There are numerous examples of successful fathers and sons playing for the same team in the National Hockey League — Hull, Howe, and Domi spring to mind. The Montreal Canadiens also boast some multi-generational players. There was Emile Bouchard and his son Pierre, and the three-generational Bernie Geoffrion and his son Danny and Danny’s son Blake. Not all instances were as successful as these father-son combos. Réjean Houle and his son Jean-François is one example that comes to mind, as Jean-François was drafted by the Canadiens but never made it past the minors. But perhaps there was no family lineage more public and more expectant than that of Howie Morenz and his son Howie Jr. who, despite his best efforts, never attained the heights that were assumed for him.
Howie Morenz Jr. had the projectors shining on him from an impossibly young age of four years old, when he made his Montreal Forum debut on January 29th, 1931, dropping the puck for a ceremonial face-off ahead of his father’s game with the Canadiens. Howie Morenz was a superstar not only in Montreal, but also across the league, so journalists were quick to playfully ask Howie Sr. if Howie Jr. would follow in his footsteps, to which Howie Sr. replied that he hoped so. And so began a life-long quest for Howie Jr. while growing in the public eye.
Howie Jr. started making regular headlines at the age of six when he began dressing in full Canadiens gear to take part in warm-ups with the team prior to home games at the Montreal Forum. He wore the jersey number 1/2, that Howie Sr. recalled gifting his son at home one night with a big smile on his face. Howie Jr. became somewhat of the unofficial mascot for the team, including the Ace Bailey benefit game in February 1934. However, the cute innocence of a child was quickly cast aside in 1937 when the tragic on-ice injury, and subsequent death of Howie Sr., thrust Howie Jr. into an awkward spotlight at just 10 years old.
As a means to help his teammates and fans cope with the loss of their hockey hero, Howie Jr. was pushed front-and-centre by the Canadiens who advertised Howie Jr. as a special attraction at various events in order to keep the name Morenz in circulation. Howie Jr. performed stick-handling exhibitions between periods of games, to the delight of fans who already began to claim they saw some similarities between him and his father. He travelled with the Canadiens for a series of exhibition games in the Maritimes mere months after Howie Sr.‘s passing, drawing packed rinks of children where “Young Howie” was advertised to play with the team. He even ‘scored a goal’ during one game between the Canadiens and a team of “All-stars” which was met with loud adulation from the crowd.
The spotlight shone brightest on Young Howie during the Howie Morenz Memorial game in November 1937 where 9,000 fans filled the Montreal Forum to celebrate the life and career of his father. For one shift, Howie Jr. skated on a line with Frank Carson and Butch Kelterbourne, his father’s linemates in Stratford. The event raised a reported $25,000 for Howie and his mother. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jules Dugal presented Young Howie with a pair of his dad’s skates, his hockey stick, and his Canadiens number 7 jersey at centre ice, which Howie clumsily clutched and fumbled as he skated off the ice in view of everyone in attendance. The items were up for auction at the game, and Cattarinich gave strict instruction to Jules Dugal, the Canadiens secretary, to outbid any other bidders. The team also announced that Jersey number 7 would be set aside until Howie Jr. was ready to take his father’s mantle. The expectations were clear, and the pressure was fully on Howie Jr. now.
From there, he travelled to Stratford to present the Howie Morenz Trophy to the organizer of a new pee-wee hockey league. Still just 10 years old, Young Howie was being pulled in every direction to represent his family legacy.
Shortly after the benefit game in Montreal things took a dark turn. Mary Morenz began recieving several threatening phone calls a day, stating that Young Howie would be kidnapped and held for ransom until the money from the benefit was handed over. Police had to rush to the Morenz home and provide protection around the clock. The news made the papers from Toronto to Nebraska to California to Texas. Everyone everywhere now knew who Howie Morenz Jr. was, and while people were worried about his safety, they were also curious about his future. The affair died down eventually without further incident, and Young Howie retreated from public life, but the pad of paper was sure to follow. The press would always note when he visited the Canadiens at the Forum, but there were no more on-ice appearances and grand spectacles from the youngster as he tried to regain some semblance of a normal childhood.
