Howie Meeker

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Howie Meeker
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1998
Howie Meeker Calder.jpg
Howie Meeker with the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in 1947
Born (1923-11-04)November 4, 1923
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 1946–1955

Howard William Meeker, C.M. (November 4, 1923 – November 8, 2020) was a right winger in the National Hockey League, youth coach and educator in ice hockey and television sports announcer as well as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament. He was born in Kitchener, Ontario. He died in Nanaimo, British Columbia on November 8th, 2020. Meeker was the last surviving member of the Maple Leafs 1947 Stanley Cup team, the Maple Leafs 1949 Stanley Cup team, the Maple Leafs 1951 Stanley Cup team, and the inaugural NHL All-Star Game.

Biography

Playing, coaching and general managing career

Meeker played his junior hockey with the Kitchener Greenshirts in the Ontario Hockey Association. In 1941–42, Meeker joined the Stratford Kist. In only 13 games, he scored 29 goals and had 45 points to lead all players in points. He played one more year of junior hockey before joining the Canadian Army. Meeker was badly injured during the war, but he made a full recovery. In 1945–46, after World War II had ended, Meeker returned to the OHA and played one season with the Stratford Indians.

In 1946–47, Meeker joined the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League. He scored 27 goals and 45 points during his NHL debut and he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy.[1] Meeker also played in the 1947 NHL All-Star Game and he also tied an NHL record for most goals by a rookie in one game with five goals against the Chicago Black Hawks. Meeker also won his first Stanley Cup with the Leafs that season, the first of three consecutive Stanley Cups. The season, however, would prove Meeker's best as a pro, and he would never again approach that level of scoring.

In 1948–49, Meeker scored 34 points in 58 games and played in the 1948 NHL All-Star Game. He also helped the Leafs win their second consecutive Stanley Cup. Next season, Meeker sustained a collarbone injury that limited him to only 30 games and he did not play a single game in the playoffs as the Leafs took their third consecutive Stanley Cup. In 1950–51, Meeker won his fourth Stanley Cup with the Leafs as they beat the Montreal Canadiens in five games. Meeker would play three more seasons with the Leafs before retiring from the NHL. He continued to play hockey sporadically for 15 more years with different senior clubs.

He also coached the Maple Leafs, replacing King Clancy on April 11, 1956, leading the Leafs to a 21–34–15 record. He was promoted to general manager in 1957, but was fired before the start of the 1957–58 season.

Political career

Howie Meeker
Member of Parliament
for Waterloo South
In office
June 25, 1951 – August 9, 1953
Preceded by Karl Homuth
Succeeded by Arthur White
Personal details
Political party Progressive Conservative

Meeker spent two years as a Progressive Conservative MP while playing for the Leafs. In June 1951, Meeker won the federal by-election in the Ontario riding of Waterloo South. He did not seek re-election in the 1953 election.[2]

Canadian federal by-election, June 25, 1951: Waterloo South
Death of Karl Homuth
Party Candidate Votes % ∆%
Progressive Conservative Howie Meeker 8,950 42.24 +3.50
Liberal J. Mel Moffatt 6,483 30.60 -6.62
Co-operative Commonwealth Margaret Geens 5,754 27.16 +3.12
Total valid votes 21,187 100.0
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +5.06
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Source(s)
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Hockey camps

Meeker later ran hockey schools as summer camps in Canada and the United States. His book Howie Meeker's Hockey Basics, published in 1973,[3] and his weekly telecasts based on these camps, Howie Meeker's Hockey School, which ran from 1973 to 1977 on CBC Television, cemented his reputation in the coaching trade. The TV show was produced in St. John's, Newfoundland. It featured boys learning the basic skills about the game: skating, puck control and passing. Meeker's encouragement and delivery were all based on his premise that the game was suffering from poor instruction at the junior levels. He felt the game was not being taught properly so his message was directed at coaches across Canada. He also made vocal and detailed complaints about poor quality hockey equipment for child players, especially concerning protective gear. The television series had 107 fifteen-minute episodes. It was produced and directed by Ron Harrison and/or John Spaulding and aired weekly during the hockey season.

