Tributes are pouring in for the late Howie Meeker, a hockey icon who made a huge mark on the local hockey landscape.
Meeker famously hosted the popular Howie Meeker Hockey School on television, which was broadcast from St. John’s across the country.
Meeker had four Stanley Cup rings with the Toronto Maple Leafs, was NHL rookie of the year in 1947, served one year as coach of the Leafs, and rose to icon status as colour commentator for Hockey Night in Canada.
But it was with the Guards Athletic Association that he became involved in local hockey, quickly producing a large group of young talented players, according to SportNL.
In 2000, Meeker was inducted as an honorary member of the Guards Athletic Association and in 2010 he was made a member of the Order of Canada. He was inducted into the SportNL Hall of Fame as a builder in 2016.
Howie has passed away. At the amazing age of 97. It's a sad day but, golly gee, what a life he lived. He was always an inspiration, and in so many ways. It was a privilege to call him Uncle, but he was Dad for my Newfoundland cousins… and to them I send condolences. pic.twitter.com/D2PvRTYujA
— Geoff Meeker is staying where he's at (@geoffmeeker) November 8, 2020
Meeker was known as a tough coach. Harbour Grace lawyer Doug Moores played with the Caps in 1972 and remembers well the impact Meeker had on players. He says he saw more than a few senior hockey players throw up because of the way Meeker pushed them.
Walter played with the Guards and decided to ring Meeker up many years later when his sons gave him Meeker’s biography.
“Howie answered the phone and I said Mr. Meeker you don’t remember me…” Walter says he was shocked when Meeker stopped him and asked what position he played and when. When he told him, Meeker called him by name, and he says, ” I choked up, I couldn’t believe it.”
Earlier Story
A hockey icon who put roots down in St. John’s has passed away at the ripe old age of 97.
Howie Meeker, who scored five goals in a single game as a rookie, won the Calder Trophy in 1947 as rookie of the year. He won four Stanley Cups with the Leafs.
Meeker spent all of the 60s and 70s in this province, some of them as a sports reporter with CJON.
His nephew, Geoff Meeker, says Howie’s rise to prominence as a hockey analyst was because he would “tell it like it was” no matter the situation. He was also a very good storyteller and could take over a room.
One day, he and a few others from CJON were summoned to help fight a forest fire which was threatening Don Jamieson’s property in Swift Current on the Burin Peninsula. The fire shifted and went away from the property, but it still spooked the horses.
He says one of the horses tore his side open so bad that it lay on the ground and appeared to be dying. Geoff says Howie asked for a screwdriver and catgut and sewed up the horse’s side. A short time later and the animal was up and walking on its own.
