Grade 9 to 12 students enrolled in the Hockey Canada Skills Academy (HCSA) at Sudbury, Ont.’s St. Charles College enjoyed multiple years in the orbit of an eventual history-making NHL draft pick.

As great a hockey player as Leonard ‘Red’ Kelly was — and he was one of the best, with eight Stanley Cup titles over an illustrious 20-year National Hockey League career while being named a six-time first team all-star and the first ever recipient of the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman — he will perhaps best be remembered for being a humble, devoted family man and a true gentleman.

Our regular deep dive into The Catholic Register’s archive during our 125th  anniversary year isn’t complete without a few sports stories. As the NHL edges toward the playoffs, we recall one of the biggest trades in league history. Fifty years ago this month the Toronto Maple Leafs sent their all-star Frank Mahovlich to Detroit in a six-player swap. The Register’s Fr. Thomas Raby, in his column from March 23, 1968, couldn’t help but muse about what a trade like this could mean in Church terms.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The recent scene in downtown Nashville of mobs of hockey fans was almost unthinkable a decade ago.

This quote from Tom Watt, former NHL and Canadian Olympic hockey coach, left me intrigued: “Fr. Bauer is a great Canadian, but I could never get it straight — sometimes when you thought you were talking about hockey, the priest came out of him and sometimes when you thought you were talking to a priest the hockey came out of him.”

An amazing hockey player he may have been, but Gordie Howe’s greatest legacy will be that he was an even better human being, one who touched the lives of all of us and our families.

DETROIT – He was Mr. Hockey, but he was also Mr. Family.

That’s what Fr. J.J. Mech will take away from knowing Gordie Howe, the Detroit Red Wings hockey legend who passed away June 10 at the age of 88.

Grade 8 student Samantha Bestavros is no hockey fan but the NHL might yet win her over through a new program that uses hockey to make math interesting.

A colleague and good friend of mine is an intractable Leafs fan, meaning he is generally unaware that NHL hockey exists after the palest first quarter moon of April.

TORONTO - Students who suffer concussions should not only be removed from sports but also be excused from class until they heal, according to the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA).

Bob Murray, the OCSTA director of legislative and political affairs, is urging the Ontario government to include full curriculum exemption into Bill 39. The bill proposes that school boards be required to develop policies to deal with students who suffer brain trauma from concussions.

“You need to be removed from the classroom to let your brain get what is referred to as cognitive rest,” said Murray. “Even the regular classroom can have profound effects on the brain if a person hasn’t received the rest they need. They should be removed from all curriculum in order to properly heal the head injury.” 

MONTREAL - Can prayer assure your favourite NHL team a chance for a run at the Stanley Cup? An ad that is all tongue-in-cheek, taken out by the archdiocese of Montreal, is inviting hockey fans to give it a try.

In a city where the secular passion for hockey has been compared to a religion, the archdiocese has decided to ride the wave and sneak in a Gospel call to turn to God.

The Quebec Church may have lost legions of worshippers in recent years but it hasn’t lost its sense of humour.

That was evident last week when, with tongue in cheek, the archdiocese of Montreal placed newspaper ads asking the faithful to pray for the Montreal Canadiens.

TORONTO - Everything Jim Gregory has in life is a result of his association with Toronto’s St. Michael’s College School, he said.

Serving the NHL today as senior vice president of hockey operations, Gregory is one of six alumni being inducted into the Order of St. Michael this year, the highest honour St. Michael’s College School can bestow on a member of its community.

“I look up to the people who they have in the Order of St. Michael and never dreamt I’d be considered for it,” said Gregory, 76. “So when I was called, it was an unbelievable surprise.”