangers fan – recalls the 1994 playoffs with clarity.
“The most intense game I’ve been a part took place in 1994 against Devils, won in double overtime by Stephane Matteau. Then of course, Game 7 against Vancouver (in the Final), I was in the building for that one. Never thought I’d see them win a cup in my lifetime. That final face off in the Rangers end with 1.3 seconds left, New York clinging to that 3-2 lead; that was stress considering all the bad luck in the past I’ve witnessed involving the Rangers. But they survived and it was one of the happiest nights in my life!”
With the support a loving family, a strong work ethic and a genuine love for her profession, Cohn is an inspiration for aspiring broadcasters to come. “Be yourself, and be accurate!” is the mantra that she offers to any hopeful newcomer to the scene.
Her story is an entertaining and insightful one.
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Top Shelf, a regular column at TMLfans.ca
Cohn-Head: A No-Holds Barred Account of Breaking into the Boy’s Club is available for purchase at LindaCohn.net. TMLfans.ca congratulates Linda, who was one of seven honourees inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame on April 26, 2009.
Top Shelf: My Greatest Day
By Rob Del Mundo
Book review: My Greatest Day by Scott Morrison, Key Porter Books
Everyone who has ever laced up a pair of hockey skates has their own greatest day.
From the peewee who can barely stand up scoring his first goal, to the NHL superstar winning a Stanley Cup, the stories of every individual’s finest moment in hockey are as diverse as the people who play the game.
Veteran journalist Scott Morrison compiled a series of fifty stories from around the hockey community in his latest offering “My Greatest Day”, with each anecdote providing the subject’s perspective of his or her most memorable moment in the sport. Morrison’s interviewees range from Hall of Fame alumni such as Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr, to current day superstars like Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla, to coaches (Scotty Bowman), officials (Ray Scapinello) and executives (Bob Nicholson).
“You want to make sure that the stories are different, and have a real cross-section,” said Morrison of selecting from a broad spectrum of candidates to share their memories. “You could do a lot of superstars, and that’s fine. But everybody has a story to tell and everyone has a greatest day.
“I thought in some ways, it would be interesting to see what they would be, for the great players – and then, just the average guy. What would resonate with that type of player? Like P.J. Stock getting his call-up, or Jeff Jackson with the 1985 World Junior Tournament, and literally standing on the blue line and wondering if this will be (his) greatest day.”
Of the 50 men and women profiled in the book, one individual stands out as a name that is known for a vocation other than hockey. Recently retired General Rick Hillier was more than willing to relate the tale of last year’s visit by a team of NHL alumni who traveled to Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan to face off against a squad of Canadian soldiers for a ball hockey game. “I was at a charity golf tournament in the summer, and he happened to be my partner,” recalls Morrison of the chance meeting with the man who was once the country’s top soldier. “We just got chatting away and I said ‘Hey, if I asked this question, what would you say?’ He said ‘I know right away what my answer would be.‘”
A key underlying aspect of “My Greatest Day” is a surprise element that is evident in many of the narratives told by the subjects. More than a few players gave answers that were completely different from what the average fan would expect to be that person’s greatest day. Cassie Campbell recalled neither of her Olympic gold medal games as her best day in hockey, despite being the only Canadian athlete in history to captain two teams to Olympic gold. Leafs legend Dave Keon played on four Stanley Cup winning teams, but his entry is not reminiscent of any of the clinching games in 1962, ‘63, ‘64, or ’67.
The biggest ‘curve-ball’ was in fact thrown by Gretzky, whose Hall of Fame career needs no further detailed expansion. Many readers will be shocked to discover that The Great One does not consider winning any of his four Stanley Cups, nine Hart Trophies, or surpassing any of Gordie Howe’s records as his greatest day in hockey. (This column will not play the role of ‘spoiler’, but will only state that Morrison’s reaction was: “Gretzky explained why it was his greatest day. And I stopped and I thought about it, and said ‘it makes absolute, perfect sense’”).
With so many subjects from which to choose, more than enough material was collected for a sequel: readers can look forward to a “My Greatest Day, Volume 2”, although no timetable has been established for its release.
Canada’s national winter sport is ingrained as a part of our land’s culture, from coast-to-coast. Morrison, who spoke by telephone just hours after his son’s morning game, is certainly no stranger to the ritual that is undertaken by many parents and youngsters in every province, long before the sun rises.
“What really struck me all the way through the book – it’s all about families and hockey, and inevitably all these people refer to the sacrifices that were made to get to whatever level of success that they were able to attain.
“That’s part of our being in Canada, part of Canadiana – the fact that these people don’t take it for granted, that they do really appreciate what they’ve got and what they’ve been able to achieve.”
One Hall of Famer in the book has “so many great moments” that he can’t pick just one.
Another superstar says that his best day is yet to come.
The book’s author, the winner of the Elmer Ferguson Award in 2006, has varying favourite moments as a journalist, player, coach, and parent – not unlike anyone who has been an early riser at the local rink.
“At the end of the day, we can all have our Greatest Day,” reminds Morrison.
