goodbye gump worsley
Lorne "Gump" Worsley passed away on Friday, January 26th, 2007. He didn't look much like an athlete, but he backstopped the Montreal Canadiens in their glory days. Legend has it that he smoked cigarettes between periods. He looked just exactly like a guy you might sit beside in any tavern in any town, anywhere. Brushcut and round face, deadpan expression, he never wore a mask until his last season playing in net.
When I was maybe eight years old I gave a speech about dinosaurs for some Parent-Teacher's Association evening at my grade school, St. Joseph's Elementary, in Montreal's West Island suburb of Beaurepaire.
The Gumper was there, sitting in the front row. He must have been doing some community outreach stuff for the Habs. I was telling the audience that dinosaurs have brains that weigh two pounds. I looked down at the front row, and Gump Worsley was asleep.
Rest in peace, Gump Worsley.
posted by johnny maudlin at 10:56 PM
1 Comments:
I got his autograph in Saskatoon at a pre-season
exhibition game when he played for the Rangers.
I was a goalie and patterned myself after him,
even bending the top edges of my goalie pads down
like the Gumper did. My NHL dreams died early,
and it's only now, in late middle-age, that I've
finally mastered the Lorne Worsley paunch. He was
a goalie before they became athletes, before they
hid behind rock-star masks and gladiator equipment.
Bare-faced with puddin' cheeks, he just threw his
body in the direction of the shooter and, if the
puck hit him, he was the genius of the moment.
I sat with Sid Abel's older sister on a train once
from Winnipeg to Melville. She was talkative and
knew all the Red Wings players, told me stories
about Gordie, Delvecchio, Lindsay, Sawchuck and
the others. When I asked her if she thought Terry
was the best goalie in the NHL, she said, "Oh, my,
there have been so many great ones that I've met.
Terry, Jacques, Glenn Hall, Harry Lumley, Gump..."
That was before his Stanley Cups, too. He was a
character.
Duke
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