After five playoff matches with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens of the Eastern Professional Hockey League, he played with the Kingston Frontenacs until 1963. He was on the Montreal Canadiens negotiation list that year, but he was never signed to the team. He played 38 games with the Dunlops that season, but it was his last with the team. At the tournament he played seven games, scored four goals, and took home a silver medal. When the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen accepted the call, Sinden was recruited to join them. After a gold medal triumph at that tournament the Dunlops won the Allan Cup a second time in 1959, but turned down of the offer to play for Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics. He won his first Allan Cup, given annually to the senior men’s ice hockey champions in Canada, in 1957 with the team, a victory that earned them the right to represent Canada at the 1958 World Championships. After Hambly Arena burned down in 1953, taking the Oshawa Generals with it, Sinden joined the temporary replacement team, the Ottawa Truckmen, and remained with them when they became the Whitby Dunlops in 1954. In a statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said “…He was the frontman of one of Canada’s most iconic bands, a rock star, artist, and poet whose evocative lyrics came to define a country…He will be sorely missed.Harry James Sinden began his lifelong affiliation with ice hockey as a defenseman with the Toronto Marlboro Bantams prior to joining the Oshawa Generals of the Junior Ontario Hockey League for four years, beginning in 1949. NHL players tweeted their thoughts, and rapper Drake took to Instagram to pay tribute. Throughout his career, he released four solo albums starting with his first solo album titled Coke Machine Glow in 2001.įans, politicians, athletes and fellow musicians are remembering Downie as a national icon. Another major accomplishment was being inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame and Music Walk of Fame. In June 2017, Downie received the Order of Canada, the highest honour for a civilian. He would sing about things that happened in the news or Canada’s treatment of First Nations peoples. He liked to include Canadian references in his songs. If Downie is to be remembered for one thing, it is being a songwriter. They made their first appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1995 but compared to selling out large arenas in Canada, they played smaller venues south of the border and album sales weren’t as high. However, after winning their first Juno for Most Promising Group and their next three albums going diamond and multi-platinum, the band didn’t do so well in the U.S. The name came from a sketch called “Elephant Parts,” a long-form music video by former Monkees member Michael Nesmith.Īfter releasing their first EP in 1987, they recorded their most popular album Up to Here that was released in 1989, making them a household name. Before forming The Tragically Hip, Downie was in a punk band in high school performing covers, until The Tragically Hip was formed in 1983 at Queen’s University. His godfather was Boston Bruins coach Harry Sinden which made him a hard-core Bruins fan and he even played goalie for his B-level team, which won a provincial championship.Īside from hockey, music was his passion. Like most average Canadians, Downie was a big hockey fan. 20, 2016.ĭownie was born in Kingston on Feb. The last stop in the band’s hometown, Kingston, Ont. The Tragically Hip announced that they would do a final summer tour. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord.”ĭownie was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, an incurable brain cancer which Canadians learned of in May 2016. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. As a musician, he lived “the life” for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. Surrounded by loved ones at the time of his death, a statement was published on the band’s website from his family that read, “Gord said he had lived many lives. Gord Downie, the frontman for one of Canada’s most admired rock bands, the Tragically Hip, died on Tuesday night at the age of 53.
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