Posts Tagged ‘Ralph Backstrom’
Last year I wrote this and I’m delighted that MacWilliams’ son emailed me and let me know about his dad. Here’s the original story and the email I received a couple of days ago.
He wasn’t big, this John MacWilliams of Huntsville’s Squirt, then Peewee, and later, Bantam teams, all of which played Orillia on a regular basis [...]
March 15, 2010 in Montreal Canadiens
Tags: Dave Keon, Huntsville minor hockey, John French, John MacWilliams, New England Whalers, Nova Scotia Voyageurs, Orillia minor hockey, Ralph Backstrom, Roy MacGregor, Toronto Marlboros, World Hockey Association | 1 Comment »
I’m not around for awhile and look what happens – Canada wins more medals – this time on the speedskating track, and so I’d better warm up the keyboard.
Charles Hamelin won gold and Francois-Louis Tremblay bronze in men’s 500 metre short-track, and then Hamelin teamed up with his brother Francois, plus Tremblay and Olivier Jean to [...]
February 27, 2010 in Henri Richard, Olympics, Uncategorized
Tags: Apolo nOhno, Charles Hamelin, Dancing With The Stars, Francois Hamelin, Francois-Louis Tremblay, Fred Astaire, Henri Richard, mens' speedskating, Olivier Jean, Ralph Backstrom, Vancouver 2010 Olympics | 7 Comments »
I phoned Terry Harper this morning, just to say hello and also to take him up on his invitation from several months ago to call him again after I’d had a nice long chat with him back then. Shooting the breeze with Terry Harper
He said “call me again” and so I did.
He was a tall, stay-at-home [...]
January 31, 2010 in Bell Centre, Bob Gainey, Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens, Terry Harper
Tags: Bob Gainey, Bobby Rousseau, Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens 100th Centennial celebration, Ralph Backstrom, Ted Harris, Terry Harper | 9 Comments »
He had all the things I knew were good in life – a big talent and one who could skate like the wind, a great brush-cut, a lovely wife, was a heralded phenom when he was a kid, and he wore the sweater of the Montreal Canadiens. What could be better than all that?
He was Ralph Backstrom, [...]
January 4, 2010 in Bell Centre, Bernard Geoffrion, Henri Richard, Jean Beliveau, Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Tags: Bernard Geoffrion, Dick Duff, Henri Richard, Hull-Ottawa Canadiens, Jean Beliveau, Larry Hillma, Maurice Richard, Mickey Redmond, Mike Walton, Montreal Forum, Ralph Backstrom, Ted Lindsay, the Plager brothers, Wayne Hillman | 13 Comments »
It began with heart-warming moments. Onto the ice in full uniform came Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Pete Mahovlich, Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Steve Shutt, and a host of others. It was like seeing a 1976 pre-game warmup.
And the best was yet to come. Others were introduced, and for me personally, seeing Ralph Backstrom, Bobby Rousseau [...]
December 4, 2009 in Bell Centre, Bob Gainey, Boston Bruins, Carey Price, Gordie Howe, Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Terry Harper
Tags: Claude Ruel, Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Mike Cammalleri, Montreal Canadiens 100th anniversary, Ralph Backstrom, Scotty Bowman, Terry Harper | 33 Comments »
He played during a time of legends, when Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau and Bobby Hull roamed the ice; when Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuk and Glenn Hall stopped pucks; and when Toe Blake and Punch Imlach pulled strings from behind the bench.
He’s Terry Harper, the lanky, stay-at-home defenceman for the Montreal Canadiens from 1963 to 1971, and I [...]
August 18, 2009 in Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr, Doug Harvey, Gordie Howe, Henri Richard, Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens, Sam Pollock, Terry Harper, Toe Blake
Tags: Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr, Dave Keon, Gordie Howe, Jacques Laperriere, Jean Beliveau, Jean Guy Talbot, Ralph Backstrom, Sam Pollock, San Jose, Ted Harris, Terry Harper, Toe Blake | 14 Comments »
That’s me on the right during some sort of minor hockey tournament. It represented the top goal scorers from atom, squirt, and peewee. I was the peewee. All I wanted to do was grow up and become a Montreal Canadien. I wanted to be like Ralph Backstrom. Instead, I grew up and became a factory worker, [...]
May 11, 2009 in Montreal Canadiens
Tags: Indianapolis Racers, John French, minor hockey, Montreal Voyageurs, New England Whaers, Ralph Backstrom, Toronto Marlies, WHA | 8 Comments »
He wasn’t big, this John MacWilliams of Huntsville’s Squirt, then Peewee, and later, Bantam teams, all of which played Orillia on a regular basis in the early 1960’s. In fact, he was small. But regardless of his size. he looked like a hockey player. And did he ever play like one.
We were constantly told by our [...]
February 4, 2009 in Montreal Canadiens
Tags: Dave Keon, Huntsville minor hockey, Indianapolis Racers, John French, John McWilliams, Montreal Canadiens, Nova Scotia Voyageurs, Orillia minor hockey, Ralph Backstrom, Roy McGregor, Toronto Marlboros, WHA, World Hockey Association | 6 Comments »
When I was seven or eight years old, my father and mother bought me a book for Christmas called “Let’s Play Hockey” by Lynn Patrick. Normally this wouldn’t be news. Normally it would’ve been just another hockey book.
But my father got the bright idea to send it to the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal, asking if [...]
September 22, 2008 in Henri Richard, Jacques Plante, Jean Beliveau, Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens, Toe Blake, Toronto Maple Leafs
Tags: Ab McDonald, Andre Pronovost, Bert Olmsted, Bob Turner, Boom Boom Geoffrion, Christmas present, Claude Provost, Dickie Moore, Dollard St. Laurent, Don Marshall, Doug Harvey, Habs, Henri Richard, hockey, hockey autographs, Ian Cushenan, Jean Beliveau, Let's Play Hockey, Lynn Patrick, Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens, Phil Goyette, Ralph Backstrom, Toe Blake, Tom Johnson, Toronto Maple Leafs | 8 Comments »
One of the most important players on the Habs of the early 1960’s, and a third and fourth line grinder at that. Dave Balon and his beautiful wife.
Sadly, Balon passed away several years back, and it was way too early.
Balon was one of those guys who was never a star, but was a hard worker, a checker, and he [...]
June 6, 2008 in Henri Richard, Jean Beliveau, Lovely Habs Wives, Montreal Canadiens
Tags: Central Hockey League, Colorado Eagles, Dave Balon, Francis Backstrom, Habs, Henri Richard, hockey, Montreal Canadiens, Ralph Backstrom, Tom Kostopoulos, University of Denver | 1 Comment »