“If you want your kid to learn how to play hockey, you better learn how to buy his skates”

By Howie Meeker. NHL television analyst, former NHL coach and player, and founder of Howie Meeker Hockey School. If I’ve been successful in teaching kids how to skate, it’s for one simple reason: I make them teachable by making certain their skates fit. Unless the skates are skin-tight in the ankle area there’s no way the kid will learn a thing. So I start by checking every pair of skates that comes through the door. And believe it or not, I find four out of five that are too big. One, two or even three sizes too big. So I say to the parent, “Take him home. Bring him back when he’s got skates that fit.” “Well gee whiz Howie,” they say, “he takes a size one shoe so I got him size…

Canadiens Turn Offensive Guns Loose

MONTREAL— It’s often been said that Montreal Forum patrons are the most knowledgeable fans in hockey, but has anyone ever thought that the Forum faithful are currently the luckiest fans in the sport? After all, what else can you call fans who’ve been treated to some of the wildest, hair-raisingest hockey the National Hockey League has offered this season? Before this starts sounding too much like a Forum press release, let’s look a few figures to prove just how fortunate Montreal Canadiens’ fans have been this season. Take the past month for instance. During that period there were six games played at the Forum starting with a 7-6 loss to Buffalo and ending with a 7-6 loss to the New York Islanders. In that span the Canadiens scored 46 goals at the…

Leafs’ 4-Game Sweep Best Output Of Year

TORONTO— To say “the Maple Leafs” situation is looking better” to most Toronto fans would draw the response “well it couldn’t get much worse”. The fact is that the Toronto Maple Leafs have completed their most successful week of this campaign by playing four games and earning the maximum number of points, eight. The unblemished record began in Minnesota where the Leafs handed out their most decisive whipping of the season. 9-2, to the lowly North Stars. Defenseman Clair Alexander, who has been praised for his offensive flair, demonstrated that talent by recording the hat trick, one marker in each period. The next stop on the Leafs’ road to glory, at least for the time being, was at Maple Leaf Gardens where they stopped the expansion Kansas City Scouts 4-2, with Borje Salming’s ninth goal…

Looking At NHL Goalers