Sports


Dinner with Frank Mahovlich I


Dorothy Dobbie


had the privilege recently of enjoying a dinner with Frank Mahovlich, the for- mer hockey player and senator, who re-


galed us with stories of his past. One of them was about his recent trip (2017) to Moscow to have dinner with Putin – the occasion was a celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Canada-Russia hockey series of 1972. Frank, who was one of the team co-captains, was there with guys like the Russian goaltender, Vladislav Tretiak, and others of that era. I remember the 1972 series very well. I was


an avid hockey fan and a fierce Canadian even in those days and I looked forward to our NHL gang whooping those Soviets in our national game. Te series was filled with ups and downs, bitterness and moments of torment followed by wild joy whenever we won. I ended up in hospital for an operation


during the series, so I missed most of the games (including Game 3, played in Winni- peg which tied 4-4), although I have a foggy memory of coming out of anesthesia and catching a few minutes of play, ignoring my anxious family who were gathered around. Te day I came out of the hospital (they


used to keep us in for ages) was the day of game 8 in Moscow. After dropping me off at home, Glenn left to go back to work. My small daughter, Shauna, who was five at the time, was my only companion as I tuned into the final game. It was a nail biter that looked to end up in a


tie, but in the final minute of play, a miracle happened. Here’s how it was remembered by Henderson as presented by Wikipedia: In the final minute of play, with Phil Es-


posito, Yvan Cournoyer and Peter Mahovlich (Frank’s bother also played in the series) out on the ice, Paul Henderson stood up at the bench and called Mahovlich off the ice as he was skating by. "I jumped on the ice and rushed straight for


their net. I had this strange feeling that I could score the winning goal", recalls Henderson.


Paul Henderson and Yvan Cournoyer celebrate the Summit Series winning goal in 1972.


Cournoyer picked up a puck that had been


passed around the boards by the Soviets in a clearing attempt. He missed Henderson with a pass, but two Soviets mishandled the puck in the corner and Esposito shot the puck on Tretiak. Henderson, who had fallen behind the net,


got up and went to the front of the net where he was uncovered. Henderson recovered the rebound of Esposito's shot, shot the puck and was stopped, but recovered the rebound. With Tretiak down, he put the puck past Tretiak with only 34 seconds to play. Foster Hewitt's voice rose in excitement as he called the winning goal: “Cournoyer has it on that wing. Here's a


shot. Henderson made a wild stab for it and fell. Here's another shot. Right in front. Tey score! Henderson has scored for Canada!” • • •


Tere I was, beside myself with joy and


no way to express it. I got Shauna to jump up and down to celebrate for me. She must have thought I had come home deranged! Tere is no expressing to a young audi- ence today what that win meant to Cana-


Frank and Marie Mahovlich.


dians or even how we felt about our hockey heroes, whose names were one everyone’s lips, no matter how little we might know about the game in general. Frank also told us of being a young


hockey player, up against Rocket Richard for the first time. His job was to shadow the Rocket. “You stay on him,” said the coach. When you get hold of him, don’t let him go.” Frank took this advice to heart and sure


enough, he soon had the Rocket in his grasp, his arms around him, holding him very tightly. “He tried to elbow me out of the way,” said Frank. “But I held on tight. So he screwed his body around until his nose was just about touching mine and he said in a very firm voice, ‘Let go, Kid.’ I gazed into his eyes and said, ‘Yes Mr. Richard.’” I love that image of the future superstar


yielding to his hero, in spite of strict instruc- tions from the top! For those of you too young to remember,


Frank Mahovlich was one of the greatest hockey players of all time and, in 2017, was named one of the top 100 Greatest NHL Players. He will turn 81 this coming Janu-


ary 10 and is still tall, erect and full of life. During his visit to Moscow last year, Pu-


tin became very expansive – lots of vodka was imbibed – and the guests were given an underground tour of the Kremlin. Here they were shown vast stores of precious metals and jewels. Tere were big boulders of gold, said Frank, and heaps of emeralds and rubies and diamonds. It was mind- boggling. Tat got me thinking: what good is that


stuff anymore? Does it have any real intrin- sic value? Do you collect diamonds and gold now? Our real wealth is in knowledge and the ability to use it. Stuff, material things, is just stuff that we desire for a while, then tire of and replace with new stuff. If Russia is really relying on its stores of obsolete minerals as the basis for wealth, then I think they are in for a sad surprise some day in the not-too-distant future. But then, maybe I’m just showing my age.


After all, as they say, you can’t take it with you, so what the heck is the point? What is wonderful, though, is meeting a guy like Frank Mahovlich and hearing his stories.


of the year for Commissioner Kim Davis. “Te whole season is exciting, but the


MJHL Commissioner Davis reflects on league B


Derek Holtom


y his own admission, the start of each Manitoba Junior Hockey League season is one of the favourite times


early part of the season is what I really like because I get a really good chance to see all the new teams – because they are new teams by and large, as well as the new play- ers, the younger players that are just coming into the league.” And with the season now well under way,


Davis says things are fairly stable across the league. “Overall it’s not in bad shape – nothing


has transpired since the end of last year to make things any different,” he said. “Te teams are full of optimism, and some teams have gotten off to good starts.” It’s very interesting early on this year, as


teams who have traditionally struggled to make the playoffs in recent years – teams such as Swan Valley, Waywayseecappo and Dauphin – have enjoyed some of their best starts in recent memory. And that’s led to plenty of parity and rejuvenated interested


MJHL action between the Winnipeg Blues and Dauphin Kings. Photo courtesy of L. Anderson Photography. “Te expectation of that over the next two


around the league. “There are some different teams that


are at the top at least at this point, and it remains to be seen whether that trend will continue, and the teams will sort that out for sure,” said Davis. “But I think all of them are still full of optimism.” The MJHL is also continuing on their


path to being a younger, more scholarship- attractive league. Tat means less 20-year- olds for each team moving forward.


years the roster size reduced,” said Davis. “Tis year the number of 20-year-olds is at eight, next year it will be seven and then the next year it will be six where it will level off. It’s part of an ongoing play that’s going on across all junior A leagues.” Coupled with the new rules on fighting


(one fight and you’re out), today’s MJHL is a much faster and skilled league than it was even 10 years ago.


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“We as a junior league were ahead of the


curve in terms of responding to the number of fights that were happening in our games,” said Davis. “And it was for sure the right decision to make. “I know there are people out there that


don’t believe that, but as we’ve seen the highest league in the world, the NHL, has reduced the number of fights they have,” he added. “And it seems players just are not that interested in that part of the game. And we have a better game for it.” Davis is also going to be busy for the next


18 months as he helps the Portage Terriers host the RBC Cup again. It’s a quick return of the national championship to Manitoba, but there is a reason Manitoba was the ideal play to host the 2020 RBC Cup. “Te national body approached me and


asked if the MJHL would be interested in hosting the 2020 championship, because it will be the 50th anniversary of the national championship, and the first one was held in Manitoba in 1970,” said Davis. “So when I presented that concept to our board, they were very interested. “And at the end of the day, Portage put in


a formal bid,” he added. Printed with permission of the Swan Val- ley Star and Times


12 Manitoba Post


www.manitobapost.com


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