Howe hailed, heckled on milestone night 58 years ago

None of that turned down the heat in the Canadiens dressing room after the game. The “good luck to him” Blake was singing a different tune with one of his best defensemen headed to the hospital.

“Howe may be a great player but he must also be the dirtiest player in the game,” the coach seethed. “Now all the papers will talk about the great ovation he got for his 600th goal.”

If Worsley was happy in victory, having given the milestone puck to Howe along with a congratulatory stick tap on the backside, the Canadiens were in a less sporting mood.

There was no presentation to Howe from the team, like there was when Mr. Hockey passed Richard with No. 545 scored against Montreal’s Charlie Hodge in Detroit on Nov. 10, 1963.

“What was so great about that goal?” Canadiens forward Claude Larose muttered about No. 600. “And why did he have to get it against us after going five games without one?”

“It was one of those big Howe elbows,” forward Gilles Tremblay added.

“What do you think of the great Mr. Howe now?” chimed in forward Bobby Rousseau. “That was an awful attack on J.C.”

Howe was stopped by fans for autographs as he left the Forum, signing programs that hadn’t been thrown at him in awe or anger.

“Deliberate high-sticking?” he had asked reporters. “Heck, J.C. swung around, and I caught him in the face with the thumb of my glove.