Among Don Nachbaur's hockey idols, Gordie Howe and Dave Keon were at the top of the list.
So when he joined the Hartford Whalers as a rookie centre in training camp in 1979, it was like hitting the lottery for Nachbaur, a 20-year-old from Prince George, picked that summer in the third round by the Whalers, 60th overall.
Howe and Keon were the Whalers' established star forwards and for Nachbaur, who came out of the junior ranks of the BCJHL Merritt Centennials and WHL Billings Bighorns, his first taste of the big leagues was an unforgettable experience.
He played on a line with Howe and in an exhibition game and Gordie set him up for a goal with his son Mark also assisting. Nachbaur got to the bench and looked up at the scoreboard, which lit up with the words: "Whalers goal scored by Don Nachbaur, assisted by Gordie Howe and Mark Howe."
For Nachbaur it was one of the biggest thrills of his life.
"I played a couple exhibition games with Gordie the year I was drafted in '79 and that was a special moment obviously for any young kid," said Nachbaur. "I grew up in that era of idolizing both himself and Dave Keon. I used to write Keon's number on my sticks when I was a little guy and wore Number 14 throughout my career and played on the same team with him that year and I roomed with Keon.
"My first years of pro were around some icons of the game."
Nachbaur remembers he was about to take a face-off against Bryan Hextall Jr., who was winding down his NHL career with the Washington Capitals, when Gordie pulled him aside.
"I remember Gordie skating up to me and he whispered on my ear, and said, 'Don't let that guy give you any problems, I'll take care of him for you,' and some other words like, 'Keep your head up, he's dangerous with his stick.' He was directing me how to play and who to keep my sights on and he was just real helpful.
"I spent time with him after practice with some of the young guys and he was teaching us the fine art of how to protect yourself in the corner and how to tip a puck. He was unbelievable, tipping pucks. He could shoot a puck with one hand off the goal line like no one I've ever seen. There were tips he gave me I used throughout my career."
In Howe's last year before he retired, Nachbaur broke his wrist in the 1979 preseason when he ran into Atlanta Flames winger Willi Plett and the injury to his scaffold bone took a long time to heal. He missed the first half of that season and came back in December to play for the Springfield Indians, the Whalers' AHL affiliate in Springfield, Mass. That worked out well for Nachbaur because Springfield also became the home of the Whalers in their first season in the NHL when they moved up from the WHA.
"The Hartford Whalers played in Springfield because the roof in Hartford had collapsed in a snowstorm the year before I got there and they were rebuilding the Hartford Civic Centre," said Nachbaur. "We saw the players all the time, simply because we were in the same town. As a young guy, it was pretty impactful to be around those guys and be in the locker room with them and be out on the ice in practice throughout training camp with them."
Nachbaur even spent Christmas that first year at the Howe home in Glastonbury, Conn.
"They invited three young guys who were single and didn't have families in the area to spend Christmas Day with them and that was pretty special," Nachbaur said. "I showed up with all this excitement about being at his house with (Howe's wife) Colleen and Mark and Marty and met Murray and Cathy, their brother and sister, and they gave us presents."
Nachbaur attended Howe's retirement dinner and party at Howe's restaurant close to his home, Gordie's Place.
Now in his sixth season as head coach of the Spokane Chiefs, the 57-year-old Nachbaur played 223 regular season and 21 playoff games in the NHL with Hartford, Edmonton and Philadelphia. In 469 AHL games he totaled 174 goals, 361 points and 1,452 penalty minutes. Nachbaur and Mark Howe played together in Hartford and in Philadelphia and were teammates with the Flyers when they lost a seven-game Stanley Cup final series in 1987 to the Edmonton Oilers. Nachbaur played seven of the Flyers' 26 playoff games that year.
Howe's death last Friday at age 88 brought the hockey world together and a long list of stars of the game, past and present, attended his funeral in Detroit on Wednesday.
"The funeral said it best, he was well thought of and truly honoured and he earned that and deserved that,"said Nachbaur, from his home in Spokane. "He was not just a great player but a great person. I'd say that about the whole Howe family. I'm still friends with Mark today and they're just down-to-earth people."
