Danny Grant RIP

[yave1964]

My first hockey hero, Danny Grant passed away.

 

  Grant had kind of a strange career, he played with the Montreal canadiens in 1968 winning the Stanley cup, because he only appeared in 22 games that year he was not even considered a rookie so the next season when he was dealt to the North Stars he won the Calder trophy as the leagues top rookie, winning the Cup one year and the Calder the next.

 

  He was a minor star in Minny, then the Wings traded Henry Boucha, a full blooded Chippewa Indian who wore a headband instead of a helmet and whose own career was cut short a few years later when Dave forbes of Boston used his stick like a tomahawk hitting Boucha across the eye damn near blinding him. But anyway, Grant.

 

  Grant came to the Wings when I was 10 years old, the Wings were borderline terrible but had one great line led by Marcel Dionne feeding Grant the sniper who became the second Wing ever to score 50 goals in 74-75. His favorite play was to wait for the play to move in and then to streak towards the net where Dionne would fire a pass and from twenty feet or closer he would fire a slapshot point blank. He was no Bobby Hull but his shot was feared. I remember sitting in the old Olympia thinking that he would be the one to lead the Wings back to glory.

 

  It never happened. Over the next four injury plagued years he managed a paltry 34 goals combined as a wonky back cut his career short. He returned home to New Brunswick where many still argue he was the greatest player to have come out of,  He hung around the game, coaching a few years in Juniors,  he spent his later years farming, fishing and at the rink. When his hometown was building a rink they wanted to name it after him but instead he asked them to name it after another NB guy by the name of Fred 'Buster" Harvey who also played for my Wings in the 70's, Harvey, Grants best friend was dying of cancer. They named the Arena the Grant-Harvey arena. Just a class act.

 

  I collect autographs, I make no bones about it, mid fifties, still a fan boy, I dont care, I collect them for me not for monetary value or anything like that, I have two from Grant, one I bought at a card show in Detroit with a COA, the other about five years ago I mailed a letter to him along with a card telling him of watching him play. He graciously signed it and mailed it back to me. That one in particular is one of my all time favorites.

 

  My hero as a kid passed away. Rest in peace Danny Grant.

[CreaseAndAssist]

18 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

My first hockey hero, Danny Grant passed away.

 

  Grant had kind of a strange career, he played with the Montreal canadiens in 1968 winning the Stanley cup, because he only appeared in 22 games that year he was not even considered a rookie so the next season when he was dealt to the North Stars he won the Calder trophy as the leagues top rookie, winning the Cup one year and the Calder the next.

 

  He was a minor star in Minny, then the Wings traded Henry Boucha, a full blooded Chippewa Indian who wore a headband instead of a helmet and whose own career was cut short a few years later when Dave forbes of Boston used his stick like a tomahawk hitting Boucha across the eye damn near blinding him. But anyway, Grant.

 

  Grant came to the Wings when I was 10 years old, the Wings were borderline terrible but had one great line led by Marcel Dionne feeding Grant the sniper who became the second Wing ever to score 50 goals in 74-75. His favorite play was to wait for the play to move in and then to streak towards the net where Dionne would fire a pass and from twenty feet or closer he would fire a slapshot point blank. He was no Bobby Hull but his shot was feared. I remember sitting in the old Olympia thinking that he would be the one to lead the Wings back to glory.

 

  It never happened. Over the next four injury plagued years he managed a paltry 34 goals combined as a wonky back cut his career short. He returned home to New Brunswick where many still argue he was the greatest player to have come out of,  He hung around the game, coaching a few years in Juniors,  he spent his later years farming, fishing and at the rink. When his hometown was building a rink they wanted to name it after him but instead he asked them to name it after another NB guy by the name of Fred 'Buster" Harvey who also played for my Wings in the 70's, Harvey, Grants best friend was dying of cancer. They named the Arena the Grant-Harvey arena. Just a class act.

 

  I collect autographs, I make no bones about it, mid fifties, still a fan boy, I dont care, I collect them for me not for monetary value or anything like that, I have two from Grant, one I bought at a card show in Detroit with a COA, the other about five years ago I mailed a letter to him along with a card telling him of watching him play. He graciously signed it and mailed it back to me. That one in particular is one of my all time favorites.

 

  My hero as a kid passed away. Rest in peace Danny Grant.

 

That's a really good memorial...I am sure @Antti_Laxative could share plenty of memories as well.  He's a bit before my time.  

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

 

This was before my time. My interest in the Wings began when Yzerman was drafted. I was ignorant of hockey before that. More a Tigers fan as a kid. Hockey began with Yzerman, and my love for curling began in college.

 

But it highlights one of the reasons I have grown to love hockey more than all other major sports: most players remain humble, even as they are confident. Most hockey players don't get the "star" treatment as they develop, and so they don't get too full of themselves, and the hockey culture tries to keep that humility as part of the player culture. "Be confident, but don't EVER think you are bigger than your team or the game itself."

 

Nick Lidstrom personified this idea. As great as he was, he never thought of himself more highly than he ought to have. He looked to Yzerman as a mentor, even though in the end, his play actually surpassed that of Stevie's. But he will be the first to tell you that he learned a LOT about being a leader and a captain from The Captain. And he certainly wouldn't have been the same player had he not learned from the veterans he played with early in his career.

 

This is likely not true for 100% of hockey players. But it IS true of the vast majority of them. They are salt-of-the-earth guys who remain grateful for the opportunity to play the game they love for a good living, and have genuine gratefulness for the fans that support the game and make that opportunity possible.

 

This is the same thread that makes that signed card so valuable. Never trade it. That's all about love for the game and its fans.

 

Great testimonial, @yave1964.