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ONE MINUTE BETWEEN LEGENDS

With the passing of Gordie Howe today, I thought I'd bring you a couple of stories from a man who grew up worshipping Gordie, and then got to play with him, if only for the briefest of moments. This is an excerpt from Hall of Famer Brian Kilrea's book, "They Call Me Killer", which I wrote with him a few years back. Brian's words, as told to me. This originally ran on November 19th, 2014.

Detroit was always my team.

I had three uncles: Hec, Wally, and Kenny. They all played for the Red Wings. Uncle Hec won the Stanley Cup in 1936, two years after I was born. But he was still there in the 40's when I was a kid, so I loved Detroit.

Back in those days, the paper wouldn't come until after four, so I would race home from school every day to find out who had the goals and the assists from the game the night before. How many did Gordie get? How about Ted Lindsay? These guys were my idols.

I grew, and became a decent player, and as it turns out, a Detroit scout named Alex Smart saw me in Ottawa and told Jimmy Skinner about me. Jimmy was coaching the Hamilton Tiger Cubs in the OHA. They were affiliated with the Red Wings. So they invited me to Hamilton for their training camp in 1953, and I made the team. And they ended up signing me to a contract.

JD: Jimmy Skinner would coach Killer for one season in Hamilton before becoming head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. His Wings won the Stanley Cup the next year, 1955. Skinner is credited with starting the tradition of kissing the cup.

So I belonged to the Red Wings, but I was still a long way from actually getting there. I spent two years in junior in Hamilton and then four years in Troy, Ohio, of the International League.

Troy's training camp was always in the same place as the Wings in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. When our practice was done, I'd hurry up and get my gear off to go watch the Wings skate. They were amazing, just like a machine.

During the season, we would play in Troy on Sunday afternoon, then I would drive the 180 miles to Detroit to watch the Red Wings play Sunday night. I just loved that team.

My second year at that camp, I was just 19, and one day we were all just hanging around the hotel. Gordie Howe comes up to me and says he and Ted Lindsay are going down for an ice cream, and would I like to come along.

Would I like to come along?!? Cripes almighty, these guys were world champions and legends! Yes, I'd like to come along! So we go get our ice cream, and then we come by a pool hall. Well, I had played a lot of pool as a kid. When I was about 14 in Ottawa, I would ride my bike uptown to this pool hall called The Little LaSalle, over the Centre Theatre. I was up there all the time, so I became pretty good at it.

Gordie says, "Let's have a game." It was Gordie and I against Ted and his partner, I can't remember who it was (I was a little distracted by the other two guys).
I held my own, and we won. Then we went back to the hotel, and now Gordie wants to play ping-pong. Well, it just happens that I had played a lot of ping-pong growing up, too. So Gordie and I won that game as well. It was just a fantastic day for a teenager to get to hang around these guys he idolized.

Ted Lindsay: "Gordie and were living our dream, too. We were nobody special.
So if we were driving to the rink, and the back seat was empty, and a kid like Brian was headed there, we'd pick him up. Or go get an ice cream, or shoot a game of pool. We liked to mingle with them, let them know they were part of the organization. We were no better than them. We were worried about making the team, too."

JD: (Aside) Did Ted Lindsay just say he and Gordie Howe were worried about making the Red Wings every year?!? Sorry to interrupt. Carry on, Killer.

The fact that I could walk around and say hello to Gordie Howe--that was the highlight of my career. I didn't even care if I played a game with Detroit!

But I did. One game.  

It was the 1957-58 season. I was still playing in Troy and the Red Wings had a couple of injuries. One of the guys hurt was Dutch Reibel, who played centre between Gordie and Ted. So they called me up. I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess.

It was unbelievable. For a week, I got to practice with the Red Wings, playing centre between Gordie and Ted.  They said, "Brian, just go to the net, we'll find you."
So I just tried to stay out of the way.

Dutch actually came back from his injury, but they still put me in the line-up for a home game against Boston.  I was nervous as heck. I just wanted to get dressed and look around the room at these guys. In warm-up, I was just trying to stay out of everybody's way. These were the names of all the guys I used to watch win Stanley Cups! And here I was, sitting on that bench next to them. It was unreal. I was glued to that bench most of the game.

But finally, they put me on. I was on the Detroit Red Wings, playing centre on a line with Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay! I don't remember much about the shift, probably because I was just in awe, watching Gordie the whole time. It's pretty tough to focus on the opposition when you just want to watch Gordie Howe.

It was a pretty uneventful shift, but no harm was done. I didn't do anything dumb in my 40 or 50 seconds out there. I felt good about that.

But that was it. One shift. I spent the rest of the game on the bench. I remember it was 1-0 for Boston, and I was sitting near the end of the bench next to Beaver Poile. So Gordie comes over and says to me. "Touch this stick for luck, will ya." So I grabbed the stick and said to the stick, "Go get a goal!"

So what happens? Gordie goes out and scores! Then he comes back to the bench, looks at me and says, "You think you have another one?"

But the magic didn't work again. With the score 1-1, Don McKenney comes down the left wing for Boston, right in front of our bench. Al Arbour was playing defence for Detroit. Al stumbled a bit, and McKenney went by him and fired a slapshot. It caught the inside of the post on Terry Sawchuk and went in. Boston beat us 2-1.

The next day we got to practice and we're all sitting in the room with all our equipment on, but no skates, just shoes. So Al Arbour comes in and Beaver Poile, who is a really funny guy, looks at Al's shoes and says, "Hey Al, those look like the skates you had on yesterday on McKenney's goal!" Everybody just broke up. Al did too, he had a great sense of humour. It was a wonderful time, just being in the same room as those guys.

I was sent back down to Troy shortly after that.  And I would never get back to Detroit. In fact, that one shift would be the last one I would get in the National Hockey League for eight-and-a-half years. But what a memory.

I'll never forget the night I ran into Gordie at the Hall of Fame ceremony a few years back. I was coming down the escalator to the main lobby, and Gordie happened to be coming up the escalator, and we said hello, and started chatting.

I was supposed to be taping an interview with one of those Toronto radio stations, and I knew someone was going to be looking for me. But I was not going to interrupt Gordie Howe. I didn't care if they had to wait an hour for me. He talked about Colleen and his kids, and his dog. It was like he was just happy to be able to talk, not for an interview, but just to someone from his past who really cared about what he was up to.

We must have talked for three quarters of an hour. It was great. Then someone came and found him, and he had to go do some interview, and I had to go find my radio guy. But man, was it ever wonderful just spending time with the greatest hockey player ever.

I think he is. My friend Don Cherry says its Bobby Orr, and what Wayne Gretzky did was unbelievable, but if you ask Wayne who the greatest player ever is, he says Gordie Howe.

To me, its Gordie because he played in what was almost the same as the dead-ball era in baseball. The games back then were all 2-1, 3-2. They didn't have those 7-6, 8-5 games they had after hockey expanded and we went to 20-some, and then 30 teams. There weren't enough good players for 30 teams. There still isn't! Everybody had great teams when there were only six of them. And all six had an all-star calibre goalie.

So for Gordie to amass the numbers he did, it was amazing. I mean Bobby Orr would have been a star in that day, and Wayne Gretzky would have been a star, but would they have the same numbers Gordie Howe did? I don't think so.

When I talk to Gordie and Ted, I never ask them if they remember that one game, that one shift I played with them. I'm sure they don't. And it doesn't matter. I'm just honoured they remember my name.

Ted Lindsay: "I remember don't remember the details of that game or that shift. But I remember the kid. And he did just fine."

(THEY CALL ME KILLER, HarperCollins)