Mahovlich's magnificent NHL career had memorable opening act

Frank Mahovlich's road to the Hockey Hall of Fame began at Maple Leaf Gardens 69 years ago on this March 20, 1957, a 19-year-old called up from Toronto’s St. Michael’s College School major-junior team for a three-game NHL trial.
 
"The Big M" wore No. 26 for the Toronto Maple Leafs on this night against the defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens and for his second game against the Detroit Red Wings, before changing, against Detroit, into the No. 27 he’d make famous, winning the Stanley Cup four times with the Maple Leafs, then twice more with the Canadiens.

Mahovlich would play 18 NHL seasons with the Maple Leafs, Red Wings and Canadiens between 1957-74. He had 1,103 points (533 goals, 570 assists) in 1,181 games, winning the Stanley Cup in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967 with Toronto, then in 1971 and 1973 with Montreal. He had 118 points (51 goals, 67 assists) in 137 playoff games.

Frank Mahovlich in the mid-1950s with Toronto St. Michael’s College School’s major-junior team, then early during his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Voted the 1957-58 Calder Trophy winner as the NHL rookie of the year, the graceful left wing retired from hockey in 1978 following four seasons in the World Hockey Association and a starring role for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1981. In 1998, he was appointed to Senate of Canada, the Upper House of Parliament, serving until his retirement in 2013.

All of that was in the future on March 20, 1957, a tall, promising forward summoned from St. Mikes, an assembly line of sorts for the Maple Leafs, for an NHL look-see in Toronto’s final three games of the regular season; they would finish fifth in the six-team League, missing the playoffs. In his maiden game, he’d be used by coach Howie Meeker at center and on left wing.

In the Maple Leaf Gardens press box that night was Milt Dunnell, the legendary Toronto Daily Star sports editor and columnist. Dunnell served up seven glorious paragraphs the following morning on the game as he imagined it was viewed by Mahovlich, whom he didn’t quote.

Nor did he need to. Dunnell’s prose offered readers an insightful, unique look at a moment in hockey history, the eyes and ears of the fans that night as he was with so many of his columns and features.

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Billy Reay congratulates rookie Frank Mahovlich on his hat trick on Dec. 25, 1957 in the dressing room at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Dunnell’s “Speaking On Sport” column appears here in italic type, parentheses adding detail and the columnist’s words bridged with some context, for a look at the magnificent Big M’s NHL debut.

Your name is Frank Mahovlich. Since you were eight years old -- you are 19 now -- you've had stars in your eyes for the night when you'd skate out at the Gardens in the spangles of Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, that night has come. And the butterflies stir in your stomach as you realize this is a game with Canadiens. That's the club with (Jean) Beliveau, (Doug) Harvey, (Maurice) Richard and all the magic names that came over the air to Schumacher, Ontario when you tuned in the Leaf games. Almost time to go out for the warm-up skate, and you notice you're hungry. But you couldn't eat. Haven't been able to eat more than half of any meal all day. Haven't been able to relax ... couldn't sit still … couldn't concentrate ... went to classes, as usual, up at St. Mikes, and heard the lectures, but nothing seemed to sink in.

The Maple Leafs would lose 2-1 to the Canadiens, just 30 seconds left on the clock when Bernie “Boom-Boom” Geoffrion beat Toronto goalie Ed Chadwick with the game-winner. Donnie Marshall had given the visitors a 1-0 lead at 6:22 of the first period, Bob Pulford spoiling Jacques Plante's bid for a shutout at 7:53 of the second.

Frank Mahovlich accepts the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year for 1957-58 from NHL President Clarence Campbell on Oct. 25, 1958 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

The preliminaries are over and it's time for the main event. Your first shift is against the Beliveau line. That means you're checking Beliveau, because you’re at center ice. Nothing like breaking in first-class. Your first impression of Beliveau? What a tremendous reach the guy has. He keeps the puck away from you all the time. This league isn't as rough as you expected … haven't been belted yet. Boy, it's nice to know your wings are always in position. That's one of the differences between junior "A" hockey and this brand. In junior hockey, you look for a wing. He may not be there. With this club, you wait a split second. There he is. Maybe I'm lucky they've put me between Ron Stewart and Sid Smith. They play positional hockey. The goaltending in this league is plain robbery, eh? That Jacques Plante makes impossible saves. Come to think of it, though, how would you like to be trying to put the puck past that guy Chadwick in our own cage? You earn any goals you get up here.

The Maple Leafs outshot the Canadiens 29-26, though individual shots and ice time weren’t yet official NHL statistical categories. Game reports suggest Mahovlich might have had one on Plante but the Big M was used mostly to shadow Beliveau.

