Former Canuck and NHL legend Charlie Hodge Passes away at 82

[theminister]

I didn't see anything about this posted yet but it was important to me to note. 

 

I've had the fortune to get to know Charlie at Vancouver Giants games and he was an incredibly affable and kind-hearted person. He lived an amazing life and was able to tell stories about old-time hockey that had me shaking my head in disbelief. It was truly an education about Canadian history everytime he'd share a memory. Coming from a time when goalies didn't wear masks, and didn't have back-ups dressed, he was one of those throwback types that was tough as nails on one hand but gentle and respectful on the other. 

 

After his his playing career was over Charlie scouted for the Penguins, and received two more rings with them, and later for TB winning a Cup with them too. 

 

R.I.P. Charlie. It was an honour. 

 

 

The Montreal Canadiens mourn the loss of Charlie Hodge

Sunday, 04.17.2016 / 12:26 PM ET / News

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MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens organization is deeply saddened by the passing of former Habs goaltender Charlie Hodge, at the age of 82.

The Lachine native played 237 games with the Canadiens over 10 seasons, originally sharing goaltending duties with Jacques Plante before earning the starting role in 1963. Hodge won six Stanley Cups with the Habs in 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965 and 1966 -- mostly as the club’s backup, with the exception of 1965. He also won two Vezina trophies, in 1963-64 and 1965-66.

Hodge left the Canadiens at the end of the 1966-67 season, after being selected by the Oakland Seals in the NHL expansion draft. He finished his career with 150 wins and a 2.70 goals against average across 358 games played.

 

 

 

Expansion-season Canucks goalie Charlie Hodge passes away at 82

Posted by Patrick Johnston

Charlie Hodge, one of a trio of goalies employed by the Canucks in their first-ever NHL season, has passed away at 82.

Hodge spent his latter years in the Vancouver area, working as an NHL scout.

After a decade of mostly backup work with the Montreal Canadiens, Hodge was an expansion draft pickup for the Oakland Seals in 1967. He appeared in 58 games in his first season in the Bay Area, but was once again relegated to a secondary role in the next two seasons. In 1968-69, he appeared in 13 games with the WHL Vancouver Cancks, in addition to 14 with the NHL Seals.

He was selected by the Canucks in the 1970 expansion draft. He played in 35 games in the Canucks’ first NHL season, splitting duties with Dunc Wilson and George Gardner.

After being unable to come to terms on a new contract with Canucks GM Bud Poile, Hodge retired the following summer.

During his career, the Lachine, CQ native, won six Stanley Cups with the Canadiens and was named an All-Star three times.

He was a goalie when an NHL starting job was extremely hard to come by – the world’s seventh-best goalie was a guy like Johnny Bower, who had a hall-of-fame career, but didn’t truly break through until he was 34 years old. UP to that point, Bower had played 12 seasons in the American Hockey League. (He did play a full season for the Rangers in 1953-53, when he was 29, but returned to the AHL for the next 4.)

Hodge was Jacques Plante’s backup until getting his chance as a starter in 1963-64, the first of two consecutive seasons as the primary netminder. He eventually lost the starter’s job to first Gump Worsley and then young Rogatien Vachon. Vachon’s emergence made him expendable in 1967.

After retiring, Hodge coached the major junior Vancouver Nats for parts of two seasons. He also sold real estate for a decade or so, before moving into scouting, first for the Winnipeg Jets. John Ferguson, his old teammate became GM of the Jets in 1978 and convinced Hodge to join his staff in the early 80s. Hodge worked all around North America to start. When Ferguson was fired as GM in October 1988 and Hodge went out the door with him.

Hodge landed with the Pittsburgh Penguins and worked for them for nearly two decades. He was let go in 2004, but moved on to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Around the rink, he was known for his go-ahead, crusty demeanour.

“If he’s not cantankerous when he gets to the rink, he’s not feeling good,” veteran Edmonton Oilers scout Bob Brown told the Sun’s Gary Kingston in 2007. Hodge’s life was filled with colour, as Kingston would go on to relate.

“We were at Bowling Green University,” a Toronto Maple Leafs scout recalled. “Charlie used to have this brown leather coat with fur around the collar and they got this owl mascot. During the warmup, Charlie’s watching real serious, writing the lines down. We get the mascot to go sit beside him. You can see the mascot pointing to his feather collar and then pointing to Charlie’s coat. Charlie doesn’t catch on at first, but all the fans are just howling. Finally, Charlie looks over and goes “Will you &^@# off” and the whole rink explodes.”

Hodge also nearly went to the Olympics as a canoeist, Kingston discovered.

“With partner Arthur Jordan, we won the North American paddle tandem in 1955, beat a team that ended up representing Canada in 1956 and a team that represented the U.S. But then I was basically kicked out because I was being paid to play hockey,” he said.

“The way things are now, they got all kinds of pros in the Olympics. I did not see any relation to canoe racing and hockey, no relationship at all, so I’m a little disappointed.”

