mollyfamwatToronto — Howie Micker, who won four Stanley Cups with the Toronto Maple Leaves, served in Parliament during his tenure and became a Canadian icon as a respected and colorful hockey analyst on television. He was 97 years old.
A Maple Leaves spokesman confirmed by e-mail on Wednesday that Micker died on Sunday. Not a word was said about the cause of death.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman praised Meeker’s performance as a hockey player, television anchor and coach.
Howie Meeker has spent a long and wonderful life playing, teaching and broadcasting hockey and serving his country with incredible enthusiasm, according to Bettman in a news item.
Different generations have had different memories of Miker, but almost all had something to do with hockey. He played, talked and taught. The maple leaves said he was their oldest.
As an NHL player, Meeker won the Calder Cup in 1947 – the same year that Gordie Hove entered the competition – as a top rookie and played three All-Star games. With Maple Leaves, he won four Stanley Cups in eight seasons – the most memorable moment was when he passed the baton to Bill Barilko for his 1951 victory at Montreal.
It should be noted that immediately after this title, Meeker spent two years in the NHL as a Progressive Conservative Congressman while campaigning for Lives.
Fault! The file name is not specified. Howie Meeker won the Calder Cup in 1947 as best rookie, continued to play in three All-Star games, and won four Stanley Cups in eight seasons with the Maple Leaves, as well as a career in radio, where he was recorded in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star from Getty Images.
In April 1956, Micker replaced King Clancy as a carriage from Maple Leaves. One season he went 21-34-15 behind the bench, and the next season he became general manager.
Although Miker’s NHL career ended at the age of 30 after 346 games – he scored 83 goals, 102 assists and 329 penalty minutes – he played professional hockey at various levels for 15 years, including the American Hockey League and the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League. After the 1968-69 season he left the competition and continued skiing until the 1980s.
Micker has remained inextricably linked to hockey by means of a transmission medium. After a 30-year career with CBC and TSN, he was admitted to the Hockey Hall of Fame by Foster Hewitt Memorial in 1998.
Howie was Howie. And he sets the bar, no questions, said Dick Irwin, a former Canadian Hockey Night commentator.
Micker, who often wore a powdery blue CBC jacket, was hard to miss, and his enthusiasm came straight from the heart, with Golly gee willikers coming by to sign his spells while he analyzed his video.
Mickers’ level of excitement was often similar to that of a sugary child, but he knew his things were being played and practiced. He also ran hockey schools for over 30 years and literally wrote a book about hockey: Basics by Hockey Howie Maker, published in 1973.
In the seventies, Meeker gave training and advice during his lectures at the Howie Meeker Hockey School on CBC. Later he wrote another book, Holly Gee… It’s me: Howie Meeker’s story, and he never lacked opinions on how to improve the game he loved.
In 2010 Meeker was appointed to the Order of Canada and invested in the ceremony the following year. In 2010 he was included in the Ontario Hall of Fame.
Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Meeker spent his youth playing hockey thanks to his father’s trip to Coca-Cola, where several NHL players worked during the summer. New York Rangers defender Ott Heller gave young Meeker his first hockey stick.
Micker played youth hockey for the Stratford Cruilers and the Brantford Lions before serving in World War II. His legs were badly hit by a grenade during training and he missed the events of the day. He’s recovering and going back to hockey with the Stratford Indians. In 1946 he signed a contract with Maple Leaves for a field service.
As a newcomer Micker (1.75m) scored 27 goals and 18 assists in 55 games for 45 points. Also the record for the number of goals scored in a match was confirmed with the record of 8. January 1947, where he scored five times with a score of 10:4. He also scored four goals and four assists in the next playoffs when Leaves defeated the Canadians in the final.
Miker had six children with his first wife Grace. They were married 55 years before she died of cancer. He remarried and lived with his wife Leah on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where they actively raised money for guide dog services.
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