March 8, 1937: Howie Morenz, perhaps the greatest player the game of hockey had yet seen, dies while, technically, still an active player, sending shock waves through the sport.
He was born on September 21, 1902 in Mitchell, Ontario. At age 15, he was moved with his family to Stratford, Ontario. He played his 1st organized hockey game at age 8, as a goaltender. He allowed 21 goals. The coach switched him to rover, a position soon phased out of hockey, basically a player who switched from offense to defense as the flow of the game required. At 14, he was switched to center because of his speed. That speed, and his hometowns, would lead to nicknames: The Mitchell Meteor and the Stratford Streak.
Morenz worked for the Canadian National Railway (the CN in Toronto's CN Tower), and played on their semi-pro team. The referee told a friend, Montreal Canadiens owner Léo Dandurand, how good Morenz was. He had already led a junior league and a senior league in scoring, and the Toronto St. Patricks (who became the Maple Leafs in 1927) were already looking at him. Dandurand wanted Morenz signed at any cost, and got him.
He debuted on December 26, 1923, and scored, although the Canadiens lost in overtime to the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 at the Ottawa Auditorium. But, as a rookie, he helped the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup. He also led the team to the Stanley Cup in 1930 and 1931.
Even at the time, the 1920s was called "The Golden Age of Sports." It was Babe Ruth in baseball, Red Grange in football, Jack Dempsey in boxing, Paavo Nurmi in track, Bill Tilden in tennis, Bobby Jones in golf, and Man o' War in horse racing. In hockey, it was Howie Morenz.
He led the NHL in scoring in 1928 and 1931, before the founding of the Art Ross Trophy for the leading scorer. In both of those seasons, and again in 1932, he won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the League's Most Valuable Player. In addition to his geographical nicknames, the Francophone fans of the Canadiens nicknamed him L'Homme Eclair: The Lightning Man.
In 1934, he and his Canadiens linemate, Aurèle Joliat, were named to the NHL All-Star Team that faced the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Ace Bailey Benefit Game. But he was barely able to play in it, as he hurt his ankle, and just returned in time. He was never the same player: His production dropped off, and, right before the next season, he was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks.
A little more than a year later, he was traded to the New York Rangers. Before the 1936-37 season, he was reacquired by the Canadiens. It seemed to reinvigorate him, as his scoring and assisting output increased.
But on January 28, 1937, the Canadiens played the Black Hawks at the Montreal Forum. The Canadiens won, 6-5, but few cared. In the 1st period, Morenz and the Hawks' Earl Seibert went after the puck. Morenz lost his balance, crashed into the boards, and caught his left skate in the wooden siding. Seibert was unable to stop, and fell on Morenz. The sound of Morenz' leg breaking could be heard all through the Forum.
At Hôpital Saint-Luc, Morenz' leg was X-rayed, and found to be broken in 4 places. He was out for the season, and his career was now in jeopardy. He received so many visitors, from his own team and the teams visiting the Canadiens, that a teammate said, "The whisky was on the dresser, and the beer was under the bed."
But once visiting hours were over, there was nothing to do, except read the newspapers, which told of how badly the Canadiens were doing without him. This, and the thought that he might never play again, sent him spiraling into depression. The team doctor examined him, and said that he'd suffered a nervous breakdown, and banned all visitors except for family and team officials.
On March 8, 1937, 39 days after his injury, he got up to use the bathroom, and collapsed on the floor. A blood clot from his broken leg led to a coronary embolism. Howie Morenz was dead at age 34.
His death cast a pall over the Province of Quebec, and over hockey as a whole. The Canadiens were scheduled to play their fellow tenants of the Forum, the Montreal Maroons, the next night, and asked his widow, the former Mary McKay, if the game should be canceled. She said he would want them to play. The teams took to the ice wearing black armbands, and observed two minutes' silence in his memory before beginning play. The Maroons won, 4-1.
At the old Madison Square Garden, another intra-building rivalry was set to take place, and a moment of silence was held there as well. The New York Rangers beat the New York Americans, 7-5. One other game was played that night: The Boston Bruins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-1 at the Boston Garden.
On March 11, Morenz' funeral was held at the Forum. A rotating guard of honor of 4 Canadiens players stood around his coffin. Joliat had contributed a floral arrangement that included a Number 7. The service was broadcast on radio.
He was buried in Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal, which is also the final resting place of 3 other members of the Hockey Hall Fame: NHL founder Frank Calder, executive Sir Montagu Allan, and former Canadiens owner Hartland Molson. And also of 1890s Prime Minister John Abbott, author Mordecai Richler, and Anna Leonowens, the "I" of The King and I.
On November 2, 1937, a benefit game was held at the Forum for the Morenz family. A combined team of Canadiens and Maroons played a team from the rest of the NHL, which won, 6-5. Morenz' Number 7 was also retired by the Canadiens that night. A total of $26,595 was raised for the Morenz family. This would work out to $490,984 in 2021 money, or $387,297 in U.S. dollars.
The money went to his wife and 3 children: Son Howie Jr., son Donald, and daughter Marlene. Marlene married a later Canadiens legend, Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion. Their son Dan Geoffrion played briefly in the NHL and the WHA, including the 1979-80 season with the Canadiens.
Dan's son, Blake Geoffrion, won the Hobey Baker Award, hockey's version of the Heisman Trophy, with the University of Wisconsin in 2010. He played only 3 seasons in the NHL, but that included 13 games in 2012 with the Canadiens. So that's 4 straight generations of one family (and 3 of another) playing for the Canadiens.
At the time of his death, Morenz had 270 goals and an NHL career record 472 points. He was a charter inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945. In 1950, the Canadian Press (Canada's version of the Associated Press) named him the greatest hockey player of the 1st half of the 20th Century. In 1998, The Hockey News ranked him 15th on its list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. In 2017, he was named to the NHL's 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players.
The AP's other 1950 honorees: Ruth for baseball, Dempsey for boxing, Tilden -- despite his recent scandal -- for men's tennis, George Mikan for basketball, Suzanne Lenglen for women's tennis, Man o' War as the greatest racehorse; and Jim Thorpe for football and track and field, and as greatest athlete overall.
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March 8, 1937 was a Monday. There were no NHL games scheduled for that day. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. Baseball was in Spring Training. And the NFL was out of season. So there were no scores on this historic day.
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