The Montreal Gazette’s Dave Stubbs profiled the old scout in 2014.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

twitter.com/risingaction

April 17, 2016

 

 

 

[Cramarossa]

RIP

[Bob Long]

23 minutes ago, theminister said:

I didn't see anything about this posted yet but it was important to me to note. 

 

I've had the fortune to get to know Charlie at Vancouver Giants games and he was an incredibly affable and kind-hearted person. He lived an amazing life and was able to tell stories about old-time hockey that had me shaking my head in disbelief. It was truly an education about Canadian history everytime he'd share a memory. Coming from a time when goalies didn't wear masks, and didn't have back-ups dressed, he was one of those throwback types that was tough as nails on one hand but gentle and respectful on the other. 

 

After his his playing career was over Charlie scouted for the Penguins, and received two more rings with them, and later for TB winning a Cup with them too. 

 

R.I.P. Charlie. It was an honour. 

Good post. The one constant thing every teams needs over the years is people with character and this guy seems to have had that in spades. Makes me think Bieksa would have been a guy like this had he played 40 years ago. 

[oldnews]

[Coconuts]

Sounds like quite the colourful character, and he had a hell of a career.

 

R.I.P

[Kevin Biestra]

R.I.P.  He was a great goalie.

[cuporbust]

Rip Charlie. 

[redhdlois]

RIP Charlie...I'm old enough to remember watching you play    ; )

[CaptKirk888]

Forgot he played for the Nucks, RIP Charliie - I the best hall, heaven.

[-AJ-]

If I'm not mistaken, he might be the "oldest" person to have ever played for the Canucks. It's too bad he's gone, but at least he lived a pretty long life.

[theminister]

I've got a bunch of funny and interesting stories from Charlie if anyone is interested. Most of them have been flooding into my mind today as I reflect on our conversations.

 

 

 

He often talked about his relationship with Toe Blake, his coach in Montreal, who never wanted to play him...ever. In Blake's eyes Charlie was too small to be a goalie in the NHL and was pissed off every time he needed to dress him due to an injury to Jacques Plante. Then one year, in '61 I believe, he outplayed Plante and was forced to play him a lot. Blake would almost never speak to him and was unhappy when they'd win because of him. He thought he was fluke. Charlie, being a tough SOB, loved to rub his face in it. Charlie was always the underdog, always the runt...he loved to show people they were wrong. Then all he did was win two Vezina trophies. Toe Blake still didn't want to play him.

 

 

 

Another time he was telling me about how the contract situation worked back in his day, as he was commenting on the amount of money NHL players got these days. Now, he was clear, they got paid well... better than being a bricklayer, he said... but it was still a working wage, not riches. Back in those days they got year-to-year contracts every year, and the GM would slide the contract across the desk and say, "Sign it." There were no player agents and there was no negotiation. You took what was offered. They had no recourse.

 

The year after he won the Vezina the first time he was waiting to sign his new contract and was expecting a big raise. Back then the most important players got their contracts first and you had to wait for your turn. After Jean Beliveau signed his he came into the locker room with a fancy leather coat which was his signing bonus for the year. That was a big deal back in those days and Charlie said, "That was a really nice coat. Everyone was jealous."  

 

So when it came his time to sign a contract with Frank Selke, the GM at the time, Charlie waited for the contract and looked at it. Seeing he was only getting a small raise, he was mad. Since that was the deal, take or leave it, Charlie said he had won the Vezina and wanted a leather coat like Beliveau. Selke scoffed and said something to the effect of, "He's Jean Beliveau. I'll give you a tie." Charlie thought to himself, "If it's a nice tie I should take it." He did. 

 

 

[CaptKirk888]

7 minutes ago, theminister said:

I've got a bunch of funny and interesting stories from Charlie if anyone is interested. Most of them have been flooding into my mind today as I reflect on our conversations.

 

 

 

He often talked about his relationship with Toe Blake, his coach in Montreal, who never wanted to play him...ever. In Blake's eyes Charlie was too small to be a goalie in the NHL and was pissed off every time he needed to dress him due to an injury to Jacques Plante. Then one year, in '61 I believe, he outplayed Plante and was forced to play him a lot. Blake would almost never speak to him and was unhappy when they'd win because of him. He thought he was fluke. Charlie, being a tough SOB, loved to rub his face in it. Charlie was always the underdog, always the runt...he loved to show people they were wrong. Then all he did was win two Vezina trophies. Toe Blake still didn't want to play him.

 

 

 

Another time he was telling me about how the contract situation worked back in his day, as he was commenting on the amount of money NHL players got these days. Now, he was clear, they got payed well... better than being a bricklayer... but it was still a working wage, riches. Back in those days they got year-to-year contracts very year, and the GM would slide the contract across the desk and say, "Sign it." There were no player agents and there was no negotiation. You took what was offered. They had no recourse.

 

The year after he won the Vezina the first time he was waiting to sign his new contract and was expecting a big raise. Back then the most important players got their contracts first and you had to wait for your turn. After Jean Beliveau signed his he came into the locker room with a fancy leather coat which was his signing bonus for the year. That was a big deal back in those days and charlie said, "That was a really nice coat. Everyone was jealous."  