If Howie wasn’t already struggling to process the burden of carrying his father’s mantle, tragedy struck the family yet again in January 1939, when Young Howie’s younger brother Donald passed away at the age of six from complication caused by pneumonia. Cecil Hart, the Canadiens’ head coach, who was always at Young Howie’s side ever since Howie Sr. passed (Howie Jr. used to call him “Uncle Cecil”), attended the funeral with the Morenz family, along with Canadiens captain Babe Siebert. His mother remarried a week later and relocated to Florida, leaving Howie Jr. to grow up far from family and with a singular purpose in his young life — to make the Montreal Canadiens.
By 1940, Howie, now a lad of 12 years of age, traveled with the Catholic High School of Montreal to Boston for a popular annual game between the high school and the all-stars of the Greater Boston Scholastic league. Although Howie was not yet of age to be on the varsity team, the talent he displayed as a center of one of the bantam youth teams at the school, and of course the draw of the name itself, motivated the organizers to invite him along for the trip. He received an ovation from the Boston crowd when he was introduced, wearing the number 7 jersey for his team. He didn’t play in the game, but his star power was undeniable, with local children swarming the train upon arrival to get his autograph.
“Between periods he skated around the rink with the easy grace of a professional, and occasionally rammed the puck into empty nets. Only that and nothing more, but he was constantly greeted with warming applause and fans nailed him at the boards, asking for his autograph.”
The Boston Globe (27-Feb-40)
Back home in Montreal, Catholic High School bantam games regularly received a column in the paper to keep readers up-to-date on Young Howie’s progress. It helped that the Bantam team played at the Forum as well. A five-point night for Howie in December 1940 made the sports section of many major North American newspapers, who were more interested in the name than the team. His coach, Brother Paul, would make the bold proclamation that people shouldn’t be surprised to see another number 7 on Canadiens’ lineup in a few years.
“I’m going to be a pro hockey player… if I can,” Howie told the Montreal Gazette in January 1941. “Sure, I like taking piano lessons but hockey’s more important. More important even than school—but I have to go through school so’s I’ll be able to play hockey.”
For the 1941-42 season, Young Howie, now 14, enrolled at the University of Ottawa boarding school as a second-form student to play junior hockey with the Garnet and Grey (Gee-Gees) in the Junior Interscholastic Hockey League, and in his debut junior game put up seven points (two goals and five assists). Needless to say that the newspapers went crazy with the news. By year end, Morenz was leading the league in scoring, and Frank Patrick, the Canadiens business manager, made the move to add Morenz to the Canadiens negotiation list, making obvious what the team’s intentions were towards the youngster. Although other NHL teams could have beaten the Canadiens to the punch, there was an unspoken understanding among all the other GMs that Howie Morenz Jr’s only place in the NHL would be with Montreal.
Howie returned to the Montreal spotlight briefly in February 1942 when the Montreal Canadiens and Montreal Maroons alumni organized a charity game for Victory Loan Sports Parade war bonds. In order to raise interest in the game, Howie Morenz Jr. was advertised for the event as taking his father’s spot on the famous Flying Frenchmen line between Aurèle Joliat and Billy Boucher, wearing, for the first time since Howie Sr.’s death, the famed Canadiens’ jersey number 7. The event drew a large crowd, and although the Maroons defeated the Canadiens, Morenz Jr. received a penalty shot in the dying seconds of the game to score and send everyone home on a high note.
After one season in the Ottawa junior loop, Morenz returned to Montreal in January 1943 to play junior with Catholic High School, scoring a hat trick in his first game of the season, a 10-0 rout of Loyola in the Interscholastic Junior League. He quickly moved up to the senior team, because coaches in the junior loop said that he was ruining the league. He became the youngest player in the senior loop so the newspapers went from covering the junior team to covering the senior team. Again, there was little care in covering the team, but rather the topic of interest was Morenz’s progress.
At the age of 15, after years of appearing as a mascot for the Catholic High School in their annual visit to Boston, Morenz was finally in the line-up for the Black and White, centering the top line no less. His presence drew a lot of attention and 6,000 fans came to see him play. Although his side lost, Morenz scored a goal and assisted on another. After the game, Greater Boston All-Star players took turns having their picture taken with the youngster. “He’s not ready yet, but he’s the spitting image of his father,” said Art Ross in a Boston Globe interview. “He has the same round shoulders, the same burst of speed. It’ll be great if he comes through.” That season, CHS lost the city championship against West Hill, led by future superstar defenceman Doug Harvey whom Morenz would challenge regularly with that famous Morenz rush up the ice. Morenz was soaked in adulation and packed with potential, but could he continue shouldering the pressure?
