KITCHENER -- The hockey world is mourning the loss of Howie Meeker, who had a legendary career on the ice and in the broadcast booth.
Born in Kitchener and growing up in New Hamburg, Meeker was a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He also was also a colourful TV hockey analyst.
He died Sunday at the age of 97.
"Howie was one of the first colour commentators," remembers former NHLer Rod Seiling.
"He was famous of course for 'golly gee willikers,' and a couple of other things, like 'stop it there!'"
Seiling was playing for the New York Rangers in 1964 when he first met Meeker, who was a colour commentator at the time.
"He'd stop the cameras and walk you through it. He was a real student of the game," Seiling says.
Meeker took his broadcasting career to new heights in 1972, when he landed the job as the colour analyst for the Canada-Soviet showdown.
Seiling was on that team.
"Team Canada, '72. He covered the series against the Soviets and travelled to the Soviet Union with us, so I got to know him a little bit better there," Seiling said.
Meeker has been inducted into the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame at the Ken Seiling Region Museum, as well as the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
He left a mark on the community before spending more than two decades in Newfoundland and ultimately settling down in B.C.
Seiling called the man's life a "great, grand old life," saying he aspires to come close to the life he lived.
The Toronto Maple Leafs say the organization is deeply saddened by his passing, adding that a memorial will be held in New Hamburg at a later date.