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Top Shelf, a regular column at TMLfans.ca
(Authors note: The individual who prepared this column is just happy to have two loving parents who drove him to practices and games at Brampton Memorial Arena, in preparation for a career in beer league weekend hockey).
Top Shelf: The Road to Hockeytown
By Rob Del Mundo
Book review: The Road To Hockeytown by Roger Lajoie, John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd.
The year 1967 was a milestone for hockey. Canada’s centennial year marked the final season of the “Original Six” NHL, and also subsequently the league’s first big expansion. For reasons that need no further repeating, Leafs fans have committed the year to memory, for all the right – and wrong – reasons.
For Detroit Red Wings Senior Vice-President Jimmy Devellano, 1967 represents the long-time executive’s first year of employment in the NHL, breaking into the ranks as a volunteer scout with the expansion St. Louis Blues. Through over four decades of hockey, Devellano has amassed an astounding 14 championship rings in the sport, seven of which represent Stanley Cup titles. The Road to Hockeytown, written by FAN 590 radio broadcaster Roger Lajoie, examines Devellano’s journey through the sport, from his initial scouting days with the Blues to his managerial position with the New York Islanders, and eventual executive perch with the Red Wings.
“Jimmy was a guest on The FAN 590 on a regular basis,” recalled Lajoie of laying out the foundation for the book. “We connected and both decided we’d like to tackle the project.” The result of Lajoie’s and Devellano’s collaboration is an in-depth perspective of the management portion of the game as observed by one of the sport’s most respected executives.
Fans of long-suffering teams, such as the Maple Leafs, can be inspired (after being envious) in knowing that a floundering hockey club can eventually find championship success, provided that sound decision-making principles are applied. Devellano’s first season with the New York Islanders – in which he was hired as a scout after being dismissed by the Blues – was a forgettable campaign that saw the team win just 12 games. However, on Jimmy D’s recommendation, the team hired the coach that would lead them to a dynasty in the early 80’s, namely Al Arbour. Four future Hall-of-Famers would be drafted by the Islanders with Devellano on board as either the main scout, or Director of Scouting: Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy and Clark Gillies. While the contributions of these superstars was irreplaceable, Lajoie’s book also notes that a good part of the supporting cast was acquired through trades for players such as Butch Goring and Ken Morrow.
In a move ultimately paving the way (no pun intended) to the Motor City, and ultimately giving his biography its title, Devellano left the Islanders to become general manager of the Red Wings in 1982. The fortunes of the Detroit hockey team a quarter-century ago were the polar opposite of their present-day excellence; the team averaged just 7,800 fans a game and owner Mike Illitch was giving away a car at every home game. At the June draft the following summer, Devellano’s first at the helm in the new GM position, the Wings selected the player who would become the face of their franchise for the next two decades: Steve Yzerman.
Over the course of the next decade, the Wings continued to stockpile draft picks while building a management team with a keen focus on scouting. The Road to Hockeytown chronicles many of the key points in Devellano’s construction of a foundation that has led to 4 Stanley Cups for Detroit in the past eleven seasons. For example, the 1989 draft is arguably the best draft by a single team in one year, with the likes of Sergei Fedorov, Nicklas Lidstrom and Vladimir Konstantinov among the players chosen. Yet even the resurgent Red Wings who dominated regular season play for so long in the early 90’s were fraught with many playoff disappointments prior to finding the Promised Land. The tribulations that the team endured prior to finding its ultimate triumph included first-round losses to the Maple Leafs and the San Jose Sharks, a Stanley Cup Final sweep at the hands of the New Jersey Devils, and bitter six-game defeat to the rival Colorado Avalanche.
With Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman behind the bench, Detroit finally ended its 42-year cup curse in 1997, a better-late-than-never result for Jimmy D., who by then had become Director of Hockey Operations and Senior Vice President. “When I arrived in Detroit in the summer of 1982, I had promised our ownership a Stanley Cup in 15 years, “ remembers Devellano in The Road to Hockeytown. “I am a person who likes to keep his promises and, here it was, year 15 of our regime – and we finally got it done!”
The Road to Hockeytown outlines not only Devellano’s rationale in hiring certain coaches and scouts and drafting specific players, but also his philosophies in interacting with people; lessons that can be applied to any vocation. The book has been well-received by many of Jimmy D’s colleagues who have shared in his successes. “Scotty Bowman and Ken Holland in particular were very kind in their comments, and Al Arbour and Bill Torrey were also both terrific,” said Lajoie. “People in the hockey world really know and appreciate what Jimmy D has accomplished so they were all encouraging.”
It’s hard to believe that – through all of his achievements – Devellano has yet to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, considering that many of his modern-day (and well-deserving) counterparts such as Bowman, Cliff Fletcher and Glen Sather have already received their due.
Lajoie makes no secret of his opinion on the matter, but accepts that the final decision as always rests with the Hall’s Selection Committee. “I learned a long time ago not to concern yourself about things you can’t control. If the powers that vote don’t think his 40 years and seven titles is enough, so be it.
