‘Little M’ receives honour from Cathedral
‘My mom and dad will be looking down and will be so proud’: ex-NHL star Peter Mahovlich
Peter Mahovlich played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League, won four Stanley Cups and scored the famous short-handed goal that triggered Canada’s Game 2 victory in the historic 1972 Summit Series with the Soviet Union.
But he says that being named to the Cathedral High School Wall of Distinction “is one of the greatest honours I’ve ever achieved because I know my mom and dad will be looking down and will be so proud.”
Mahovlich — widely known in the hockey world not only for his championships with the Montreal Canadiens and Team Canada and 733 NHL points, but also his legendary sense of humour — will be in town for a couple of private events next week, including a short address to Cathedral’s 2023 graduating class.
He attended all-boys Cathedral for Grade 11 and part of Grade 12 from 1963 to ’65 while he was playing at the old Hamilton Forum on Barton Street for the Hamilton Red Wings, then the top junior club of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.
In that long-ago era, NHL teams controlled junior rosters and could draft players at the age of 16, and “The Little M” — he is the younger brother of Hockey Hall of Famer Frank (The Big M) Mahovlich — was taken by Detroit second overall in the first NHL draft in 1962 from St. Michael’s College in Toronto. He was then sent to Hamilton where, by his recollection, he was the only Red Wing at Cathedral.
“My parents were really big on education,” Mahovlich explained to The Spectator this week. “My parents came over from the old country (Croatia) and when they got here they looked around and saw who was the boss, and who was making all the money, and they were all wearing white shirts and suits. And they had education. My dad felt that was the way to go to make a good living.
“But, halfway though Grade 12 at Cathedral, I’d played a couple of NHL games for Detroit while I was still playing for Hamilton and they told me I was coming to training camp the next year. So I knew where I was headed, wondered why I was going to classes and I quit school. My dad got pretty upset.”
Mahovlich never did complete high school. So he had a special request for Cathedral administrators and teacher Vince Lepore, who oversees the massive Cathedral Hall of Fame display and its “crown jewel,” the Wall of Distinction, which has over 150 plaques honouring notable alumni, going all the way back to 1914.
His plaque was installed a few months ago and, when Mahovlich visited recently, he was asked if he’d relay his parents’ thoughts on education to this year’s graduates.
“I said I would, but on one condition,” the 76-year-old laughs. “That I get an honorary degree from Cathedral. I’ll be so proud and happy to get it, for my parents.
“But I don’t think they’re going to let me into university with it,” he added.
Lepore, the longest consecutively serving (38 years) teacher on the school staff, says, “As a Cathedral alumnus and hockey legend, we’re truly honoured to host Peter as he addresses our students and shares his inspirational life story with them.”
Mahovlich, who was taught by then Ticats quarterback Frank Cosentino at Cathedral, told The Spec that his most indelible memory “was a Friday in Grade 11 when I was at school and they assassinated President Kennedy.”
Mahovlich played three seasons for the junior Red Wings, for three different coaches — Eddie Bush, Danny Lewicki and Rudy Pilose — but didn’t attend school in his final season.
By the fall of 1966, he was a pro and was soon in the NHL.
He was traded from Detroit to Montreal, where he was joined by his brother with whom he won two of his four Stanley Cups and spent a decade that included the 1972 Summit Series and 1976 Canada Cup championships with Team Canada. Then he became a crowd favourite in Pittsburgh.
He coached in the minors and later became one of the most intuitive pro scouts in the NHL, with his final stint a long run with Florida before he retired a couple of years ago.
He was a key voice in the Panthers’ scouting radar unit, which recommended several years ago that the team find a way to get both Waterdown’s Carter Verhaeghe and Ohsweken’s Brandon Montour, both of whom are enjoying stunning playoff success this spring.
“I liked Montour when he was in Anaheim, but really saw him a lot
My parents came over from the old country (Croatia) and when they got here they looked around and saw who was the boss, and who was making all the money, and they were all wearing white shirts and suits. PETER MAHOVLICH
when he was in Buffalo,” Mahovlich said. “He was a good offensive defenceman, but played bigger than his size, too. He got physically involved, moved the puck and was strong on his skates.
“The Verhaeghe kid I really paid attention to when he was playing in the AHL with Bridgeport. I’m surprised the Islanders didn’t keep him. Then he signs with Tampa Bay and wins a Cup. He has lots of speed and a great touch around the net. Some guys will shoot the puck 20 times and nothing happens; he shoots it once and it goes in. Yes, he’s played with good players but you have to be a good player to play with good players.”
You could apply that description to Mahovlich, who said he was fortunate to land with the dominant Canadiens of the ’70s, and Canada’s first two NHL-based national teams.
In his landmark book The Game, Ken Dryden characterized Mahovlich as a very skilled hockey player who was easygoing and joyful, and always had hilarious quips or a practical joke in the dressing room.
As of next week, to that he can add, “honorary high school graduate.”