At 16-years old, Young Howie weighed 135 pounds and measured 5’7″. “Too many young fellows have been knocked out of the game in their first year because they took the step too soon,” said Young Morenz to the Canadian Press in April of 1943. “Before Dad died, he gave me plenty of advice about the pitfalls that dot the career of a hockey star, and I’m going to remember his words. I hope to get a chance with the Canadiens in about four or five years and of course I would like to be given the number 7.” Morenz Senior had told his son to not try professional hockey until he turned at least 20 years old, but the Canadiens had other plans. They were eager to sign him to a contract, and if all went according to general manager Tommy Gorman’s plan, Morenz would be given a tryout in two years.
Morenz joined the Junior Canadiens in the fall of 1943 at the age of 17, playing for former Canadiens’ goaltender Wilf Cude in the Junior Amateur Hockey Association, while also continuing to play for the Catholic High School senior team. Maintaining two rigorous schedules didn’t seem to concern anyone at the time. The annual CHS game against the Boston All-Stars was dominated by Morenz, now a full-fledged senior, scoring a goal in a CHS 3-2 win, and being all over the ice.
“Montreal is a city which takes its hockey heroes sentimentally and thousands of hearts flamed and fell when Howie Morenz died March 8, 1937,” wrote Dan Fisher in the Star Weekly. “Nobody knows that more than Howie Morenz, Jr. No player, young or old, will be more on the spot; none will have more to gain, or lose, than this same son and namesake of the immortal Stratford Streak.”
Shocking news was published in January 1945, as Young Howie was diagnosed with a condition called “athlete’s heart” at the age of 18, a condition caused by an over-exertion of the heart, which meant he had to slow down how much hockey he played, if not abandon it all together. “He is NHL timbre all right,” said Cude, his coach with the Junior Canadiens. “We’ve always felt that he might grow up to wear his father’s old number 7 on the Canadiens. But we don’t know what will develop now. His health is more important than a hockey career.” The condition developed from playing too often, as maintaining a full-time schedule with two teams at the same time caught up with Howie. It was his mother who first noticed that Howie began looking more-and-more tired and urged him to visit his family physician. Howie himself also noticed a change, noting to Cude one time when returning to the bench after a shift, “I’m trying out there but I just can’t seem to do it”, which raised a concern with Cude. It was the Montreal Gazette who first published the news, and papers across North America ran it the following day as a top story in their sports sections. He ended up leaving the Junior Canadiens to continue solely with CHS, a decision that tore him apart given that he was so close to what he’s been working towards seemingly his entire life.
A few weeks passed, and Howie was having a difficult time slowing down, and especially had a hard time distancing himself from the Junior Canadiens. Although he wasn’t playing, he would still travel with the team in order to maintain the connection and to keep his desired destination within reach. In February 1945, while on the road with the Junior Canadiens for an exhibition game against Kirkland Lake, he decided last minute that he wanted to play, so he suited up against his physician’s advice, and was spectacular scoring two goals. However, in that game, he separated his shoulder and his season came to a crashing end. It’s as though the fates were trying to tell him something. His impulsive decision to play with the Junior Canadiens caused him to miss the annual trip to Boston with CHS as well as the High School Senior “A” city championship series.
For the 1945-46 season, Morenz was back in action with the Junior Canadiens, picking up where he left off leading a top line. He was the team’s leading scorer with 16 goals and nine assists in 20 games. But even with his high school days behind him, Morenz found himself playing on a second team once again, this time in the Provincial Intermediate Commercial league for the Cardy Hotels. Howie Jr. lived, breathed and slept hockey, training morning, afternoon, and night, every day of the week. He was laser focused on a goal to live up to his father’s name, and it was taking a physical toll on him.
He took part in his first Montreal Canadiens training camp in September of 1946, but was deemed not ready yet by head coach Dick Irwin, and returned to the Junior Canadiens for the start of the JAHA campaign. He also played for the Canadair Aces in the commercial league as was his habit to play on multiple teams. By year end, Morenz was leading the JAHA with 19 goals, and with 12 assists was second in the league in overall scoring. He maintained a solid pace all season, scoring 37 goals in 23 games. Morenz finished the season with 68 points and was voted first team all-star for the league. It finally seemed like everything was falling in place for Young Howie to join the NHL Canadiens the following season. However, in a playoff game against St. Michael’s College, he tore knee ligaments and—once again—he saw his season come to a premature end.