“One way or the other, he’s a Hall of Famer in my mind, and in the minds of people who really know the game.”
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Top Shelf, a regular column at TMLfans.ca
Top Shelf: St. Michael’s College: 100 Years of Pucks and Prayers
By Rob Del Mundo
Book review: St. Michael’s College: 100 Years of Pucks and Prayers by Kevin Shea, Larry Colle and Paul Patskou, Fenn Publishing
Visitors to the hockey arena at Toronto’s St. Michael’s College School can be seen at the south end of the rink perusing the several photos depicting the alumni who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League. The players whose pictures adorn those walls and whose banners hang from the arena rafters are all part of a tradition that dates back over a century.
In 1906, Father Henry Carr initiated a hockey program at the storied institution that was established over fifty years earlier by a community of Catholic priests and bishops. Since then, St. Michael’s College has developed the athletic and academic lives of no fewer than 6,000 students. Authors Kevin Shea, Larry Colle and Paul Patskou provide an extensive chronicle of the school’s hockey history in a volume titled St. Michael’s College: 100 Years of Pucks and Prayers.
“I’m a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan, so I took it from a Leafs angle,” explains Shea when recalling his role in contributing to the book. “Larry gave his input as an alumnus of the school, and Paul is one of the premier researchers around and loves the Toronto Maple Leafs as well.” The volume certainly contains no shortage of Leafs-related material as the school, along with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association, served as the chief supplier of young talent for the Maple Leafs hockey club prior to the institution of the NHL Amateur Draft in 1969. Four Hall of Famers who starred with both the Leafs and St. Michael’s Majors grace the book’s cover: Tim Horton, Frank Mahovlich, Dave Keon, and Red Kelly.
St. Michael’s College: 100 Years of Pucks and Prayers is a 300 page anthology that traces the school’s hockey history, right from the implementation of the hockey program by Father Carr. It did not take long for the school to attain championship success, claiming the Allan Cup senior hockey title in 1910. Under the guidance of Father Carr and later Father David Bauer, the institution evolved into the top breeding ground for junior hockey players in preparation for the National Hockey League. On four occasions between 1934 and 1961, St. Michael’s captured four Memorial Cup titles as the nation’s best team in junior hockey.
Shea takes pride in the biographical accounts of not only the many Hall of Famers who have skated on St. Michael’s ice, but also the players who never became household names yet still provided tales of inspiration as a result of their dedication to the sport. “One of the thrills of my life was being able to run down the list of Hall of Famers that includes Dick Duff, Gerry Cheevers and Ted Lindsay. And, some more obscure guys who never made it to the NHL – or guys who did go to the NHL but didn’t have storied careers – they all had great stories from their days at St. Mike’s.” For every story that involves a name like Keon, Lindsay or Mahovlich, there are about a dozen for players like Gerry Odrowski, a journeyman who bounced between the NHL and WHA, serving as an altar boy when getting his start at St. Mike’s “We used to go Mass every morning”, recalled Odrowski in the book. “(Helping the priests) really stuck with me. It made a better person out me.”
Not long after the Majors won their last Memorial Cup in 1961, the school year concluded with the shocking announcement that St. Michael’s would be withdrawing from OHA competition. The controversial decision was made based on the opinion that hockey was consuming too much time and energy at the expense of the academic curriculum. The team spent one year in the Metro Toronto Junior ‘A’ circuit before being replaced by the Neil McNeil Maroons, whose players included future Maple Leaf player turned CITY-TV broadcaster Jim McKenny. St. Michael’s would not return to the major junior ranks again until 1999-2000, when they re-entered the Ontario Hockey League to play an additional eight years before moving to Mississauga.
Each of the Majors’ years in existence up to the conclusion of the 2007-08 season is captured by the collective effort of Shea, Patskou and Colle, who had no easy task in assembling a century of information. “So little of the 100-year history had been compiled or collected before,” says Shea. “The latter years certainly have been chronicled much better. But those early years especially were a challenge, in having to collect, collate and put the stories in some semblance of order.”
While much of St. Michael’s College: 100 Years of Pucks and Prayers is focused on the Majors, due attention is paid to the Junior ‘B’ Buzzers, whose graduates include current Edmonton Oiler Andrew Cogliano and 2008 World Junior Tournament hero Matt Halischuk, who scored the overtime winner in the gold-medal game against Sweden that year.
The Latin motto of the school translates to English as “Teach me goodness, discipline and knowledge”. For over a century, these values were instilled in the young minds of several students, many of whom would go on to make a living playing Canada’s national winter sport. As Shea puts it, one does not need to be a school alumnus, or even necessarily a Leafs fan, to appreciate the school’s contributions to hockey.
“The St. Michael’s Majors have sent 184 alumni to the NHL and 14 Hall of Famers, which is unprecedented. There’s a great foundation. It’s a great breeding ground for hockey. Whether it was the NHL or whether just it’s the fact that it was great organization that taught skills for later in life, it was a great place to attend school.”
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Top Shelf, a regular column at TMLfans.ca