Training Camp, October 19, 1930

Howie Morenz is impatient for practice and whirled into action all by himself at the Forum last night. Howie didn’t work when the crowd was around but took a puck on a jaunt himself, and he seemed to benefit greatly. An unusual type he would like to play all winter and summer as well . . . . He has to travel on high all the time, and he is one hockey player this year who is chafing for action again. – Baz O’Meara in The Montreal Daily Star, October 29, 1930, p.31, c.5

September sometimes offers the best summer weather on the island of Montreal. The days remain clear and warm, while the cooler nights dissipate the humidity of August. With Howie Jr still too young for school, the Morenz family was able to remain a little longer out at Coteau Landing, where the surface of the St Lawrence was as quiet as it was vast, and northern lights might still share the night sky with the stars.

It was a familiar rhythm. Just as the June 21 Morenz wedding anniversary marked the beginning of summer, each summer came to an end exactly three months later, on Howie’s September 21 birthday. Several incorrect sources identify Howie’s birthday as June 21, 1902, including several Canadian Press articles. The September 21, 1902, birthdate is taken as authoritative because, in addition to other reasons, it appears on his tombstone, and wasconfirmed in an interview withMark T. McNeil in “From a Rink-Side Seat”, Montreal Gazette, January 25, 1935, p.12, c.4 – 5. June 21 was actually his wedding day: Registry of MacVicar Memorial Presbyterian, Montreal Annex, Quebec, June 21, 1926.

His birth name is also often incorrectly reported as “Howarth”: e.g., Sullivan, George, Face-off: A Guide to Modern Ice Hockey, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. (New York:1968), p.115. “Howard” is the name that his parents used in the 1911 Census: Ontario, Perth South, Mitchell Town, p.9, line 10.

The players assembled for weigh-ins on the opening day of camp – a Sunday.. However, on day two, which was Monday, October 20, Cec Hart arranged a golf tournament for the Canadiens’ own players, the players in the Maroons’ camp, as well as local golf professionals, the writers, and League personnel. The venue was the familiar Forest Hills course where Howie had been practicing diligently through the summer.

Over 120 golfers appeared for the Canadiens’ tournament, and Howie teed off in the third group with Odie Cleghorn, who had been burnishing a reputation at golf that rivaled his former repute as a hockey player. The day was cold and windy, depressing the scores of even the best golf professionals. The best round of the day was 4 above par, at 74.

Howie did not have the best gross score on the day, nor was he the hockey player with the best score, but he benefited from playing in Odie Cleghorn’s foursome. He finished a stroke behind the Maroons’ Dave Trottier, who carded an 86. But Howie Morenz won the Eddie Crutchley Cup for the best raw score: La presse, 16 octobre 1930, p.30, c.4; 21 octobre 1930, p.23, c.1 – 2. the prize for the most birdies on the day, and he had proven himself the best of the Canadiens on the golf course for a third year in a row: The Montreal Daily Star, October 21, 1930, p.26, c.4 – 5; 1929: The Montreal Daily Star, October 14, 1930, p.27, c.5; 1928: Robinson, Howie Morenz: Hockey’s First Superstar, supra, at p.86. He had also greatly improved his own winning total, from 100 in 1928, to 86 this year: La presse, 14 octobre 1930, p.24, c.8.

Training camp itself started on October 30, this year held jointly with that of the [AHL’s] Providence Reds. With the exception of Gerry Carson, everyone from the Canadiens’ championship line-up was present, willing, and able to continue. It had also been made known – before anyone had even been weighed in – that the Reds’ Johnny Gagnon, who had joined the team in Atlantic City in April, would be playing with the Canadiens when the season opened.

NHL rosters were limited to 15 players (although the Chicago Black Hawks effectively evaded that rule by rotating about 18 players through those 15 roster spots). According to Cec Hart, there were about 20 players in the Canadiens’ camp. The ones who were really trying out included forwards Pete Pelangio, Alex (Bud) Cook, and the Giroux brothers – Art and George – as well as two defencemen: Art Lesieur, and Jean Pusie. None of them would make it to the big Club by the end of training camp, but the two defence prospects would see action with the Canadiens during the coming season.

The Canadiens’ first official on-ice practice of the 1930 – 1931 season had arrived. According to The Montreal Daily Star, October 30, 1930, p.40, c.1 – 2:

It was a full dress rehearsal, and the first man to vault over the boards and go wheeling around panting for action was Howie Morenz, a trifle heavier but none the less active as usual.

The practices were 2 hours long, and drew a fluctuating crowd of between a thousand and two thousand railbirds. The fans, management, and the writers were unanimous that the Canadiens remained fast, motivated, and eager. As the days passed, it was also clear to The Montreal Daily Star, November 4, 1930, p.26, c.2; p.27, c.4 that:

Morenz, the ever reliable, is going as fast as ever . . . .