This is Marcel Albert "Ching" Dheere. He was a war-time fill in for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1942-43 season, playing a total of 11 games (scoring 1 goal and 3 points). Interestingly, in those 11 games he wore 4 different jersey numbers - 8, 18, 19 and 21.
Dheere himself would lose his NHL job to the war service. In 1944 and 1945 he served in World War II. He would never play again the NHL, though he would play professionally for six more seasons.
Ching Dheere hung up the skates in 1953. He would work with the Canadian National Railway as a switchman for 30 years.
Dheere passed away in 2002 at the age of 83. He had a short fight with cancer.
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This is William "Smiley" Meronek. He was a sensational hockey star in his native Manitoba. He moved to Verdun in 1937 and continued to star with the Maple Leafs of the QSHL, capturing the attention of the Montreal Canadiens.
Meronek agreed to a contract in both the 1939-40 and 1942-43 seasons. However in that 1943 season he would only play home games. He refused to travel with the Canadiens for road games due to his day job at a war plant in the city. Alex Smart was signed under the same circumstances at the same time.
All told, Smiley Meronek played parts of two NHL seasons, totalling 19 games. He scored 5 goals and 13 points.
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This is Ray Getliffe, pride of Galt, Ontario. He was a NHL regular from 1936 through 1939 with Boston and from 1939 through 1945 with Montreal. He was originally scouted by the New York Rangers, but never played for the Blue Shirts.
Getliffe was lucky to play at all. In 1933 he was in critical condition in hospital with a serious case of pneumonia.
Ray Getliffe made a brief appearance with Boston in 1935-36 and then became a regular on a line with Bill Cowley and Charlie Sands, and was second to Cowley as leading scorer for the Bruins in 1936-37. He combined with Dit Clapper and Cooney Weiland when Boston finished first and won the Stanley Cup in 1938-39.
Getliffe was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in 1939-40 where he played for six years, being on two first place teams and another Cup winner. In his first two years with the Habs he played with Sands and Toe Blake. Playing with Elmer Lach and Joe Benoit in 1942-43, he scored 5 goals in a game against Boston.
Ray suffered a bad face cut in 1943-44 and missed several games. However, back in action again, he made this his best scoring year working on a line with Phil Watson and Murph Chamberlain, scoring 28 goals in the 50 game schedule and the Canadiens coasted to first place and won the Stanley Cup.
He played one more year on another first place team before retiring. He was actually traded by Montreal to Detroit in September 1945, but he decided to retire rather than move southward. He put on the stripes for the next two seasons, refereeing NHL games.
Getliffe, a left-winger, played in 393 regular-season games during his career, scoring 136 goals and adding 137 assists to go along with 250 penalty minutes.
It should also be noted that it was Getliffe who is responsible for Maurice Richard's moniker "the Rocket." Getliffe was in awe of Richard in practice, and was prompted to say "That kid can take off like a rocket!" The other players picked up on his comment right away, and the nickname stuck. Prior to that, Maurice's early nickname was "The Comet."
Getliffe would go on to become a legendary senior golfer in Canada. Getliffe had a keen eye for talent on the links as well as at the rinks. In 1960 he was quoted as saying "I've just seen a kid who is going to become the greatest golfer in the world." Getliffe had just finished watching a young Jack Nicklaus.
This is Polly Drouin. You can tell just by looking at this Beehive photo that he was a tiny hockey player. The native of Verdun stood just 5'7" and 160lbs.
From 1935 through 1941 Paul-Emile Drouin skated with the Montreal Canadiens. He was actually originally property of the St. Louis Eagles (who, one season after transferring from Ottawa, folded). The Habs grabbed the 19 year old in the subsequent dispersal draft.
Over the next season Drouin struggled for ice time. He was bouncing around between the Habs and the minor leagues. When with the Habs he was strictly a support player, never scoring more than 7 goals in a single season. He was seemingly on the sidelines a lot, often nursing an injury. In a total of 156 career NHL regular season games he scored 23 goals and 73 points.
Drouin's professional hockey career came to an end due to two years of military service in World War II. During that time he played with Ottawa based military teams, helping lead the Ottawa Commandos to the 1943 Allan Cup championship. Upon his release from the military Drouin remained in amateur hockey for several years where he was known as an offensive dynamo.
Drouin was also a heck of a pitcher, playing in many baseball leagues in the summer time. He remained in Ottawa the rest of his life, passing away in 1968.
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