Howie Meeker, whose enthusiasm and vocabulary struck a joyous chord in the hearts of Canadian hockey fans for decades, died Sunday at Nanaimo General Hospital in British Columbia.
He was 97.
Meeker was NHL rookie of the year in 1947, won four Stanley Cups with the Toronto Maple Leafs and once scored five goals in a single game.
But it was as a broadcaster that he won the fancy, respect and love of Canadians.
Something of an anachronism during the turbulent 1960s with his short hair and no-nonsense–but effusive–approach to things, Meeker first began broadcasting in 1968, quickly winning notice and affection for phrases such as “Jiminy Cricket,” “Golly gee willikers” and “Stop it right there!”
Meeker died at 97 on Sunday in Nanaimo, B.C. He was a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Toronto Maple Leafs before beginning a legendary career as a broadcaster. (Abelimages/Getty Images/File)
Perhaps evoking the same joy that Canadian kids feel when they first take to the ice, Meeker provided a taste of simpler times–innocent times–and most Canadians could not get enough of him.
He was the ultimate Canadian hockey guy: unpretentious and knowledgeable.
He was also a trailblazer.
In 1998, Meeker won the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Award for his work with Hockey Night in Canada and The Sports Network.
Meeker (right) was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 as a broadcaster, along with (from left) sportwriter Yvon Pedneault and former players Michel Goulet and Peter Stastny. (CP PHOTO/str-Kevin Frayer)
Meeker was born at Kitchener, Ont. on 4 Nov 1923 and played amateur hockey before he joined the army’s Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers in 1943.
Wounded in 1944 when a live grenade exploded beneath his legs during training exercises in England, he returned to Canada and joined the Maple Leafs in 1946.
He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 1947, setting rookie records for most goals scored in a season (27) and most goals scored in one game.
In a 10-4 win over Chicago on Jan. 8, 1947, Meeker scored five goals.
He is one of only 44 players to ever do that.
Howie Meeker lived a life and charted a path like no other. A four-time Stanley Cup winner, a Member of Parliament, and a beloved television broadcaster, he was a great Canadian and will be missed. My condolences to his loved ones and everyone who looked up to him.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 9, 2020
He also passed the puck to Bill Barilko who scored the 1951 Stanley Cup overtime winner against Montreal–a victory that, because of Barilko’s early death that summer, has lived on in Canadian lore.
Meeker finished his NHL career in the 1953-54 season with 83 goals and 185 points in 388 regular-season games while adding 15 points in 42 playoff contests.
But Meeker, at the age of 30, could not let the game go.
He kept on playing for another 15 years at a variety of professional levels, including the American Hockey League and Newfoundland Senior League.
He finally retired after the 1968-69 season but kept skating into his 80s.
Governor General David Johnston (right) presents the Order of Canada to Meeker at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on May 27, 2011. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle)He remained with the CBC until 1990, continuing with TSN until he retired from broadcasting in 1998.
Meeker, who ran hockey schools and wrote books on the game, entered politics briefly, spending two years as a Progressive Conservative MP while he played for the Maple Leafs.
He won a by-election in an Ontario riding in 1951 but did not seek re-election two years later.
His heart was elsewhere.
In 2011, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada.
With files from CBC, CP
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