Howie Meeker, who played on four Stanley Cup championship teams with the Toronto Maple Leafs and went on to become a Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster for his innovative and colorful commentary, mostly with the hugely popular “Hockey Night in Canada” telecasts of the 1970s and 80s, died on Sunday at a hospital in Nanaimo, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island. Meeker was only 5 feet 9 inches and 165 pounds or so, but he held his own against bigger players. “Hockey Night” games, Meeker was a pioneer in using a telestrator to diagram the action on instant reply segments. “Nobody understood more about pizzazz and shazzam than Howie,” John Shannon, a former executive producer for the Saturday night telecasts, said in the book “Hockey Night in Canada: 60 Seasons” (2012). “Howie found a niche, created a brand.”

Source: New York Times November 08, 2020 23:03 UTC