Leo Labine: Forgive Me For I Have Sinned

When Hap Emms was running junior hockey teams, he often employed his players in his side business.

For example, when Leo Labine was playing for the Barrie Flyers, Emms hired future Boston Bruins Leo Labine for his electrical company.

As Stephen Cole tells us in his great book The Canadian Hockey Atlas, Labine (and Emms) got quite the shock while doing electrical work in a local church.

"I was rewiring the confessional booth," recalled Labine, "when suddenly a guy comes in and sits on the other side. So I'm there and he's saying, 'Father, I haven't been up to par' and went on for a while. So I say, 'Go say five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys and I'm quite sure you'll look after yourself a little better from now on.'"

Emms, who had been watching the confessional exchange, hurried over to Labine after the greatly unburdened confessor left the church. "What are you doing?" Emms asked.

"I was in there, so what I could I do? I just said what the priest tells me."