Happy 80th Mr. Hockey, Need More Cowbell, Good win for the Nucks, Maury Edwards makes Rookie All Star roster.

Born this day in 1928- Mr. Hockey.

Gordie Howe- hockey right winger for 32 seasons, was born on this day at Floral Saskatchewan in 1928. Howe was the first player to score 1000 career major-league goals (1977). He played for the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL (1946-1971), Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association (WHA) (with sons Mark and Marty 1973-1977), New England Whalers of the WHA (1977), Hartford Whalers of the NHL (1978-1980). Howe won six NHL scoring titles (Art Ross Trophy 1951-1954, 1957, 1963), was awarded the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player six times (1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963), and was a key member of 4 Stanley Cup winning teams. He retired in 1980, at age 52, as the NHL leader in career goals scored with 801. He is second only to Wayne Gretzky on the NHL list for total points scored (goals and assists combined), with 1850.

Thanks to my buddy the BIG DOG Les Doiron for sending the above picture of he and Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, just a couple of weeks ago when Gordie's birthday was celebrated by the Vancouver Giants, of who Howe is a part owner. I asked Les what Gordie was like, and he said he was very polite, asked questions, was just a true nice guy. COOL!

Now- sort of hockey related - Born this day in 1943, Actor Christopher Walken. Probably most famous this day and age due to his "More Cowbell" skit on Saturday Night Live. Some rinks in the NHL actually play the skit audio and video to get the fans goin' with their Cowbells. Funny stuff.


What a game last night for the Canucks. It was like 1994 all over again, as Trevor Linden led the Canucks with two goals in a 6-2 win over the Flames. The Linden bashing drives me nuts, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. Needless to say, I was very happy watching the game last night. Naslund even threw a fairly big hit. Throw THAT in the video vault!

Some great news on a former Bulldog, Maury Edwards, now attending U-Mass Lowell.

Hi Hammer,

I had a call from Jack Edwards, Maury's dad,
with some great news. Maury has been named
to the Hockey East All-Star Rookie team.
We are really thrilled to hear what a great
year Maury has had as a freshman. Please
check out this link with all the stats and
rankings.  LINK HERE

Jack asked me to let you know that Maury made
the all-star team. He of course is a very
proud dad.

On top of that we received the equally exciting
news that James (Kerr) has committed to Princeton
for the 2009-2010 season. We're very proud of
both of our boys!

Hope your off-season if going well and looking
forward to hearing your play-by-play voice
again in September.

Sheena Cook

Proud Billet Mom

____________________________________________________________________
Thanks for the note Sheena and congrats to Maury and his family and of course to the billet family.

Billets make junior hockey go and I know that every player owes more to their billets that most people know!

I absolutely love hearing stories like these about former players moving on to success at the next level.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading!
Hammer