My fiancee, young love and ex-Leaf goalie Gord McRae: How much does that guy make?

In 1977, I had recently met the young woman who would eventually become my wife of now some 30+ years.

When we first connected and started going out in the spring of 1977, I was also in the early stages of my time in the broadcast field.  I loved a lot of what I was doing, but made precious little in the way of an income.  My old high school chums claimed envy about my great job in broadcasting (albeit small-time broadcasting, such as it was at the time) covering sports.  They often said they would love to be doing what I had the privilege of doing.  But they were also, in most cases, making three times as much (or more) a year as I was. 

I didn’t see any of them actually giving up their jobs to try to break into my field…and I couldn't blame them.

I complained often in those early days about my paltry earning ability.  In any event, this all triggers a recollection of Mary-Louise and I attending a Maple Leaf game together.  Before I ever had a real, full-time job, I had managed to scrape together enough money during my university years to share a pair of Leaf season tickets with a long-time friend. 

You may wonder how a poor student (and I was) could afford that?  Well, Leaf tickets were not what they are now—completely out of reach of the everyday individual.

The seats were way up in the old “greys” at Maple Leaf Gardens.  (My friend and I had noticed an ad in the Toronto Star, I think it was, one morning early on in the 1975-’76 season, and we took the TTC down to the Gardens to grab the seats…)

The greys were as far up as you could go in the building, the “cheap seats” in the Gardens.  But our seats were at least between the blue line and center ice red line, so it wasn’t bad at all.  You had a great perspective on the play developing from way up their in the nose-bleed section.

And here’s the thing:  It was only $4 a ticket in those days and I lived very, very cheaply, otherwise.  It was an extravagance for a student, but a relatively inexpensive one.  (Can you imagine—$4 to see an NHL game, in a good, obstruction-free seat to watch Guy Lafleur, Bobby Orr, Marcel Dionne, Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming…you get the idea…click here to read more)

Fast forward a bit and I was in the work-world,  gaining some experience in small-market radio.  I can’t recall precisely when Mary-Louise and I attended this particular game that is coming to mind.  It may have been in my “in-between jobs” period, or when we were back in the Toronto area visiting her family during my time working up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.  I’m not quite sure.

But I believe it was during the 1977-’78 NHL season, probably the spring of ’78, before the playoffs.  We would have just been engaged at the time.  We were up in the greys.  It was hard to talk “hockey” since she wasn’t really exactly a keen fan of the sport.  She sort of tolerated it (still does…) So the conversation went different ways.  At one point I started grumbling, as I often did, about how little I was making, and how my old buddies were all doing much better than I, in terms of income.

Mary-Louise took all this in, and while she had precious little interest in or knowledge about hockey, she listened and watched the game unfold.

Something had obviously been brewing in her mind because, as the two teams were skating around the ice at the beginning of the third period, Mary-Louise leaned over and said, “Who is that guy”?  She was pointing out Gord McRae, the Leaf back-up goalie behind the very popular first-stringer, Mike Palmateer (right).  She had little idea who Mike Palmateer was, let along Gord McRae.

I said “Gord McRae.  Why?”

“Well, I’ve noticed that, before every period, he just skates around with his pads on, then when the game actually starts, he goes and sits at the end of the bench and just opens the door for the players coming on and off the ice.”

I said, “Yeah.  So…”

“Is that his job?”

“Pretty much, yeah” I indicated.

“How much does he make a year?”, she asked.

I responded, “About $60,000 a year”. (That was not a bad NHL salary for a back-up goalie at the time, if I’m remembering correctly—and far more than the “average” person was making in those days, not to mention me...I was maybe making $7,000 a year.)

After a pause, Mary-Louise said, “Well, you could do that”.

I knew she was being funny, but I've always kidded her that, with her not being a hockey fan, maybe she figured anyone could just audition for the “skate-around” job.  In any event, it caught me off guard and just cracked me up.

After a pause and some laughter, I assured her that, despite my earlier complaints, that particular job was not available—and not possible for me.  I explained, “You see where that other goalie (Palmateer) is?  Well, every once in a while, maybe every 7 or 8 games, that McRae guy has to go stand where Palmateer does and face those shots- in a game.”

“Oh…” was her reply, still playing along.

Motivational speakers will tell us “we can be anything we want to be”.  Well, no matter what, I was never going to be a goalie, even a back-up goalie.  No matter how much I might have been able to earn.  But I’ll never forget Mary-Louise asking that question.  It was the perfect topper on our night out at the Gardens.

I still laugh about it.

Maybe you've had a wonderfully light-hearted moment with your partner and best friend, who may like hockey a bit (lot..) less than you.  Share any stories that you can tell in public....