Great Centremen
Stars of Hockeys Golden Age
AUTHOR: Paul White
FORMAT: 5.5 x 8.5 pb / pages
ISBN-10: 1554390532
ISBN-13: 9781554390533
Weaving up and down the ice, driven by the call of the net, hockey's most celebrated centremen sought always to get there first. Fast and furious, constantly in motion, these successful scorers waited for the face-offs, made the plays, took the penalties, and controlled the puck. Celebrate Sid Abel, Frank Boucher, Alex Delvecchio, Henri Richard and others, who left their mark on some of the most thrilling moments in hockey history.
Prologue
With only 39 seconds left in the game, the Toronto Maple Leafs trailed their arch rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, by a score of 21 in the 1951 Stanley Cup Final.
Desperate for a goal, the Leafs pulled goalie Al Rollins in favour of an extra attacker. The face-off was deep in the Canadiens' end. Veteran Toronto centre, Ted 'Teeder' Kennedy stood at the face-off circle checking the positions of his teammates. His plan was to draw the puck back to fellow centre Max Bentley, who was playing the point.
Kennedy looked up to see that Montreal had sent out Billy Reay, their best centre, to take the face-off.
Better bear down, thought Teeder. Reay is a tough face-off man. But before the linesman could drop the puck, the Montreal bench called for one last change.
When he saw the Montreal change, Kennedy couldn't believe his eyes! Elmer Lach was coming over the boards. Teeder had a long history with Lach. He was sure he could easily beat him on the draw. The puck dropped. In the blink of an eye, Teeder swept the puck back to Max Bentley. With a single swift motion, Bentley swung toward the net and fired the puck.
A black blur streaked straight for the net. But suddenly it seemed to change direction. In a flash, it shot behind a startled Gerry MacNeil into the Montreal net.
The score was tied!
They headed into overtime.
That was when Bill Barilko, a hard-hitting defenceman known more for his booming bodychecks than for his scoring prowess, netted perhaps the most mythical goal in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the last goal Barilko would ever score...
About the Author
Paul White is a freelance writer who has been writing about sports
history for more than a decade. He is a graduate of Trent University
where he achieved an Honours BA in History and Canadian Studies. Great
Centremen is his third published book. At present he lives in the
Georgian Bay region of Ontario. When he isn't writing about hockey
history you can find him either on the golf course or paddling a canoe.
Of course he can always find time to talk about his beloved Red Wings.
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