Ottawa’s aging icon opened with the best
In a stunt unfathomable today, junior team played exhibition with the 1968 Canadiens
As a kid having grown up in Buckingham, Que., playing most of his minor hockey in nearby Thurso, then his first year of junior in Sorel, a just-turned-17year-old Bill Clement wasn’t sure how to react as he skated toward centre ice for the ceremonial faceoff to officially open the Ottawa Civic Centre.
A half-century later, the first captain in Ottawa 67’s history has no difficulty recalling the puck drop.
Fifty years later, though, Clement still just doesn’t know if he should have won the draw against the visiting captain (he deferred and lost it), dropped his gloves and shook his opponent’s hand, or pulled out a pen and paper to ask for an autograph.
“I couldn’t believe I was actually facing off against Jean Beliveau,” Clement says of that special night in Civic Centre and 67’s history, Jan. 22, 1968, when the Montreal Canadiens came to town for a mid-season exhibition game to commemorate the building, which hosted its first game less than a month earlier.
Right after player introductions, and summoned by PA announcer Ken (The General) Grant, Clement took his place opposite the legendary Canadiens captain, then 36, still in his prime with 14 illustrious NHL seasons under his belt.
“OK, so it was a ceremonial faceoff, but it was my first ever,” says Clement, now 67 and a TV broadcaster for the Philadelphia Flyers. “For Mr. Beliveau, it was probably No. 500.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to do, so I kind of just stood there … frozen. Once the game started, I tried to win all the faceoffs, and when I finally beat him, my butterflies disappeared.
“So what if he wasn’t putting all his energy into it? It still felt good.”
Strong ties between the Ottawa 67’s ownership group, led by Howard Darwin, and Canadiens GM Sam Pollock, through his time with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens — and maybe a little political persuasion — brought the Canadiens to the Civic Centre that night.
It’s an event that would never happen today. Imagine the Ottawa Senators putting their season on hold to play a junior exhibition.
The Canadiens hardly sent the farm team that night. There wasn’t a single call-up from the Nova Scotia Voyageurs.
The lineup that night included seven future Hockey Hall of Fame members: Beliveau, Yvan Cournoyer, Jacques Laperriere, Jacques Lemaire, Henri Richard, Rogie Vachon and Gump Worsley. The young Canadiens included Mickey Redmond and Danny Grant.
The upstart 67’s, who won all of six games that first year, sent out a lineup that included future Canadiens goalie Bunny Laroque, the club’s first-year starter in net Gary Doyle, and future NHLers Jim Nahrgang, Jean Potvin, Terry Murray, Pierre Jarry, Peter Laframboise and Clement.
The youngsters got the early start on the Canadiens, who three months later would be hoisting the Stanley Cup, a year after losing the 1967 final to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jarry, the original 67’s superstar, scored the game’s first goal less than five minutes in, which might have coincided with the first breath the entire 67’s team had taken.
Darwin, meanwhile, was in his usual seat behind the net at the west end with Pollock.
“I scored and, as I was told, Pollock turned to Howard and said, ‘Well, I guess there will be no shutout tonight,’ ” Jarry says. “And Howard turned to Sam and said, ‘Yeah, well, you guys haven’t scored yet,’ or something to that effect,
“Well, that didn’t last long, because the Canadiens scored the next nine and beat us 9-1.”
But the score didn’t matter. Ottawa fans got to see one of the greatest Canadiens teams of all time live and the Civic Centre, less than one month into its operation, already had a history.
The Civic Centre was packed that night with fans wearing their Sunday best. This was just before the St. Louis Blues, and later the Atlanta Flames, held part of their training camps and played some exhibitions there.
“The Civic Centre was so new, and for me … very exciting,” Clement said. “Having grown up in Thurso, then playing a season (with Sorel) and then starting our 67’s season at the Hull Arena, the Civic Centre was really cool.
“It was so bright compared to all the other rinks. I loved it.”