The 1947-48 season began with a lot of speculation where a 20-year-old Morenz would be placed. Many had him starting the season with the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League, the Canadiens’ primary farm team, but it was with the Montreal Royals that Morenz made his senior hockey debut, deemed not yet ready to turn pro. His first senior year would, however, prove to be difficult for Morenz, who didn’t even figure in the Top 20 for scoring in the league.
In April 1948, Morenz once again skated with Canadiens alumni in a charity game against the Maroons alumni. It was a fun game full of entertaining hijinx, including a mystery line of players for the Maroons with their faces painted to avoid identification jumping on the ice, going by the names Eenie, Meenie, and Mo. Eenie, who looked suspiciously like Elmer Lach, blasted a slapshot past Wilf Cude. While it was Aurel Joliat who received the loudest ovation, fans still showed their admiration for Morenz, although the news about his heart condition and his average play with the Royals began to temper fans’ expectations of the youngster ever playing in the NHL, let alone living up to his father’s reputation.
Morenz once again attended the Montreal Canadiens training camp in St-Hyacinthe in September 1948, but would be quickly assigned to the Dallas Texans of the United States Hockey League, his first professional team, albeit not the Canadiens’ primary farm team. Irvin told Howie Jr., “We are sending you to Dallas. I want to hear good reports on what you’re doing”. Morenz struggled early in the season, and by December he wasn’t even part of the starting line-up, but instead a substitute player. A difficult season was made worse in January 1949 when he injured his elbow after crashing into the boards.
“There were lots of times this name was a bother,” Morenz said in a 1992 interview. “I really felt it when I was with the Montreal Junior Canadiens. Everyone expected so much out of me just because I was a son of Howie Morenz. The pressure was terrific, which is why I like it so much in Texas. People down there had never heard of Howie Morenz. I really welcomed the anonymity.”
But the only people who were really watching were the Canadiens, and so the pressure was different. It wasn’t the weight of the family name in so much as the weight of your boss glaring down on you while you clung to your sole purpose in life.
“In my one season of pro hockey, with the Dallas club in the US league, I started at 169 pounds and finished up at 143,” said Morenz. “On the night before a game, I’d be unable to sleep. It would be the same thing after the match, even when we won. The strain was terrific.”
“That was my chance,” Morenz said. “I didn’t do it. Nothing went right.”
His first season of professional hockey was such a mental drain on Howie Jr., that come the end of the season, rumours started circulating that Morenz was planning on quitting hockey all together.
When it came time for pre-season physical testing ahead of an assignment to the Bisons for the the 49-50 season, Morenz’s world came crashing down. The doctors told him that he had tunnel vision from a degenerative eye condition and that any particular trauma to the area could result in blindness. This latest news, along with the mental struggle of the previous season and a new wife to think about, Morenz made the shattering decision to quit professional hockey, ending any hope of the number 7 ever being worn on the Montreal Canadiens again. He left the Canadiens farm system and returned to amateur senior hockey to play for the Valleyfield Braves, coached by Toe Blake. By December, he received his unconditional release from the Braves. Even senior hockey was no longer in the cards for 22-year-old Howie Morenz Jr. He signed with last place Amhearst Ramblers of the four-team Maritime Senior Hockey League, but the self-imposed exile to the Maritimes was brief as an injury in training prevented him from playing.
Morenz returned to Quebec for the 1950-51 season, signing with the Verdun Wanderers of the Provincial Hockey League. Back to his old habits of playing on multiple teams, Morenz also played for C.N.R. in the Montreal Hockey League where he lead the league in scoring. He continued playing lower-tier hockey in the PHL, first with St. Laurent Beavers in 1951-52 then Ste. Therese for the 1952-53 season. Howie Morenz Jr. officially retired in September 1953 at the age of 25, before taking a job as a car salesman.
Although the pressure to meet his iconic father’s stature on the ice wasn’t necessarily too much for Howie Jr., he never shied away from the legacy of the family name, but admitted that it was a bit of an impediment as well. Conversely no one could accuse him of a lack of effort and trying to coast off of the family name. He simply wasn’t up to the task to become a full-time professional player. “I’m afraid I would have to disagree with those who say athletic talents are hereditary,” Morenz said in a 1958 interview with the Toronto Star. “I doubt very much that hockey came more easily to me than it did to other kids I knew. I had to learn the hard way, the same as they did.”
Howie Morenz Jr. passed away in 2015, and is buried alongside the father he barely knew but tried to emulate to the best of his ability his entire life.
