Howie Morenz

Howie Morenz
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1945
Date of birth	September 21, 1902
place of birth	Mitchell , Ontario , Canada
date of death	March 8, 1937
Place of death	Montréal , Québec , Canada
Nickname	The Stratford Streak, The Mitchell Meteor
size	175 cm
Weight	75 kg
position	center
number	# 7
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
1919-1922	Stratford Midgets
1921-1923	Stratford Indians
1923-1934	Montréal Canadiens
1934-1936	Chicago Black Hawks
1936	New York Rangers
1936-1937	Montréal Canadiens

Howard William "Howie" Morenz (born September 21, 1902 in Mitchell , Ontario , † March 8, 1937 in Montréal , Québec ) was a Canadian ice hockey player who from 1923 to 1937 for the Canadiens de Montréal , Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on the position of the center . With the Canadiens he won the Stanley Cup three times . In 1937 Morenz broke his left leg during a league game. He died a little later of the consequences of an embolism that developed after the operation on the broken leg. The Canadiens de Montréal then blocked his shirt number 7, it has not been worn by any other player on the team since then. Howie Morenz was one of the first twelve ice hockey personalities to be inducted into the newly formed Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945 .

Career

Early years (1902-1923)

Beginnings

Morenz during his time as a youth player (photo before 1923).

Howie Morenz was born on September 21, 1902 in the town of Mitchell in the Canadian province of Ontario . On the frozen Thames River , the older players present taught Morenz the basics of stick handling and shooting at goal. Even at a young age, his above-average speed was positively noticed. At the age of eight, the Canadian had his first official game, in which he played as a goalkeeper and conceded 21 goals. He was then used by his coach as a rover in the following games .

In 1917 the von Mitchell family moved to the neighboring parish of Stratford . Howie Morenz joined the local junior club Stratford Midgets from the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) in 1920 . In the OHA season 1920/21 he scored the most goals, assists and scorer points in the league. He and his team won the league title this season, and the Midgets also took part in the Memorial Cup final , where they lost to the Winnipeg Falcons after two games with 9:11 goals. In the second game in the series, Morenz scored a hat trick . The Canadian , who is now playing in the center position, spent the following season with both the Midgets and the Stratford Indians amateur team ; in the 1922/23 season he played exclusively for the Indians.

Signature in Montréal

During an ice hockey tournament held in December 1922 by the Canadian National Railway in Montréal , Howie Morenz scored nine goals in one game. The referee of this encounter was a friend of Léo Dandurand , the then president of the National Hockey League club Canadiens de Montréal (nickname: Habs ), and told him about Morenz's performance. Dandurand personally convinced himself of Howie's abilities in January 1923 and began contract negotiations with his father, William Morenz , in April of the same year , as Howie was not of legal age at the age of 20. William turned down the offers, however, because Howie should first finish his two-year training at Canadian National Railway. In July 1923, Dandurand learned that Morenz was negotiating with the Toronto St. Patricks NHL team . Dandurand sent Cecil Hart to Stratford to top their offer. On July 7, 1923 Howie Morenz finally signed a contract with the Montreal Canadiens over three years worth of 10,500 US dollars , he also became the signature bonus a check over $ 1,000.

Canadiens de Montréal (1923–1934)

Instant success in the NHL

Morenz in a game against the New York Rangers .

On December 3, 1923, Morenz met his new teammates during the training camp in preparation for the 1923/24 NHL season . On December 26, he scored his first goal in his first NHL game against the Ottawa Senators . The Canadiens won the NHL final this season against Ottawa. In the play-offs for the Stanley Cup , Montréal defeated the Vancouver Maroons in the semifinals and the Calgary Tigers in the final , making the Canadiens their second Stanley Cup. The following season , the Habs won the NHL final against the Toronto St. Patricks , but were subject to the Victoria Cougars in the Stanley Cup final . In the season 1925/26 Morenz was, together with Aurèle Joliat , the most successful scorer of the Canadiens de Montréal, but the team still missed the play-offs. Also in 1926/27 he led Montréal in the points evaluation. In the play-offs of this season, the Canadiens defeated local rivals Montréal Maroons in the quarter-finals and were eliminated in the semifinals against the Ottawa Senators.

Records, trophies, other championships

Howie Morenz in the jersey of the Canadiens de Montréal , shortly after the Stanley Cup success in 1930.

In the 1927/28 NHL season , Morenz scored 18 assists, setting Dick Irvin's then NHL record . In total, the Canadian got 51 points and was the first player to score more than 50 points in one season. In recognition of these achievements, Howie Morenz received the Hart Trophy of the National Hockey League as the most valuable player of the regular season . With 33 goals scored, he was also the most successful goalscorer in the league. In the play-offs, the Habs were eliminated in the final of the Canadian Division against the Montréal Maroons. Also in the 1928/29 season was Morenz's most successful points scorer of the Canadiens in the playoffs the team lost in the first round against the Boston Bruins , the best-of-five series with 0: 3 games.

