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Heart of the Blackhawks: The Pierre Pilote Story
Author(s): L. Waxy Gregoire (Author), David M. Dupuis (Author), Pierre Pilote (Author)
- Publisher: ECW Press
- Publication Date: 1 Oct. 2013
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 357 pages
- ISBN-10: 1770411364
- ISBN-13: 9781770411364
Book Description
From the beginning, the hockey gods looked favourably on Pierre Pilote, a French Canadian lad who went on to become captain of the powerhouse Chicago Blackhawks in the 1960s and one of the greatest defencemen in NHL history. Pilote takes us on a rich and unforgettable journey through the rinks and dressing rooms of the Junior “A” St. Catharines Teepees and AHL Buffalo Bisons to his first big and embarrassing shift as a rookie with the Blackhawks. Sit on the bench when Pilote plays with the likes of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Glenn Hall, Moose Vasko, and while he is coached by Tommy Ivan, Rudy Pilous, and Billy Reay; get up close for his on-ice battles with Rocket Richard, Gordie Howe, and Henri Richard; and hear the incredible story of how “the swingingest team” from the Windy City captured the imaginations of fans and the hockey world in their 1961 pursuit of the elusive Stanley Cup.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
L. Waxy Gregoire is a hockey buff, member of the International Hockey Researchers Association, and secretary of the Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame, where he is heavily involved in researching and writing about local hockey. He lives in Penetanguishene, Ontario.
Pierre Pilote, born in 1931 in Kénogami, Québec, became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975. He lives in Wyevale, Ontario.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Heart of the Blackhawks
The Pierre Pilote Story
By L. Waxy Gregoire, David M. Dupuis, Pierre Pilote
ECW PRESS
Copyright © 2013 L. Waxy Gregoire, David M. Dupuis, Pierre Pilote
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-77041-136-4
CHAPTER 1
The Kénogami Kid
Today, the sprawling City of Saguenay is comprised of the amalgamated towns of Chicoutimi, Kénogami, Jonquière, and Arvida, but in the 1800s, they were all small, growing towns.
The vast pristine, virgin lands, abundant lakes, rivers, and forests of northern Québec were ideal for the lumber industry, and the Saguenay region had always relied on it. Powered by a 27,000-horsepower hydroelectric dam on the nearby Sable River, the pulp and paper industry ran the town at the start of the twentieth century.
The town of Jonquière, named after the Marquis de La Jonquière, governor of New France from 1749 to 1752, was founded in 1847. Kénogami, situated on the northern shore of the lake that bears its Innu name, meaning “Long Lake,” was originally part of the town of Jonquière. Though detached in 1911, they were really joined at the hip.
In the late 1800s, young Albert Pilote moved with his family to the Saguenay region as his father looked for employment in the lumber industry. He grew up, met and fell in love with a local Innu girl named Madeleine Dallaire, who was born on the shores of Lac St. Jean at the Innu reserve near Roberval, north of Kénogami. Not not to be mistaken with the Inuit of the far north, this Innu band was also known as “les Montagnais,” or the Inuatsh of Pekuakami.
After marrying in June 1906, the couple moved to Kénogami where Albert secured work at the paper mill. Though it appeared that they severed all ties with the band, his bride would be known as mystical, a medicine woman who informally carried on her many traditional herbal cures and practices.
From the beginning, Madeleine ruled while Albert, a quieter and meeker partner, succumbed to her direction and whims around the house. Their brood soon grew to six daughters and four sons, including one Paul Émile Pilote, born on April 4, 1908.
By the time he was 14, Paul began working at Price Brothers, as a log sorter and loader in the large holding area that surrounded the pulp and paper mill. The holding pond was fed by a mile-long, water-fed shoot that carried the cut logs or “pitoune” as the French called them, from as far away as Lac Saint Jean. Paul used a long gaff to sort and guide the logs onto a large conveyor belt which carried them into the mill to be ground into chips.
Paul eventually advanced in the mill, only to discover a situation within the company that was prevalent throughout industrial Québec in this time period: the English had better, higher paying jobs than the unskilled French labourers. Paul looked past his early frustrations. He needed the job and wouldn’t make any waves, not just yet.
Paul met Maria Gagné, daughter of Adeos Gagné, a widowed lumberman from the Gaspé region who had moved his family to the Saguenay in search of steady work. Maria’s mother had died when she was 12 years old and Maria became the instant surrogate mother to her other siblings and assumed the unpleasant task of cooking at her father’s lumber camp.
English prejudice was a contributing factor in young Paul’s becoming an accomplished boxer, soon earning the moniker “Kayo” Pilote. Though not a big man at 150 pounds, Paul’s fists were fast and solid, and did some of his talking. His amateur fights in the region were well enough organized that he ran miles a day to prepare. He didn’t lose many, as exhibited shortl
