Theokritos
Global Moderator
- Apr 6, 2010
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A random little story on a rather colourful character, told by Toronto Maple Leafs trainer Bob Haggart (+2011):
Back in the O6 days, a Japanese doctor named Kazuo Yanagisawa was working at Madison Square Garden in New York. According to his 1970 obituary in the New York Times, "successful surgery on a score of Ranger hockey players and Knickerbocker basketball players gained him national fame".
Bob Haggart: "There is a terrific story of the doctor of the New York Rangers, a Japanese man by the name of Yanagisawa. And he was the head doctor for the Rangers and Knicks. He never saw a game. Sat in the medical office, smoked cigars, played Gin, and you'd bring your player in – and he knew all the trainers, he was a fabulous man – and he'd have a suit coat on, and he'd have a cigar. You couldn't see any of the tools for the smoke, and you could stand there, the player could be bleeding, and he'd say: "We got one hand to go. One hand of Gin to go." And somebody'd say "Gin" and he'd say "alright". And he'd take off his jacket and he had a six-shooter in the holster, and then he had a heater. And he had the cigar [in the mouth]. He'd be bending over, and you couldn't see the face of the player for the smoke. And he'd be sewing away and then he'd wipe them up and say: "Okay, get'm out of here, he's okay."
Just an amusing little anecdote from hockey history.
Back in the O6 days, a Japanese doctor named Kazuo Yanagisawa was working at Madison Square Garden in New York. According to his 1970 obituary in the New York Times, "successful surgery on a score of Ranger hockey players and Knickerbocker basketball players gained him national fame".
Bob Haggart: "There is a terrific story of the doctor of the New York Rangers, a Japanese man by the name of Yanagisawa. And he was the head doctor for the Rangers and Knicks. He never saw a game. Sat in the medical office, smoked cigars, played Gin, and you'd bring your player in – and he knew all the trainers, he was a fabulous man – and he'd have a suit coat on, and he'd have a cigar. You couldn't see any of the tools for the smoke, and you could stand there, the player could be bleeding, and he'd say: "We got one hand to go. One hand of Gin to go." And somebody'd say "Gin" and he'd say "alright". And he'd take off his jacket and he had a six-shooter in the holster, and then he had a heater. And he had the cigar [in the mouth]. He'd be bending over, and you couldn't see the face of the player for the smoke. And he'd be sewing away and then he'd wipe them up and say: "Okay, get'm out of here, he's okay."
Just an amusing little anecdote from hockey history.
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... would have been nice though, reminded me of that 
