DRAWING CROWDS AND DAZZLING FANS ACROSS THE NHL, HOWIE MORENZ WAS THE FIRST PLAYER TO HAVE HIS NUMBER RETIRED BY THE MONTREAL CANADIENS.

No hockey player’s star ever shone brighter than that of Howie Morenz. Known as both “The Stratford Streak” and “The Mitchell Meteor”, Morenz was the NHL’s first true superstar, carving out a reputation as one of the best to ever play the game. His 14-year career began reluctantly and ended suddenly, sadly and prematurely.

Happy in small town Ontario and not thrilled by the prospect of life in the big city, Morenz was courted by both Montreal and Toronto, eventually signing with the Habs. Bursting onto the scene to start the 1923-24 season, he quickly became one of the fledgling NHL’s top scorers. Morenz’s speed, skill and manoeuvrability lifted hometown fans out of their seats. They rose to cheer on their new favorite player as he began one of his trademark rushes up the ice that almost invariably ended with the puck behind the opposition’s goaltender.

His 13 goals as a rookie were scored over a short 24-game season and were enough to earn Morenz seventh spot in league scoring that year. Morenz and linemates, Aurèle Joliat and Bill Boucher helped the Habs win the four games necessary to claim the team’s second Stanley Cup. A clutch performer, Morenz netted the Cup-clinching goal in the fourth game.

Scoring at a rate unseen in the hockey world, Morenz became the biggest name in the game as his exploits filled arenas with curious spectators who quickly became fans. Attracted by the little man with the big reputation, they soon saw that the hype was warranted. Morenz typically finished the season in the upper echelons of the scoring lists, notching at least 20 goals seven times.

No giant at only 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds, Morenz played alongside the even smaller Joliat, each driving the other to surpass himself as they terrorized goaltenders around the NHL for a dozen years.

Morenz won the Hart Trophy – awarded to the NHL’s most valuable player – three times, in 1928, 1930 and 1931, a feat unmatched by another Hab in the 70-plus years since. He also finished atop the scoring race twice, peaking with an unbelievable 40 goals in 44 games during the 1929-30 campaign, one that finished with the Habs going undefeated en route to hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Morenz’s name was engraved on the Cup a third and final time following the Canadiens’ victory over Chicago in the 1931 Finals.
After disappointing seasons in 1933-34 and 1934-35, Morenz was traded to the Blackhawks in a six-player deal. Two years later, after a stint with the Rangers, Morenz was welcomed back by the Forum faithful and set out to prove he still had some gas left in his tank, even at the age of 34.

Reunited with Joliat and Johnny Gagnon, Morenz was embraced by his devoted admirers and cheered at every turn by the fans who were thrilled at his return. One of the NHL’s elder statesmen, Morenz showed flashes of brilliance and appeared to have regained his form of years past. By the end of January, he had amassed 20 points, notching four goals and adding 16 assists.

Unfortunately, his return to Montreal was cut short. On January 28, 1937, Morenz broke his leg in four places in a game against Chicago. The Forum fans knew then and there that he had played his last shift. They followed daily news of his convalescence and were shocked when Morenz passed away just over a month later, his heart stopped by a blood clot.

He lay in state at the Forum while thousands of devoted admirers filed in to pay their last respects to the NHL’s most spectacular player. A benefit game that pitted stars from around the league against a squad made up of representatives from the Canadiens and the Maroons, Montreal’s other NHL team, raised $20,000 dollars to benefit the Morenz family.

When the Hockey Hall of Fame opened its doors in 1945, Howie Morenz was among the 12 men who formed the initial group of inductees. In 1950, he was voted the outstanding hockey player of the first half of the century by a national press poll.

The number “7” that he wore while blazing a trail for the legends who followed was the first to be retired by the Montreal Canadiens, raised to the rafters of the Montreal Forum in 1937.