Howard William Meeker (November 4, 1923 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian professional hockey player in the National Hockey League, youth coach and educator in ice hockey, and a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament. He became best known to Canadians as an excitable and enthusiastic television colour commentator for Hockey Night in Canada, breaking down strategy in between periods of games with early use of the telestrator. In the NHL, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie, is one of the few professional players to score five goals in a game, and won four Stanley Cups, all with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was given the Order of Canada, and is in the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, and the Hockey Hall of Fame as a broadcaster. Meeker was the last surviving member of the Maple Leafs 1947 Stanley Cup team, the Maple Leafs 1949 Stanley Cup team, the Maple Leafs 1951 Stanley Cup team, and the inaugural NHL All-Star Game. Biography Early life Meeker was born in Kitchener, Ontario, the son of Kathleen Wharnsby and Charles Howard Meeker, and raised in New Hamburg, Ontario He played his junior hockey with the Kitchener Greenshirts in the Ontario Hockey Association. In 1941–42, Meeker joined the Stratford Kist. In only 13 games, he scored 29 goals and had 45 points, helping the Kist win the OHA Junior-B title. He played one more year of junior hockey before joining the Canadian Army. Meeker was badly injured during the war, but he made a full recovery. In 1945–46, after World War II had ended, Meeker returned to the OHA and played one season with the Stratford Indians. Professional career Meeker was a right winger. In 1946–47, he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League. He scored 27 goals and 45 points during his NHL debut and he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy. Meeker also played in the 1947 NHL All-Star Game and he also tied an NHL record for most goals by a rookie in one game with five goals against the Chicago Black Hawks. Meeker also won his first Stanley Cup with the Leafs that season, the first of three consecutive Stanley Cups. The season, however, would prove Meeker's best as a pro, and he would never again approach that level of scoring. In 1947–48, Meeker scored 34 points in 58 games and played in the