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Tex Kaiser
- Wilfrid Laurier University Press
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297 Tex Kaiser T EX KAISER WAS BACK IN A GALT UNIFORM THE SUMMER OF 1950. His picture graced the cover of the Terrier program, which sold for fifteen cents. Inside, it said: “Verne (Tex) Kaiser won honours for home runs last year and is the most improved player in the league this year. Verne was recently sold to the Montreal Canadiens hockey team and is an exceptionally good hockey player. He hits a long ball and tips the scales at 180 lbs. Verne is married to a Preston girl. They are the proud parents of two children.” In the fall of 1950, after standing up for Harry Sollenburger at Sollenburger’s wedding in Buffalo at the end of the season, Kaiser made the Montreal Canadiens hockey club. He was twenty-five. His linemates were Rocket Richard, whom he roomed with on road trips, and Elmer Lach. Until then Kaiser had languished in the minors, spending most of his time playing for Eddie Shore–owned clubs. Several major-league teams showed an interest in him, including the Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, and Tigers, but Kaiser had his mind and heart set on a hockey career. Everyone, it seemed, liked Kaiser. Everyone except for Eddie Shore, though for Kaiser, the feeling was mutual. “Nobody liked Eddie Shore,” said Kaiser. “He was nuts. Just absolutely crazy.” In 1943 Kaiser joined the navy and stayed until war’s end. As the decade drew to a close he began playing baseball for the Terriers. Even though he was still young, years of playing in the minors for Shore’s teams had taken their toll by the time he got to Montreal. Shore, said Kaiser, would have him playing forty minutes a game. “And he’d play us through injuries.” Kaiser roomed with Rocket Richard, and one night, so the story goes, he found Richard sleeping. When he tried waking him up Richard sprang from the bed and punched him hard. Kaiser never tried to wake Richard again. One year the team he was playing for, the New York Rovers, actually outdrew the NHL’s Rangers at Madison Square Garden. “We always had bad ice on Sunday afternoons because on Saturday nights there would be some event on at the Gardens and there would be no ice. By Sunday we only had a half-inch of ice and the sparks would fly.” After spending the 1950 season with the Canadiens, his big-time hockey career came to an abrupt end when Shore bought his contract from the Canadiens for $10,000. So ended his stint in the NHL. It was too bad; the Canadiens had wanted him for years and Shore wouldn’t let them have him. Shore demanded so much money from Montreal that they balked. In fifty games for Montreal he scored seven goals and added five assists. “It was a good year but it was tough with a name like Kaiser and not speaking French,” recalled Kaiser. “Dick Irwin was a great coach.” That one season with Montreal left him with an unforgettable image of the Rocket. “He was just so intense, so strong. You can’t imagine a guy of that stature and build being that strong. He just moved people. He could skate, and burst. In those days you just put the puck on his stick. And his stick was so stiff you could practically stand on it. Could he fire the puck!” His hockey career came to a close in 1955 when Shore bought his contract once again. Kaiser was on a train bound for Chicoutimi when he learned that Shore had re-acquired his rights. “I just got off the train and goddamn quit,” he said. His baseball career ended about the same time. “My legs were bothering me, but I’d had enough anyway. I think I just got sick of playing. It was time. I had had an operation on my knee and it just wasn’t fun anymore.” There were few regrets, though he later wished he had given baseball more of a chance. As he got older, he came to realize that baseball would have been a better choice. But such decisions are never easy at the time. “Hockey was tough physically,” he said later. “I think baseball was the easier of the two to play, but in those days I loved playing hockey.” 298 Terrier Town—Summer of ’49 [34.201.16.34] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:21 GMT) Kaiser got a...