Broadcasting career

In the 1970s and 1980s, Meeker became known to a new generation of hockey fans as the squeaky-voiced analyst on Hockey Night in Canada. He began analyzing plays in greater depth than previous colour commentators, using the telestrator to demonstrate his points. During the telestrator segments, his favorite directive was, "stop it right here", to freeze the screen in order to analyze specifics in the replay. He also worked on Vancouver Canucks telecasts on BCTV. When TSN gained NHL cable rights in 1987, Meeker joined their broadcast team, where he stayed until retiring in 1998. Meeker popularized the phrase, "Keep your stick on the ice", made during his educational segments on Hockey Night in Canada.

Philanthropic work

Meeker has been involved with Special Olympics for approximately 50 years. He was involved in launching Special Olympics Canada after being invited to participate by former NHL referee Harry "Red" Foster shortly after the Special Olympics movement was created by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in the United States. In 1988, at the age of 64, Meeker was contacted by Campbell River Special Olympics in Campbell River, B.C. to help with setting up a fundraising golf tournament for the local Special Olympics organization. He was initially serving as a go-between to get a regional sports star involved but eventually, Meeker himself lent his name and support to the Howie Meeker Charity Golf Classic at Storey Creek Golf Club. Each year for the next 30 years, Meeker participated in the successful fundraiser in person. In his 94th year and at the 30th running of the event in August 2018, it was announced that Meeker would be taking a step back and welcome a new co-host to carry on with the event. NHL player Clayton Stoner has signed on to be co-host with Meeker to ensure the fundraiser continues in his name into the future.

In 2004, Meeker was invited to headline a golf tournament fundraiser to benefit BC Guide Dog Services. Originally intended as a one-off event, it was such a success that the Howie Meeker Golf for Guide Dogs tournament ran on Vancouver Island for four years, and is now held annually in the Metro Vancouver area.[4] From this beginning, Meeker and his wife, Leah, became the Patrons for BC Guide Dog Services,[5] and through their involvement have already helped raise over $350,000 as of July 2011.[6]

Personal life

After retiring Meeker lived in Parksville, British Columbia. He was raised in New Hamburg, Ontario.[7] He died on November 8, 2020.[8]

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1940–41 Kitchener Greenshirts Big-10 Jr. B 9 13 10 23 2 4 4 2 6 0
1941–42 Stratford Kist Big-10 Jr. B 13 29 16 45 20 4 8 11 19 4
1941–42 Stratford Kist M-Cup — — — — — 9 13 1 14 2
1942–43 Stratford Kroehlers OHA-Jr. 6 6 4 10 4 2 0 1 1 0
1942–43 Brantford Lions OHA-Jr. — — — — — 2 0 1 1 0
1945–46 Stratford Indians OHA-Jr. 7 8 5 13 4 5 6 5 11 0
1946–47 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 55 27 18 45 76 11 3 3 6 6
1947–48 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 58 14 20 34 62 9 2 4 6 15
1948–49 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 30 7 7 14 56 — — — — —
1949–50 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 70 18 22 40 35 7 0 1 1 4
1950–51 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 49 6 14 20 24 11 1 1 2 14
1951–52 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 54 9 14 23 50 4 0 0 0 11
1952–53 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 25 1 7 8 26 — — — — —
1953–54 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 5 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
1954–55 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
NHL totals 346 83 102 185 329 42 6 9 15 50

Coaching record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish Result
TOR 1956–57 70 21 34 15 - 57 5th in NHL Did Not Qualify

See also

References

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  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ BC Guide Dog Services founders Archived March 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

Preceded by Winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy
1947		 Succeeded by
Jim McFadden
Preceded by Head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs
1956–57		 Succeeded by
Billy Reay
Preceded by Member of Parliament from Waterloo South
1951–53		 Succeeded by
Arthur White
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