He's taking pictures with all the Habs fans. Glen Murray goes and scores. The Bruins win in overtime at the Bell Center in Montreal and the first thing Gord's says is: 'We've got to go to the busiest Habs bar and we've got to walk right in there.' We waded into enemy territory and Gord was so gracious and so funny. The "Phantom" Alexei Kovalev takes himself out of the play. We went down to Montreal to see the Bruins play. Gord's godfather, their family friend Harry Sinden was the coach of that team, so that resonated very deeply with. I can only imagine what meant for him, Mike, Pat and the rest of the Downie family. Can you tell me that story?ĭB: He loved the Bruins, but he loved Team Canada too. I guess that was just part of him that he applied to that part of his life.ĭM: He was also very much a Boston Bruins fan and didn't mind showing that.ĭM: There was a moment that he wore that Bruins jersey in Habs territory. You couldn't really even talk to him when he was on the ice because he was so laser focused. He'd throw himself across the crease to make saves and he would stand up to any kind of shot. And he was stricken when he was scored on. What was Gord Downie like to play with and what'd you learn from his on-ice persona?ĭB: He was a very serious goaltender. You've talked about Jim Cuddy not being quite the Jim Cuddy that people know on stage knows. He was inconsolable after he lost, but he loved the game deeply.ĭM: You've written that you can tell a lot from a person by how they play on the ice. Gord was like: 'F-you for skating through my crease.' The other guy was mad at Gord, who had slashed him. It turned out the two were in an 'F-you' fight. to Whitby to play a recreational game and at one point in the third period, there was somebody in the crease talking to Gord and I thought it was an odd time for a fan moment. So I went over there to run some interference. Gord was super playful, super gentle, super beautiful, but he was all business in the crease.
He was a dyed-in-the-wool, very gravely serious goalie. He was committed to the vocation of goaltending. In the mid to late '90s, we would go from rink to rink and play teams, set up games and the beautiful thing is, there are hundreds of people out there who played and shot on Gord Downie without having any sense that the guy behind the mask was actually Gord Downie. He bought the house because it was across from a rink and he could just put his gear on and literally clock down the stairs of his home, cross the street and he was on the ice within a couple of seconds. He moved on to Carlaw Avenue in Toronto-him and Laura's third or fourth house. He was a fiend for his yearly fantasy draft.
He sang about hockey, his songs played in hockey arenas, but he also liked to play hockey. How important was hockey to Gord Downie?ĭave Bidini: He was a hockey savant, in a way. He knew every player. I want to ask you about hockey because you obviously had a connection with Gord, The Hip and hockey. Dave Bidini is one of the founding members of the Canadian rock group, The Rheostatics, who opened for the Hip on three national tours in the 1990s. He's also the author of 11 books including "the Tropic of Hockey" and "On a cold Road." Listen to Bidini's conversation with Checkup host Duncan McCue:ĭuncan McCue: My next guest is a musician who knew Gord Downie for many years. "I'll remember as that person who would be the first to call and the first to write in both good and bad times." The late musician's passion for Canada's sport was evident in his songs, including "Heaven is a Better Place Today," "Fifty-Mission Cap" and "Fireworks."īidini, who knew Downie for many years, also remembers him as an "endlessly supportive" friend. "Gord was super playful, super gentle, super beautiful, but he was all business in the crease," Bidini said.
This week, as we celebrated the life and legacy of Gord Downie, long-time friend, tourmate and teammate Dave Bidini gave us a glimpse into a side of Downie we don't normally see - the " gravely serious goalie."
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