During the 1929/30 NHL season there was a rule change that allowed passes in the attack zone to the front, while before it could only be played back. Howie Morenz scored 40 goals in 44 games this season and was the Habs' best scorer. In the play-offs the Canadiens defeated the Chicago Black Hawks after two games with 3-2 goals in the first round, in the second round Montréal defeated the New York Rangers in the best-of-three series with 2-0 games. In the Stanley Cup final, the Canadiens de Montréal met the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens won the series 2-0 games and received the third Stanley Cup in their franchise history . In the 1930/31 season , Morenz was the most successful scorer in the National Hockey League with 51 points. In addition, the Canadian received his second Hart Trophy and was appointed to the First All-Star Team. The Canadiens won again the Stanley Cup after play-off victories against Boston and Chicago.

Following the regular 1931/32 season Howie Morenz was the first player ever to be recognized for the third time as the most valuable player in the National Hockey League. On March 17, 1932, Morenz scored his 334th scorer point in a game against the New York Americans, overtaking Cy Denneny as the most successful scorer in NHL history. In the play-offs, the Habs were eliminated in the first round against the New York Rangers . Even a year later, the Canadiens were eliminated in the first round against the Rangers. In this season, Morenz did not top the scorer list of the Canadiens for the first time in seven consecutive years; Aurèle Joliat scored four points more.

Farewell to the Habs

Morenz during the Ace Bailey Benefit Games (1934).

The 1933/34 season was to be the last for Howie Morenz in Montréal for the time being. On December 23, 1933, the center scored its 249th goal, overtaking Cy Denneny again as the best scorer of all time. On January 2, 1934, Morenz twisted an ankle during a league game . The player injured his bone as a result, and he also suffered a torn ligament . The Canadian was absent from his team for a month and was unable to play at the previous high level after returning to the team. Then Morenz was booed by the Canadiens fans, and the first transfer rumors arose. During the first play-off round against the Chicago Black Hawks , team president Léo Dandurand confirmed that several teams were interested in Morenz. Montréal lost the series to Chicago after two games with 4: 3 goals, Morenz broke a thumb during the second game.

Commenting on the change rumors following the defeat, Howie Morenz said he would only play for Montréal. However, the Canadiens management worked on a player change despite this statement. In addition to newspaper reports, Howie Morenz's doubts about a future in Montréal were also nourished by the team management, who did not communicate with their star players. On October 3, 1934 Howie Morenz was transferred together with Lorne Chabot and Marty Burke to the Chicago Black Hawks, the Canadiens de Montréal received the players Leroy Goldsworthy , Lionel Conacher and Roger Jenkins in return .

Chicago, New York, returned to Montréal (1934–1937)

Morenz in the jersey of the Chicago Black Hawks (photo c. 1934–1935).

In his first season in Chicago Howie Morenz completed all 48 league games and was able to improve his points yield from the previous season. The Black Hawks reached the play-offs, but were eliminated in the first round against the Montreal Maroons . The second season with the Black Hawks was not so good. The Canadian felt uncomfortable with his team, was given less time on the ice per game and was removed from Chicago's squad for a few games. On January 26, 1936 Morenz was finally given by the Chicago Black Hawks in exchange for Glen Brydson to the New York Rangers . Howie Morenz completed 19 games for the Rangers and finished the season with a total of 21 points in 42 games.

In the summer of 1936, the Canadiens de Montréal hired Cecil Hart as their new head coach, who signed on the condition that the Canadiens management bring Morenz back to the Habs. On September 1, Morenz's contract with the Rangers was bought by the Canadiens. Originally, the 34-year-old striker was mainly expected to provide moral support for the team. But Morenz found his way back to old form under his former teammates Aurèle Joliat and Johnny Gagnon . Its speed, in particular, was reminiscent of days gone by. By the middle of the 1936/37 season , Morenz had scored 20 points, which was a significant increase over previous seasons at the same time.

Howie Morenz in hospital after his broken leg (1937).

On January 28, 1937, the Canadiens de Montréal played at home against the Chicago Black Hawks. In the first part of the game, Morenz ran after the puck in Chicago's defense zone, while he was pursued by Black Hawk Earl Seibert . While trying to reach the puck, Morenz fell into the wooden board that acted as the boundary of the playing field and got stuck in the wood with the blade of his left skate . With his fall, he also brought down Seibert, who lost his balance and fell on Morenz's stuck leg. The impact broke Howie Morenz's left leg in four places.

Memorial service for Morenz in the Montréal Forum .

