Gordie …

2 Responses to “Gordie …”

1. 

   Don Ostertag June 12, 2016 at 11:56 am #

   What a player! Worked both ends of the ice. A complete player!

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     jcalberta June 12, 2016 at 4:07 pm #

     Lots of incredible anecdotes about Gordie. Born in some place called Floral, Saskatchewan – a prairie farm boy – but some scout still discovered him … somehow. When he attended his first training camp with Detroit (18 years old) they handed him some shoulder pads. He didn’t know what they were – had never seen any before – and had to watch the other players to see what to do with them. He probably didn’t need them anyway.
     Years later Gordie says they used to look at each other and chuckle that someone was actually paying them to play hockey. They would have played for nothing – and almost did. Most of the players in those days had off season jobs – back to farm or drove garbage trucks, etc. and were broke shortly after they retired from hockey. No agents. A very different era.
     I would define Gordie’s style as completely unflashy. Efficient to the extreme – no wasted effort – he went from point A to point B with the least energy required – no more / no less.
     But don’t get in the way.

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