Gordie Howe the lifesaver, the friend: Jim 'Bearcat' Murray reflects on his hero

Jim "Bearcat"Murray credits Gordie Howewith saving his life the first time they met.

Murray is well known asthe longtime trainer for the Calgary Flames and aHockey Hall of Fame inductee.

But it was back in the 1970s, whenhewas working for the Calgary Centennials junior team,thathe first crossed paths with "Mr. Hockey."

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Bearcat had been tapped to train a team of junior all-stars as they played a nine-game "tune-up" series against top professionals of the World Hockey Association (WHA) the upstart league that competed with the NHL at the time ahead of their 1974 Summit Series versus the Russians.

The tune-up series took both the juniors and the pros across Western Canadaand,one night at theSaskatoon airport, Murray found himself late for a flight after helpingtoload the young players' equipment into the plane's cargo hold.

The aircraft began to move almost the moment he boarded,and a flight attendant urged him to take a seat and strap in as quickly as possible, or risk beingtossed about the cabin at takeoff.

"I ran down the aisle and down to the back but there was no seat empty," Murray recalled.

"Gordie was sitting right there and he says, 'Come here, old fella!' And he grabbed me around me the waist and sat me on his lap and put the seatbelt around both of us him and me and we took off. We hardly had it buckled and we were in the air.

"So he saved my life, I figured."

Calgary Cowboys vs. Houston Aeros

Murray and Howe became friends over the span of that nine-game series, and continued theirfriendship the following year, when Calgary got a (short-lived) WHA team the Calgary Cowboys.

As a member of the Houston Aeros,Howe would come to town from time to time to face off against the home teamat the Stampede Corral.

"It was a big thing here in Calgary,when we got the Cowboys,to play against him," Murray said."It was a very big thing, and we had really great crowds attending that hockey."

The Cowboys folded in 1977after just two seasons in the WHA, and the league itself merged into the NHL in 1979.

Howerejoined the NHL for one more season with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, at the age of 51.

"He was a still a good hockey player in his older ageavery good hockey player," Murray said.

"He's my hero, I'll tell you that, and he always will be."

Failing health in later life

Murray said the last time he saw Howe was a few years ago, and it was clear Mr. Hockey's health was failing.

"He recognized me but that was about it," Murray said. "He wasn't really the Gordie Howe I knew."

Howehadsuffered a series of strokes in recent years andfought to recoup his health after each setback.

His family issued a statement Friday saying he passed away peacefully with loved ones at his side.

That came as some comfort to Murray, as he mourned the loss of his friend.

"Myheart's broken today that he's gone, but he's in a better place now."