In the hospital, the athlete realized that he would never be able to play ice hockey again, which made him depressed . In February, Morenz suffered a nervous breakdown. On March 8, 1937, Morenz complained of chest pain, which doctors diagnosed as a heart attack. Around noon that day, Howie Morenz collapsed on the way to the washroom in the hospital corridor and died a little later. The cause of death is a heart attack due to an embolism caused by a blood clot in his broken leg.

The game of the Habs against the Montréal Maroons, scheduled for March 9, was originally canceled by the National Hockey League, but played at the request of Morenz's widow. The players of both teams wore black armbands as a sign of mourning, and two minutes of silence were observed before the start of the game . On March 10 , the funeral service for Morenz was held in Montréal's home ground, the Montréal Forum , which was attended by 50,000 fans and which was broadcast live on the radio. The coffin was then driven through the streets of Montréal in the presence of almost 250,000 people and buried in the Mont-Royal cemetery.

Achievements and Awards

1924 Stanley Cup win with the Canadiens de Montréal 1928 Hart Trophy 1928 Best scorer in the NHL 1928 Top scorer in the NHL 1930 Stanley Cup win with the Canadiens de Montréal 1931 Stanley Cup win with the Canadiens de Montréal 1931 Hart Trophy

1931 Best scorer in the NHL 1931 NHL First All-Star Team 1932 Hart Trophy 1932 NHL First All-Star Team 1933 NHL Second All-Star Team 1945 Admission to the Hockey Hall of Fame (posthumous)

Career statistics

Replica of Morenz's place in the Canadiens de Montréal's locker room in the Hockey Hall of Fame .

				Regular season						Play-offs
season	team	league		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
1919-20	Stratford Midgets	OHA Jr.		5	14th	4th	18th			7th	14th	12	26th
1920-21	Stratford Midgets	OHA Jr.		8th	19th	12	31			13	38	18th	56
1921-22	Stratford Midgets	OHA Jr.		4th	17th	6th	23	10		5	17th	4th	21st
1921-22	Stratford Indians	OHA Sr.		4th	10	3	13	2		8th	15th	8th	23	21st
1922-23	Stratford Indians	OHA Sr.		10	15th	13	28	19th		10	28	7th	35	36
1923-24	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		24	13	3	16	20th		2	3	1	4th	6th
1924-25	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		30th	28	11	39	46		2	3	0	3	4th
1925-26	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		31	23	3	26th	39		-	-	-	-	-
1926-27	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		44	25th	7th	32	49		4th	1	0	1	4th
1927-28	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		43	33	18th	51	66		2	0	0	0	12
1928-29	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		42	17th	10	27	47		3	0	0	0	6th
1929-30	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		44	40	10	50	72		6th	3	0	3	10
1930-31	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		39	28	23	51	49		10	1	4th	5	10
1931-32	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		48	24	25th	49	46		4th	1	0	1	4th
1932-33	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		46	14th	21st	35	32		2	0	3	3	2
1933-34	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		39	8th	13	21st	21st		2	1	1	2	0
1934-35	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	8th	26th	34	21st		2	0	0	0	0
1935-36	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		23	4th	11	15th	20th		-	-	-	-	-
1935-36	New York Rangers	NHL		19th	2	4th	6th	6th		-	-	-	-	-
1936-37	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		30th	4th	16	20th	12		-	-	-	-	-
OHA Junior overall				17th	50	22nd	72	10		25th	69	34	103
OHA senior overall				14th	25th	16	41	21st		18th	43	15th	58	57
NHL overall				550	271	201	472	546		39	13	9	22nd	58

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

legacy

Toe Blakes jersey from the Howie Morenz Memorial Game .

The city of Montréal mourned the death of Howie Morenz for months. On November 2, 1937, his shirt with the number 7 was blocked by the Canadiens de Montréal and hung on the ceiling of the Montréal Forum . It has not been given to any Habs player since then. Five days later, the Howie Morenz Memorial Game was held in favor of the von Morenz family.

Morenz led the Canadiens' scorer list for seven seasons in a row between 1926 and 1932. At the time of his death he was the most successful scorer in the history of the National Hockey League with 472 points . Howie Morenz was one of the first twelve ice hockey personalities to be inducted into the newly formed Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945 . In a 1950 national poll by The Canadian Press , Morenz was voted the best ice hockey player of the first half of the century. In a 1998 The Hockey News poll, the Canadian was voted 15th best player of all time.

Play style

Morenz's outstanding playful traits were his speed and agility on the ice. The center had very good scoring qualities, developed into a crowd favorite in its first season in the National Hockey League and was considered the first ice hockey superstar.

Howie Morenz has been described as an intelligent player who was one thought ahead of his opponents. He was a tricky player who stood on the ice for an average of 40 minutes per game and was not averse to the physical game.

