All-Star Bud Poile, father of Nashville Predators general manager David Poile. To Bill Ezincki it didn't matter whether it was a regular game, practice or All-Star Game, he was going to try to hit everything that moved. The format pitted the Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs against the All-Star squad, and Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay has said that when the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers came together in the same dressing room, you could sense the animosity as everyone was getting dressed. The main difference between the first game and today's game is that winning had a far greater importance. Hockey has been a big deal in Toronto forever.
All games are important.
Toronto's Jimmy Thomson stung Chicago's Bill Mosienko with a crushing check that forced him out of the game with a broken ankle. It certainly wasn't like today where there is no checking. The All-Star Games today look like a practice. We played a normal game. Poile doesn't even try to draw a comparison because times were different.