Darrell Davis: Visiting Dad in the Hall of Fame

Every few years I get to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame and stare at my father’s name.

Lorne Davis isn’t an inductee, but his name appears in at least five places inside the Toronto shrine.

There’s a replica of the Montreal Canadiens dressing room in the Hall. On the walls are shields listing past Canadiens’ rosters.

Dad’s name is on two shields from the 1950s. The first team won a Stanley Cup so “Lorne Davis” was engraved on the trophy. It’s actually no longer on the trophy because the curators had to remove some older teams and replace them with newer winners, just so the trophy doesn’t get too big. The silver plate showing the 1952-53 Canadiens is now safely stored behind glass, where it can be seen but not touched.

A few steps away sits the real Stanley Cup. As a scout, Lorne Davis was part of the Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s. The Oilers twice engraved Dad’s name on the Stanley Cup. His name is still there twice. I touched them.