Howie Morenz

Howard William “Howie” Morenz was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played for the Montreal Canadiens, the Chicago Black Hawks, and the New York Rangers. His son, Dan, is the first fourth-generation NHL player to play for the Nashville Predators. His grandson, Blake, played with the University of Wisconsin and won the Hobey Baker Award as best collegiate player in 2010.

About Howie Morenz in brief

Summary Howie MorenzHoward William “Howie” Morenz was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played for the Montreal Canadiens, the Chicago Black Hawks, and the New York Rangers. He was a member of a Stanley Cup–winning team three times, all with the Canadiens. Morenz died from complications of a broken leg, an injury he suffered in a game. After his death, the Canadiens retired his jersey number, the first time the team had done so for any player. In 1950, the Canadian Press named him the best hockey player of the first half of the 20th century. In 2017, the NHL included him on their list of the 100 greatest players in league history. His son, Dan, is the first fourth-generation NHL player to play for the Nashville Predators. His grandson, Blake, played with the University of Wisconsin and won the Hobey Baker Award as best collegiate player in 2010. The Predators traded Blake to Montreal in 2012, meaning that all four generations of the Morenz-Geoffrion family have played within the Canadiens organization. The Nashville Predators drafted Blake in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and he made his debut with the Predators in 2011, becoming the team’s first fourth generation NHL player. The NHL Hall of Fame inducted Howie Morenz as one of the original nine inductees in 1945. He died in a car crash in 1998, at the age of 83. He is buried in Stratford, Ontario, with his wife Mary McKay and their three children, Howie Jr.

in 1927, Donald in 1933, and Marlene in 1934. He also had a son, Bernie Geoffrion, who played for both the Canadiens and Rangers from 1950 to 1968. The Morenz family moved to Stratford from Mitchell, Ontario in 1917. In 1920 Morenz joined the Stratford Midgets junior team, leading the Ontario Hockey Association in assists and points during the 1920–21 regular season, and goals, assists, and points in the playoffs. While he joined the Montreal Indians, he continued to play senior hockey for the 1921–22 season. In 1922, Morenz scored nine goals in a CNR hockey tournament held in Montreal. In 1923, he played in the Memorial Cup, the championship for junior ice hockey in Canada. In 1926 he married Mary McKay; together, they had three children: Howie in 1927, Donald in 1933, andMarlene in 1934, and their son Dan in 1979-80. The family later moved back to Mitchell, where Morenz played junior hockey until his death in 1998. He had three sisters, Freda, Erma and Gertrude, and two brothers, Wilfred and Ezra. He tried enlisting in the Canadian military but was refused when recruiters learned he was only 15-years old. In 1925, he became an apprentice with the Canadian National Railways factory. He won the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player in the league three times. In 1931, he was named to the NHL First All-Star Team twice and the NHL Second All-star Team once.