Hockey loses one of its best friends

The hockey world weeps today. Lorne Davis, a longtime player and scout, died Thursday in a Regina hospital. Every arena in the world is a tad darker today because Lorne's smile will never again grace them. But we are richer for having known him and the memories are terrific. . . . Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post has graciously allowed me to post the story he wrote for Friday's paper . . .

By ROB VANSTONE
Regina Leader-Post
The city of Regina and the entire hockey community lost a beloved friend
Thursday when Lorne Davis died at 77 after a brief illness.
“He’s an icon,’’ said Kevin Prendergast, the Edmonton Oilers’ vice-president
of hockey operations. “He was a centrepiece . . . old school . . . a guy who
played for four of the six original teams.
“He had a great sense of humour and a great sense of delivery. He’s just a
loyal guy who everybody loved. We called him The Godfather and that’s what
he was to our staff.’’
Davis had scouted for the Oilers since 1980. He helped to stock the Oilers’
dynasty which won Stanley Cups in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. He played
a key role in Edmonton drafting and developing players such as Grant Fuhr,
Ryan Smyth, Kelly Buchberger, Andy Moog and Glenn Anderson.
Anderson played under Davis in 1980 with Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team.
Davis co-coached that team with Tom Watt and Clare Drake.
“There are five Stanley Cups in this organization and he was part of the
scouting staff with Barry Fraser and Ace Bailey and Eddie Chadwick,’’
Prendergast said. “These guys did a great job of bringing that young talent
here.
“You can talk all you want about the Messiers and Gretzkys and that, but
they needed the Grant Fuhrs and the Andy Moogs and the Glenn Andersons and
that’s what they did. They brought those guys in here.’’
Davis’s contributions to the game transcended player identification and
recruitment. He was a popular member of the hockey fraternity who enjoyed
holding court in the company of fellow scouts or people involved with the
sport that played such an immense role in his life.
“Lorne was one of those people who, when you knew he was in the rink, you
searched him out to say hello,’’ Regina Pats general manager Brent Parker
said. “That’s the kind of effect he had on people.
“He was a good hockey person and, far superior to that, a good man.’’
Davis was named the Pats’ head coach and general manager during the 1976-77
WHL season and held that post through 1977-78. He also played for the Pats
from 1947 to 1950.
“He was a legend in the hockey business and across the NHL,’’ WHL
commissioner Ron Robison said. “He was so professional in what he did and so
respected by everyone in the game.
“I can’t say enough about his knowledge of the game and his integrity. He
was certainly one of the best of all time, in my opinion.’’
Although Davis is best-known for his involvement in hockey, he was also an
accomplished baseball player who attracted the interest of the Brooklyn
Dodgers.
After opting to pursue a career in hockey, Davis made his NHL debut as a
player with the Montreal Canadiens during the 1951-52 season, scoring a goal
in his first game. He spent six years in the NHL, playing for the Canadiens,
Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins.
He played with the Canadiens team that won the Stanley Cup in the spring of
1953. His only action with the 1952-53 Canadiens was in the playoffs, during
which he had one goal and one assist in seven games.
Davis was also a member of the Red Wings team that won the championship in
1955, but was traded to Chicago during that season. Including time spent in
the NHL and the minor leagues, he played professional hockey for 14 years.
He also played for Canada’s national team in the 1960s, when he wore the
maple leaf at several international events.
“He was a good man . . . a good buddy,’’ Minnesota Wild scout Barry
MacKenzie, a former national-team cohort, said from Sudbury, Ont. “He was a
beautiful human being — a caring guy with a great sense of humour.’’
Those sentiments were echoed by another national-team alumnus, Marshall
Johnston, who is the Carolina Hurricanes’ director of professional scouting.
“Lorne was one great guy,’’ Johnston said via e-mail. “I have nothing but
fond memories of Lorne, and he and Shirley raised a great family to boot.
The only negative for me was I had to scout ‘against’ him for many years in
his years with the Oilers.’’
Davis began his scouting career with the expansion St. Louis Blues in 1966.
He spent a decade with the Blues before joining the scouting staff of the
World Hockey Association’s Houston Aeros.
After a stint with the Pats, Davis became a scout with the 1978-79 New York
Rangers, who advanced to the Stanley Cup final that season, losing to the
Canadiens.
The following season was spent with Canada’s Olympic team. At the 1980
Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, N.Y., the United States engineered the
“Miracle On Ice’’ under head coach Herb Brooks. Although Brooks was a rival
coach in 1980, he and Davis were the best of friends. Brooks died in a car
accident in 2003.
Following the 1980 Olympics, Oilers boss Glen Sather hired Davis to work
with Edmonton, which would soon ice one of the NHL’s all-time powerhouses.
Davis — a 2003 inductee into the Regina Sports Hall of Fame — scouted for
the Oilers until a few weeks ago, when he began to feel ill. He was admitted
to Regina General Hospital last week and diagnosed with cancer on Tuesday.
He died of cancer-induced cardiac arrest Thursday afternoon, in the company
of his family.
All three of Davis’s children became involved with sports as a profession.
Darrell Davis, a former hockey referee and linesman, has been a member of
the Leader-Post’s sports department since 1983. Brad Davis, of Waterloo,
Ont., was a WHL referee before joining his father in the Oilers’ scouting
department. Davis’s daughter, Liane, is a power-skating instructor whose
clients include many NHL players. Lorne Davis’s first wife, Shirley, died in
1992.
Along with his children, Davis is survived by his companion of 15 years
(Peggy Goodhue) and five grandchildren.
A memorial service for Davis is expected to be held on Friday of next week.
More details will be forthcoming as plans are finalized.
“People trusted him and enjoyed his company,’’ said former national-team
teammate Terry O’Malley, who also played defence for the Davis-coached
Canadian squad at the 1980 Olympics. “They don’t get any better than that.
“He was a real gentleman and I would think he was one of the best-loved guys
in that profession of scouting in North America. Every time he’d go into the
rink, he’d brighten the place up. He was like that when he played for the
national team as well. There was always a good laugh.
“He was a good hockey man and a man good for hockey. We’ll miss him.’’