bil.png)
Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.64 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Ron Ellis Interview |
Scope & Content |
Ron Ellis interview, 23 July 2008. Digitized MP4 from Sony Advanced ME 40 DVCAM. Two videos with a total viewing time of 00:49:43. 1 of 2: 03:01Childhood: father was a good hockey player & had played with the Toronto Marlborough (Marlies), father a big inspiration as was his coach in minor hockey, played minor hockey in Ottawa, at 14 local Leaf scout approached his family, at 15 started with Marlboroughs and became Leaf property 05:24Where did the desire come from: dream of playing in the NHL and desire for it to come true, encouraged by parents and coaches to pursue it as an option because they felt he had the ability, never 100% convinced he could make it, only 6 teams then and few rookies made it into the league, so he continued his schooling; had a major decision in Grade 13, had offer of full scholarships to play in the US and was improving in his skills and production, at 18 won the Memorial Cup with the Marlies, Leafs offered a contract, decided to turn pro and fulfill his dream, still had fallback plan to play for a few years and save some money and it things did not work out he would go back to school 07:43What did you take away from your days with the Marlies: enjoyable, competitive team, got biggest break while playing with them, his advice to young people today: "work hard so you can take advantage of an opportunity if it arises"; the opportunity he had was to move from centre to right wing on the advice of his coach because Toronto had 4 strong centres and needed right wing players, did it and had his most productive year; an important point in his career, learned a lesson about flexibility 10:15What were your doubts: of chances of becoming a regular because only 6 teams in league and lot of good players vying for few positions, people rarely moved out of the team at that time, goal was not to play out his career in the minors, if not the NHL then would have moved on, at that time 10 years was considered a good career 11:37First NHL game: talks about first game, being called up and on starting lineup with Red Kelly and Frank Mahovolich, played entire game with them, a dream come true 14:10On adapting to the line: the Marlies and St. Mike's had been the feeding teams for the Leafs, there was a consistency in the coaching, from a system perspective not that difficult; he used it as a test and the Leafs used it as a test 15:50Relationship with Punch Imlach: was the one who turned me pro, from that perspective I respect him, had good rapport, all he asked from the players was effort; came in prepared to play and be consistent in his game 17:17On the Stanley Cup team: was in third season, in 1967 still has experienced players who knew how to win, difficult season and worked through adversity, talks about the series against Chicago and then Montreal, he was the youngest player at 21 and Johnny Bower was the oldest at 42, it was the last season for 6 teams and many of the veterans wanted to go out with the win, very special to be there; talks about scoring a goal in the last game of the original 6 24:12On his career: 1967 was a dream come true, as a young boy in Canada the dream is to play in the NHL and the next dream is to win the Stanley Cup; some difficult years when the team was not competitive and did not make the play offs; wants to be remembered "as a consistent 2-way player, know my role, know my place, know what I could contribute and being very consistent in goal scoring"; very proud of this and this is a message he tries to give young players "you can count on a player who is consistent" 26:10Talks about the different numbers he wore on his jersey: first #11, next year #8, then former player and time keeper Ace Bailey asked that his number 6 which had been retired be given to Ellis, when he was invited to the Team Canada training camp he asked for #6 to honour Ace; when he retired the jersey was retired again 30:14What line stands out for you: talks about players he had on his lines; the combination with Norm Ullman at centre, Paul Henderson on left wing and himself on right wing played together for 6 years, the line was productive, balanced on scoring goals and assists 32:32What was it that made you gel: got along well, good friends today, Norm as the veteran held them together, he was the playmaker, Paul took chances, Ron was the back checker 33:49Summit Series training camp: he was an established player with a record for consistency, Harry Sinden like his style, big factor was John Ferguson as assistant coach who had played against him and put in a word for him 33:49How did the Summit Series measure up in your career: "highlight of my career to play on Team Canada '72 because of the emotions it generated not only with the players but with the fans across the country. Even non-hockey fans got involved because it was Canada, it was our pride, it was our way of life, everything was on the line.", such a storybook ending, could never replace that experience 37:21What did the coach tell you: 35 players in the training camp in order to play inter-squad, ended up playing in all 8 games, would have been happy with one; why was the line so successful - line was Paul Henderson, himself and Bobby Clarke, only line that played all 8 games together, we contributed; only thing he can come up with for the success was that at this time he was playing with Ullman and Henderson and Clarke was a young Ullman and they didn't have to make a lot of change to their game and get used to other styles, "Clarke fit right in with Paul and I and we clicked from the first day of training camp"; started to dominate in inter-squad games; one other reason was that they played to both ends of the rink and "against the Russians you have to be able to play against both ends of the rink or you'll get