A few weeks ago I wrote about the classic TV game show To Tell the Truth, and how there was once a Canadian version of the series way back in the ’60s when CTV first went on the air.
A reader, Kevin Vahey from Cambridge, MA, left a terrific comment with links showing just how invisible NHL hockey was around the same time to American audiences. Even the sophisticated members of the To Tell the Truth panel — except for Peggy Cass — did not know or recognize the most famous hockey player in all the world at that time.
Check out the four links below and see how some of the most hallowed hockey Hall of Famers fared when they appeared on the long-runnibng series.
First, an eight-time Stanley Cup winner, with two different teams, playing two different positions — who also was a member of Parliament!:
Then a player who wore #4 for Montreal (and note how all three are wearing skates!):
Some obscure Red Wings player:
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By 1973, Howe at least was a little more recognizable. Fun to see how children’s entertainer Soupy Sales, who came to fame in Detroit during Howe’s glory years in that city, is completely star struck:
