Monday, October 07, 2013

There Was No 'Gimme, Gimme' For Young Gump Worsley.


AllTheWorld'sAPoint
SearsCatalogueVille


Former New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota North Stars goalie Lorne 'Gump' Worsley entered the Hockey Hall of Fame a long, long time ago, in 1980.

But it was only this past weekend that Mr. Worsley was finally inducted into his hometown 'Point-St-Charles Hall of Recognition.'

His daughter Lianne told the Montreal Gazette's Stu Cowan that he would have been ecstatic about the latest honour:

“He would have loved this … he would have been really, really happy about it,” Lianne said about her father. “It’s too bad they didn’t do it when he was still alive, because he would have been there with bells on. He loved the Point.”

But here's the thing...

After the Gumper had finally given in to his fear of flying that was made, way, way worse by expansion and ended his playing days in the early '70's he still returned, with his growing brood, to the Pointe from time-time:

...“When we used to get too cocky at home, if it was: ‘I want, gimme this,’ he would say: ‘Get in the damn car.’” Lianne recalled. “So he’d pile the kids in the car and he’d drive us to the Point and then he would tell us how when he played hockey as a kid outside that they had to use road apples and that they had to use Sears catalogues as pads, ‘So don’t you start with the gimme, gimme, or I’m just going to give you a Sears catalogue.’...

All of which got me to thinking about one of my favourite John K. Samson song-poems of all time...




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And in case you were wondering....Stu Cowan also had a companion piece last week explaining how Gump got his nickname.

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2 comments:

The Mound of Sound said...

I don't know how my parents came to know GW but I met him a couple of times out at their lake house. They were great entertainers and would wind up with a vast range of guests from flight crews to the Musical Ride to fellows like Gump Worsley. I recall him as a really nice guy.

RossK said...

Great to hear MoS.

Really doesn't surprise me.

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