Last night Hometown Hockey was in Owen Sound, Ontario...
from Ron MacLean of Hometown Hockey,
Tonight in Owen Sound we told a few stories which, cobbled together, would make a nice book – and we’d call it “Staying In The Game.”
One chapter would focus on Helen Lewis, the woman who saved this city’s OHL franchise. Another would be on Bobby Ryan, who shed a troubled past by moving to Owen Sound. Problem is, the title “Staying In The Game” is already taken. It’s the name of Sydney Sharpe’s biography of Daryl Seaman, who died in 2009.
Seaman was a Canadian businessman, owner of the Calgary Flames and a World War II bomber pilot. During last year’s Stanley Cup final, Don Cherry and I often sat with Kings coach Darryl Sutter and he told us many tales about his time with Seaman in Calgary. Many of these stories were about ranching and hockey, but his eyes lit up when he told us about Seaman’s efforts in the war.
Sutter explained how “Doc” flew a remarkable 82 sorties and how once, in 1943, a German Messerschmitt fired bullets and cannon shells through the front of his Hudson FK 440 bomber, killing radio op Will Fletcher and severely wounding Seaman’s left leg.
“Doc,” with his left foot tied to the rudder and his left leg useless, managed to find cloud cover to escape the German fighter and save the lives of the remaining crew. Staying in the game. Sutter loved that.
continued plus many links to various Owen Sound related videos...
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