The Big M cannot so easily be defined by a moment or a year as he can by his career as a whole, a life on skates and a time on ice that ran unchecked for more than twenty years. He never scored 50 goals in a season, though he came perilously close with Toronto in 1960-61 when he had 48 and in '68-'69 when he had 49 with Detroit. (But then, neither did Gordie Howe.) He never had 100 points in a year, and, amazingly, after winning the Calder Trophy in 1957-58, he never won an individual award in the NHL. But, he did win six Stanley Cups, scored 533 career goals and 1,103 points and became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1981. All because of a childhood in Ontario's cold and wintry North.

These contradictory feelings remained with him for years until he was traded, to Detroit, in 1968. "Detroit just opened everything up," he admitted. "It was like a piano had been lifted off my back. I finally felt like playing." Almost immediately, he was put on a line with Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio, and in the new season (1968-69), this Hall of Fame trio set a scoring record with 264 total points as a group. Their play was a seamless composition of styles that complemented each other beautifully, Mahovlich believes, and the trio was christened the Production Line II. "I had known Gordie for quite a while and always had respect for his ability. That guy was a pretty good athlete, one of the best athletes in the world. It wasn't any surprise when we formed that line with Alex Delvecchio, myself, and Gordie Howe. I knew how good they were."

Although he played fewer than three years in Motown, Mahovlich was acquired by Sam Pollock in Montreal to play alongside the great Jean Beliveau at centre. The Habs won two Stanley Cups in the next three years. The Big M led all scorers with 14 goals and 27 points in the '71 post-season, and in 263 regular season games with les Canadiens he scored 129 goals to close out his career in the NHL. He played a few years in the WHA, then attended Detroit's training camp briefly in the fall of 1979, but he knew he was done. "My mind was clear that I was out of hockey," he said. "I just came home." No matter. A career that began as a kid in Timmins had run a full course that made the Big M one of the most loved, naturally-gifted hockey players the world has ever seen.