Regina Leader-Post

And they were airing CFL games with no announcers, which we all thought was quite weird.

And I remember a guy, a football pundit in Saskatchewan by the name of Paul Klinger, who was writing an article at the time, I think, for the Leader Post.

He goes, I like no announcers.

It should stay that way.

On June 10, 2016, he died at the home of his son Murray at the age of 88.

At the time, I was a city hall reporter at the Regina Leader Post.

I remember when his death was announced that a quiet hush fell over the newsroom.

I was born after Gordie retired, but I knew a Canadian icon was gone.

I had an interview with Jeremy O'Day.

We'll publish it in Saturday's Leader Post and Star Phoenix.

And I asked him, are you guys on an upswing now with two full houses, right? They're selling out again for Labor Day, obviously.

And you're on a bit of, you know, you've kicked that other one.

And fun fact, his teammate included Lauren Davis, who later became a celebrated scout with the Edmonton Oilers.

And this is where I enter the story, because back when I was the City Hall reporter with the Regina Leader Post, I worked with his grandson, Austin.

For what it's worth, Jean's first season left a lot to be desired.

Canadiens fans must have felt devastated when Jean fractured his ankle midway through the season, forcing him to miss 29 games and only score 34 goals in 44 games.

I have to give my friend Troy Fleece a shout-out.

He used to work for the Leader-Post.

I know Troy well, yeah.

And, you know, he was, he was, he taught me how to be a photographer.

But I wasn't gonna Uber it out to Surrey for the Lions walkthrough, where I went out to pick up our passes for the game and so forth.

I'd-- I-- It's been 20 years since I took the train, and even then I had an escort, Murray McCormick from the Leader-Post.

He knew how to figure it out.

Um, and h- so here's the thing.

And they haven't won Memorial Cup since.

Of course, Mel was writing for the Leader Post and covering the Pazza in 1974.

And Dale was doing the play-by-play on the old defunct CKCK radio, I believe.

But, you know, I was thinking back, you know, about Dale, who, you know, I worked with for 20 years or so, more so than Mel, other than admiring Mel and just loving sitting at pad games with Mel.