killed", it was their normal game; his philosophy of the game is "know your capabilities and what you are gifted with. Make use of what you have. Be consistent. Make yourself valuable" 2 of 2, 00:32What did your coach tell you your job was: specific message did not come until after Game 1, their line was productive and effective in training camp, "My dream of playing Game 1 became my worst nightmare in 2 hours"; after Game 1 had to really look at the situation - really did not know much about the Russians, scouting was not good, became apparent they had great skills and were in good shape, "In my estimation probably that whole team could have played in the NHL and some would have been superstars"; next day Sinden asked him to shut down Kharlamov and he took that role for the rest of the series 02:55How did you contain yourself in the series: roller coaster series, as the series progressed everybody began to zero in on their role, when they threw us together we were an NHL All-Star team but as the series progressed we became a team, certain guys has to take other roles, knew how to play his role (likens it to playing against Hull) and concentrated on it, tried to do it fairly, actually developed a little rapport with Kharlamov and they had respect for each other 05:42Game 8: were in it thanks to Paul's game winning goals in Games 6 & 7, happy they fought back, opportunity to win the series, talks about the refereeing, dressing room when down 5-3 was a quiet room but with quiet confidence, everyone believed they could win the game; the game was almost surreal with both teams playing at such a high level; told the Russians would claim victory on the goal differential, that had never been negotiated, did not go over well with the guys and they picked up the pace, talks about Henderson calling out Mahovolich and scoring the winning goal; all those stories make it special 11:16On the numb celebration: spent emotionally, no energy left, just wonderful as they sat there for about an hour; went to Prague to play because the Czechs had beaten the Russians at the World Championships, to appease them played the one game; at home training camp had begun and the season would start in one week, no time to celebrate 14:12On treatment in Russia: every part is an important part of the puzzle, how it came to fruition; while in Russia felt they were trying to get us off our game, in retrospect it was just the system over there 15:48Is there any other moment when you felt so fulfilled: never experienced prior or after that, everyone on that team had given everything, it was a bond that could never be broken, a bond of respect still have today 17:13On the World Championships: had retired in 1975, in 1978 IIHF had agreed to allow pros to play, first time Canadians could use pros; asked team if they needed any help and was asked to play, started training on his own and earned his way onto the team, learned from the 1972 experience; it was a wonderful experience even if they did not win a medal 20:43On locker room dissertations: saw everything, just the way to get team fired up, talks about different approaches by different coaches 22:34On his retirement years: life after hockey can be a bit difficult, knew he had to have another career after hockey, thought he was quite well prepared, tried to find his niche, takes awhile to work way back to the real world, learned a great deal from the challenges and took positives out of it, 1992 offered opportunity to get involved with the Hockey HOF and had enjoyed it since 24:42On the Don Ellis Team Canada Foundation: important that we give back, for cancer research and to help kids 26:55On being a member of the CSHoF: proud to be an Honoured Member, and team mates from '72 feel the same way, as a team gratified they are honoured 27:53On practice sessions: practise what you can us in a game, take what you learn from the drill and apply it to the game 28:26Proudest memory: member of Team Canada '72, impact on our country brought Canada together for 28 days from coast to coast, we were one country 28:56Role model: his father and the teacher who helped him gain self-confidence 29:38Why should a young person participate in sport: I encourage every young person to play sport ... The important thing is the life skills we can learn from the game, how to get along with people, how to accept criticism, how to defeat adversity, how to pick up and start over. These are all life skills that you can take with you to the real world. 30:24Life lessons learned: in any endeavour there are pressures and challenges and the game has helped me cope with these 31:01In what way did your participation in sport affect your life overall: life skills learned, joy to be able to he was able to do something for the country, appreciate the fact that others enjoyed my career 32:17What makes a winner: all of us in life can be winners. My message is make the best of what you've been gifted with and that will make you a winner. 33:09What is success: just knowing that you have done the best that you could possibly do. Success is being part of something bigger. Having an opportunity to contribute to something bigger denotes success. 33:55What makes a leader: talks about the 3 team captains he had with the Leafs and their strengths: encourage a player, lead on and off the ice, lead by example 35:02Advice to a young person: To listen to people who want to help, not to be influenced by the peer group, seeking out mentors, people who are willing to share what they have learned and the ability to shift through that advice and apply to your life 36:15Shows trophy for Team Canada '72 awarded by the Press as the Team of the Century |
Date |
2008/07/23 |
People |
Henderson, Paul Clarke, Bobby Ullman, Ron Imlach, Punch Ellis, Ron |
Search Terms |
Ron Ellis Interview Ice hockey NHL National Hockey Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs 1972 Summit Series |