 

So when it came his time to sign a contract with Frank Selke, the GM at the time, Charlie waited for the contract and looked at it. see ing he was only getting a small raise. Since that was the deal, take or leave it, Charlie said he had won the Vezina and wanted a leather cost like Beliveau. Selke scoffed and said something to the effect of, "He's Jean Beliveau. I'll give you a tie." Charlie thought to himself, "If it;s a nice tie I should take it." He did. 

 

 

How did you come to meet him? I love these old time stories, it certainly was a different time in those days gone by.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

RIP Mr. Hodge. The game will surely miss you.

[theminister]

25 minutes ago, CaptKirk888 said:

How did you come to meet him? I love these old time stories, it certainly was a different time in those days gone by.

Just at Giants games. He was there every night, up until the last year or so, and sat up in section C where some of the scouts sit.

 

He was scouting for the Lightning when I first met him and then did some private work when he was let go.

 

 

He told me a funny story about scouting for TB and they were at the draft in 2008 and Charlie was big on a young goalie that played for Spokane at the time. Charlie was watching as the rounds went by, and knew the team wasn't going to take him early, so when the 3rd round came he suggested they take this kid. The management went another way and traded the pick. Charlie waited. Then they traded their first 4th round pick instead of take his guy and then took James Wright with their second 4th round pick... he was fuming. When the time came for their 5th round pick they still weren't going to take his guy.... and Charlie went nuts. He slammed his fists down on the table and created a commotion on the floor. "YOU EITHER TAKE THIS KID OR I QUIT!" In his eyes, what else was he employed for if they weren't going to listen to him? You have to understand, Charlie was soft spoken and gruff but never showed aggression.... the fact he did this shocked the whole staff and they took his pick.

 

That kid was Dustin Tokarski and who won the CHL Goaltender of the Year award the next season, a WJC Gold, and lead the WHL in almost every category. 

[Deets]

4 minutes ago, theminister said:

Just at Giants games. He was there every night, up until the last year or so, and sat up in section C where some of the scouts sit.

 

He was scouting for the Lightning when I first met him and then did some private work when he was let go.

 

 

He told me a funny story about scouting for TB and they were at the draft in 2008 and Charlie was big on a young goalie that played for Spokane at the time. Charlie was watching as the rounds went by, and knew the team wasn't going to take him early, so when the 3rd round came he suggested they take this kid. The management went another way and traded the pick. Charlie waited. Then they traded their first 4th round pick instead of take his guy and then took James Wright with their second 4th round pick... he was fuming. When the time came for their 5th round pick they still weren't going to take his guy.... and Charlie went nuts. He slammed his fists down on the table and created a commotion on the floor. "YOU EITHER TAKE THIS KID OR I QUIT!" In his eyes, what else was he employed for if they were going to listen to him? You have to understand, Charlie was soft spoken and gruff but never showed aggression.... the fact he did this shocked thew hole staff and they took his pick.

 

That kid was Dustin Tokarski and who won the CHL Goaltender of the Year award the next season, a WJC Gold, and lead thew WHL in almost every category. 

Amazing story, thank you for sharing. RIP Charlie, you will be missed.

[theminister]

33 minutes ago, ajhockey said:

If I'm not mistaken, he might be the "oldest" person to have ever played for the Canucks. It's too bad he's gone, but at least he lived a pretty long life.

I don't know if he was the oldest, he would have been 38 at the time, but he was the shortest goalie in NHL history at 5'6" tall. 

[-AJ-]

Just now, theminister said:

I don't know if he was the oldest, he would have been 38 at the time, but he was the shortest goalie in NHL history at 5'6" tall. 

Roy Worters was 5'3" I believe.

[theminister]

1 minute ago, ajhockey said:

Roy Worters was 5'3" I believe.

Yeah, I think that's recorded as 'in the modern age.'

[-AJ-]

1 minute ago, theminister said:

Yeah, I think that's recorded as 'in the modern age.'

Ah. Indeed. The 20s and 30s were a different time.

[theminister]

One other amazing thing was to listen to the jabs that he and Punch McLean would throw at each other over the course of watching a Dub game. 

 

They were mostly quiet but would sometimes talk about this and that going on in the game, things about what certain players would do. Then out of nowhere they would bring up old beefs or things that happened decades ago to mess with each other. You could tell these were OLD jokes that went back 40-50 years and they would, in turn, laugh and then say "!$?& off!"

 

Punch would rub Charlie about being short, "At least he can see over the crossbar, Charlie," (keep in mind that Ernie isn't any taller) and Charlie would get him back when Punch went to the washroom saying things like, "Don't get lost or they'll send out a search party." That's because Punch was lost in the woods for three days while prospecting for gold. Or he would remind him that being a winning coach in the Dub isn't the same thing as being a Stanley Cup winner. Stuff like that. 

 

And they would tell embarrassing stories about each other from back in the day to other people, while in earshot, just to get a rise. It was all about respect and equal admiration.