Frank Mahovlich holds 15 pucks on Dec. 25, 1957 at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 on a rare Christmas night game, Mahovlich scoring three to give him 15 for the season.

You get a chance on the power-play. Tod Sloan holds up a face-off long enough to put you in proper position. Sid Smith has given advice a couple of times. Everybody wants to be helpful. That Rocket Richard sure covers a lot of ice. He's supposed to be 35 years old? All the boarders from the (St. Mikes) school are up back of the greens (Gardens seats). Sometimes, during a lull in the play, it's a wonder one of their voices doesn't come through. Guess it's like junior hockey. Once the puck drops, you don't hear a thing the crowd yells.

Mahovlich would play the second game of his trial three nights later at home in a 5-3 loss against the Red Wings. His two penalty minutes -- referee Frank Udvari clipped him for tripping at 19:12 of the second period -- marked his first appearance on an NHL scoresheet.

It's over sooner than you expected. You might have had one good shot on the net. And you almost had an assist on a goal. Plante made a nice save on Stewart from your pass. Wonder if the folks up home know the score? You had a buddy call your mother this morning and tell her you were going to play. If you did the calling yourself, she might urge you not to play. She has some kind of notion about becoming a pro too young.

Frank Mahovlich as a student at Toronto’s St. Michael’s College School shortly before he was called up by the Maple Leafs for his NHL debut on March 20, 1957.

The Maple Leafs had practiced the day before, veteran captain Ted Kennedy on the ice with his teammates. But the legendary “Teeder” was scratched against the Canadiens; he had played the last of his 696 NHL games, all with the Maple Leafs, to be succeeded as captain by George Armstrong.

“Teeder Kennedy’s last practice was my first,” Mahovlich said in “The Big M: The Frank Mahovlich Story,” a 1999 biography written by his son, Ted, expressing regret he never played with the hugely popular Kennedy.

Mahovlich remembers nothing specific about his first NHL game, beyond taking a face-off against Beliveau.

Coach Howie Meeker comes over and shakes hands. Can you practice tomorrow? You'll have to see how the teachers up at St. Mikes feel about that.

From left: Bob Nevin, Bert Olmstead, coach Billy Reay and Frank Mahovlich at Toronto Maple Leafs’ 1958-59 training camp at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario.

The Big M’s second game was more memorable, for the wrong reasons. He took the stick of Red Wings forward Johnny Bucyk over the head, sending him to the clinic for 10 stitches. Bucyk apologized for the incident, the two legends later to become friends. Mahovlich would joke about the incident, saying, “I felt it was one of those accidentally-on-purpose things.”

Soon, you're the only player left in the dressing-room. Those pros don't lose any time about showering and dressing. That's what comes of catching trains in a tight schedule. Now, back to St. Mikes. Tomorrow, there's going to be a lot of kibitzing. The Leafs lost, you didn't get a goal, so what do you say? You tell them: "Beliveau shadowed me all night." That should hold them. It would have sounded even better if Leafs had won.

Mahovlich and Beliveau would play together for the Canadiens in 1970-71, Beliveau’s last of 10 Stanley Cup wins coming in his final season, the Big M winning his fifth.

His first NHL goal would come in the final game of his 1957 trial, on March 24 at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, scoring the game-opening goal on the power play against Red Wings goalie Glenn Hall with defenseman Marcel Pronovost serving an elbowing penalty. The Big M would also score his first career hat trick on Hall, then with the Chicago Black Hawks, in a 7-1 Toronto road win on Dec. 1, 1957.

Frank Mahovlich presses in on Chicago Black Hawks goalie Glenn Hall, checked by defenseman Pierre Pilote, on Nov. 2, 1957 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Mahovlich scored two milestone goals against Hall: his first NHL goal then his first hat trick, Hall playing with Detroit, then Chicago.

Mahovlich would sign his first professional contract with the Maple Leafs on May 13, 1957, a two-year deal that paid him $10,000 per season with a $10,000 signing bonus.

As per tradition of the day, Mahovlich bought a new car upon signing his first contract -- a 1957 Buick Special, black with red pinstripes down the sides, for $3,200. He drove it back home to northern Ontario for the summer, “very carefully at 30 miles per hour, it took me eight hours,” he said, ready to haul beer cases at a local brewery during the offseason.

With high hopes and great expectations, the Big M would report to training camp for his rookie season that would see him score 36 points (20 goals, 16 assists) in 67 games, his Calder Trophy win setting the stage for very special things to come.

Top photo: Frank Mahovlich, wearing No. 26 in his first NHL game, is in close on Montreal Canadiens defenseman Doug Harvey and goalie Jacques Plante on March 20, 1957 at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Canadiens defeated Toronto 2-1.