Family and personal

Howie Morenz had four siblings, three sisters and one brother. He married his girlfriend Mary Stewart in 1926 and together they had three children, two sons and a daughter. The daughter later married the ice hockey player and Hockey Hall of Fame member Bernie Geoffrion , who played for the Canadiens de Montréal from 1950 to 1964 and whose number 5 was banned by the Canadiens in April 2006. Morenz's and Geoffrion's numbers hang side by side on the ceiling of Montréal's home ground, the Bell Center . Geoffrions son Dan denied in the NHL 1979/80 season 32 games for the Canadiens. Blake Geoffrion , Morenz's great-grandson, made his first appearance in the National Hockey League for the Nashville Predators in 2011 , making him the first NHL player in the fourth generation of the family.

In 1917, Morenz tried to enroll in the Canadian armed forces using the wrong age . This plan was prevented by his mother, who disclosed his real age to the recruiters. Howie Morenz was a keen fan of horse racing and played the ukulele .

literature

• Richard Beddeos, Stan Fischler, Ira Gitler: Hockey! The Story of the World's Fastest Sport. The Macmillan Company, 1973, ISBN 0-02-508270-1
• Dan Diamond: Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Hockey League, Second Edition. Total Sports Publishing, 2002, ISBN 1-892129-85-X
• Morgan Hughes: Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Publications International, Ltd., 2003, ISBN 0-7853-9624-1
• D'Arcy Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. Doubleday Canada, 2008, ISBN 0-385-66324-2
• Richard Lapp, Alec Macaulay: The Memorial Cup: Canada's National Junior Hockey Championship. Harbor Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-55017-170-4
• Michael McKinley: Putting a Roof on Winter: Hockey's Rise from Sport to Spectacle. Greystone Books, 2000, ISBN 1-55054-798-4 .

Web links

Commons : Howie Morenz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Howie Morenz in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
• Howie Morenz at hockeydb.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} The Montreal Gazette, March 9, 1937, via Library and Archives Canada Howie Morenz, Canadien Star, Dies Suddenly. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 13, 2016 ; Retrieved May 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ McKinley: Putting a Roof on Winter: Hockey's Rise from Sport to Spectacle. 2000, p. 109.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} legendsofhockey.net, One On One With Howard William (Howie) Morenz. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 29, 2010 ; Retrieved May 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Lapp, Macauly: The Memorial Cup: Canada's National Junior Hockey Championship. 1997, p. 17.
5. ↑ Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, p. 59.
6. ↑ Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, pp. 59-60.
7. ↑ Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, p. 60.
8. ↑ Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, p. 61.
9. ^ McKinley: Putting a Roof on Winter: Hockey's Rise from Sport to Spectacle. 2000, p. 111.
10. ↑ ourhistory.canadiens.com, Morenz Makes It 50. Retrieved May 13, 2011 . 
11. ↑ ourhistory.canadiens.com, Season 1933–1934. Retrieved May 13, 2011 . 
12. ↑ ^{a b} Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, p. 82.
13. ↑ Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, pp. 82-83.
14. ↑ Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, p. 83.
15. ↑ Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, p. 86.
16. ^ ^{A b} Hughes: Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. 2003, p. 112.
17. ↑ Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, p. 87.
18. ↑ ^{a b} Beddeos, Fischler, Gitler: Hockey! The Story of the World's Fastest Sport. 1973, p. 156.
19. ↑ ^{a b} Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, p. 89.
20. ↑ Jenish: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory. 2008, p. 90.
21. ^ Diamond: Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Hockey League, Second Edition. , 2002, p. 237.
22. ↑ ourhistory.canadiens.com, No. 7 Reired Forever. Retrieved May 13, 2011 . 
23. ↑ legendsofhockey.net, Howie Morenz. Retrieved May 13, 2011 . 
24. ↑ Steve Dryden: The Top 100 NHL Players of All Time:, 1998, p. 58.
25. ↑ ourhistory.canadiens.com, Howie Morenz (1923-1937). Retrieved June 15, 2011 . 
26. ↑ Dick Irvin : Passing the Puck . In: The Rotorian. Edition February 1933, pp. 41–42.
27. ↑ NHL.com, Jackets come up short again in Nashville. Retrieved May 12, 2011 . 
28. ↑ Beddeos, Fischler, Gitler: Hockey! The Story of the World's Fastest Sport. 1973, p. 153.

Remarks

1. ↑ In ice hockey, the term stick handling describes how a player handles the puck while using his stick .
2. ↑ In the 1929/30 NHL season, the winner of the first round was determined on the basis of the goals scored, and the winner was only determined from the second round after a best-of-three series.
3. ↑ 1926 together with Aurèle Joliat .
4. ↑ From 1937 to 1996 Morenz's blocked jersey hung in the Montréal Forum . After the opening of Montréal's new home ground, the Bell Center , the jersey was also hung in the new hall.

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on July 2, 2011 in this version .