'Elbows up' rallying cry evokes memories of Mr. Hockey

Alistair Steele · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

When Canadian histrion and comedian Mike Myers, clad successful a "Canada is not for sale" T-shirt, doubly mouthed the words "elbows up" and tapped his ain near elbow on Saturday Night Live last weekend, helium was sending a not-so-subtle awesome to his compatriots northbound of the border: Get acceptable for a fight.

Facing punishing tariffs connected Canadian exports and repeated jibes from U.S. President Donald Trump astir their state becoming the 51st state, Canadians were understandably riled. "Elbows up" became the rallying outcry they'd been looking for.

Weeks earlier, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew had warned Canada "can't beryllium a punching bag, and we person to get our elbows up" successful the look of threatened tariffs.

At protests crossed the state this week, including 1 connected Tuesday extracurricular the U.S. Embassy successful Ottawa, Canadians chanted the slogan and scrawled it crossed their placards. #ElbowsUp appeared all implicit societal media, arsenic some a telephone to arms and a informing to our progressively bellicose neighbours that Canadians whitethorn beryllium polite, but we're nary pushovers.

In hockey-loving Canada, the operation automatically evokes memories of 1 of the game's top players, Saskatchewan-born Gordie Howe, who earlier becoming Mr. Hockey had earned different nickname: Mr. Elbows.

Unfailingly humble, generous and gentlemanly disconnected the ice, Howe would wield his elbows similar weapons erstwhile battling for the puck.

"If a feline slashed me, I'd drawback his stick, propulsion him up alongside maine and elbow him successful the head," Howe erstwhile said, describing his favourite method of retribution.

Former Toronto Maple Leaf Howie Meeker erstwhile described what it was similar to beryllium connected the receiving extremity of 1 of Howe's infamous elbows.

"He runs maine into the fence, and I crook astir and I whack him crossed the shins, and helium gives maine a propulsion backmost successful the shoulders, conscionable misses my head, and I springiness him different crack. He turns with his elbow and catches maine close successful the mouth. I say, 'Uh-oh, I'm successful occupation here.' I got humor running down, and I instrumentality my lingua up and the bony is gone," helium said.

The referee stopped the crippled and the players searched the rink for Meeker's tooth, but they ne'er recovered it. Meeker said for years after, Howe would politely inquire astir his dental health.

"He played hockey similar a bully Christian: It is amended to springiness than to receive," joked Roy MacSkimming, writer of Gordie: A Hockey Legend. "He was talking astir meting retired punishment connected the ice, and that you person to person your elbows up successful the corners due to the fact that you ne'er cognize who's coming to get you."

While MacSkimming doesn't judge Howe coined oregon adjacent utilized the operation "elbows up," helium has nevertheless go synonymous with it.

MacSkimming said Howe's begetter taught him to "never instrumentality immoderate ungraded from anybody," a acquisition the young antheral took to heart, particularly erstwhile it came to his opponents connected the rink.

"He would conscionable deed them truthful hard, and the elbows were an important limb successful his arsenal. He would conscionable rise them up truthful accelerated to clip idiosyncratic connected the chin oregon successful the gut oregon whichever portion of the anatomy was handy," MacSkimming said.

"The operation [elbows up] has conscionable grown retired of that legend, I think."

It's specified an enduring portion of the Gordie Howe fable that a bronze statue lasting defender extracurricular Saskatoon's SaskTel Centre portrays the hometown hero with his near elbow held aloft, arsenic if fending disconnected an invisible opponent. To this day, fans halt by conscionable to interaction it.

At Howe's ceremonial successful 2016, his lad Murray told mourners that close up until his last days, his begetter would propulsion his elbows astir for a laugh, arsenic helium did during caller visits to Detroit's aged Joe Louis Arena.

"He went to the Joe successful October and March truthful that helium could elbow the coaching unit and the trainers and respective players similar Dylan Larkin and Pavel Datsyuk and Jimmy Howard," Murray Howe recalled.

MacSkimming points retired that Gordie Howe, who was made an serviceman of the Order of Canada successful 1971, spent his nonrecreational hockey vocation playing successful the U.S., wherever his children were born. One son, Mark Howe, would adjacent spell connected to play for Team USA.

"Gordie inactive thought of himself arsenic Canadian," MacSkimming said, noting Howe would often question backmost to Saskatoon, wherever helium ever received a hero's welcome. "Those were his radical and they loved him. They didn't attraction that helium played successful the U.S."

Mr. Hockey, a.k.a. Mr. Elbows, is astir to person different tribute: The Gordie Howe International Bridge, owed to unfastened aboriginal this year, volition nexus Detroit, wherever Howe spent overmuch of his career, and Windsor, Ont., wherever Howe's parent settled successful 1912 aft arriving successful Canada from Germany.

It volition besides basal arsenic a symbol of the past of cross-border co-operation that has until recently tied Canada and the U.S. MacSkimming believes Howe would regret the caller souring of that affable relationship.

"I deliberation Gordie would beryllium precise saddened by it, due to the fact that helium truly believed that — disconnected the ice — radical should get on and dainty each different decently. I deliberation helium would find Trump's behaviour and behaviour abominable," MacSkimming said.

"He'd accidental Canada's got to basal up for itself and combat back."