I’ve said it here before, hockey cards were my first ‘text books’ for learning the game when I was a kid. They remain today, even more so, a wealth of knowledge. Like anything history related, over time, we peel away and discard all but a few important facts. The truth is, the ‘we’ that’s doing the discarding is often denying us some great stories.
Well, we might have long thrown out our school textbooks from the past but we still have our hockey cards to paint a picture of a National Hockey League that is almost unrecognizable compared to today’s game.
What follows are four tales told from the back of four different hockey cards from the 1958-59 Topps set.
A Not So Multi-National NHL
We featured Jack Evans in an article here at VHCR not long ago. On the back of his 1958-59 Topps 31 card, it states that Jack is the ‘Only player born overseas’. Today’s NHL is still has a majority of players from North America (Canada) but it’s a slim majority. Players nowadays come from a number of countries. Not the case in the late 1950’s.
Jack ‘Tex’ Evans was born in Garnant, South Wales on April 21, 1928. He moved to Canada at a young age and quickly
picked up the game of hockey. Evans went on to play 753 regular season and 56 Stanley Cup playoff games in the NHL between 1948-49 and 1962-63 with the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks. He also coached in the league with the California Seals, Cleveland Barons and Hartford Whalers.
But wait, there’s more…
Also on the back of the Evans card, it states, ‘Called ‘Tex’ because he likes to strum guitar and sing hillbilly tunes’. Another, more recent, source states that Jack got the nickname because he learned to speak English late and his Welsh accent was often mistaken for a southern drawl.
Ted Lindsay Was Part Of An NHL Father/Son Duo?
On the back of the Ted Lindsay 1958-59 Topps 63 card, it states, ‘Ted’s dad played goal for famed Renfrew Millionaires, designed new-type goal’. As it turns out, Bert Lindsay was an NHL pioneer, playing in the first two seasons that the league existed.
Bert started out with the McGill University Redmen, playing three years from 1903-04 to 1905-06, before turning pro. He continued on between the pipes until 1918-19. The older Lindsay was never a Stanley Cup champion but did play in the 1914 finals for the Victoria Aristocrats, losing three games to none to Toronto HC.
In the newly formed NHL, Bert played for the Montreal Wanderers in 1917-18, a team that he had played for in the NHA. In his final season, he played 16 games for the Toronto Arenas.
Bert Lindsay passed away in November 11, 1960, not long after this little fact was printed on his son’s hockey card.
It’s Not All About The Hockey
Fleming Mackell was a great hockey player and it has been questioned why he is not in the Hockey Hall of Fame. But, as his 1958-59 Topps 29 card says, Mackell kept busy in other ways. ‘With six children, Flaming Fleming is hockey’s biggest family man.’
Born April 30, 1929, Flem played his first NHL hockey when he was just a teen, a rarity in the early days of the league. This also means that at the end of the 1958-59 season, Mackell had just turned 30. Today, many people are having trouble finding a mate by the time they’re 35. Mackell not only had found a mate, he was living the lifestyle of a professional hockey player and someone managing to raise a family of six kids!
Flem played 665 regular season and 80 playoff games in the NHL between 1947-48 and 1959-60 with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. Like Ted Lindsay, his father, Jack MacKell was also a bit of an NHL pioneer, playing for the Ottawa Senators in 1919-20 and 1920-21.
One of his kids went on to achieve fame like her father, but down a different avenue. Joanne Mackell is a successful singer today.
One Of The Greatest Shutout Stories You’ve Probably Never Heard
‘Kid brother Claude once worked a shutout in NHL game as goalie.’
That’s what’s on the back of the Marcel Pronovost 1958-59 Topps 24 card. If you haven’t heard this one, it’s an awesome tale. Claude Pronovost played pro hockey from 1954-55 to 1962-63, mostly in the minors. In fact, he played in just three NHL games, one with the Boston Bruins during the 1955-56 season and parts of two games with the Montreal Canadiens in 1958-59.
It was the game with the Bruins that was so unique. The fact is, he didn’t play for Boston. Claude played for, at the time, the Montreal Royals of the QHL and was property of the Canadiens. On January 14, 1956, the Bruins were playing in Montreal and Terry Sawchuk was their regular starter.
Sawchuk could not play. Remember, this is a long way from 2014-15. Boston’s backup goalie John Henderson also could not play due to an ‘equipment problem’. In an act of chivalry, Montreal contacted Pronovost and loaned him to the Bruins for the game so that the show could go on.
Claude played against what was essentially his own team. Claude stopped all 31 shots and the Bruins won the game 2-0.