Doug Gilmour remembers the time he heard about a new local band in his home town in Kingston, Ontario.
"Back in 1984-85, Rob Baker and I played lacrosse together," Gilmour recalled. "His father was a judge and had a golf tournament. I asked him how Robby was doing and he says, 'He's in a new band called The Tragically Hip.' So I'm just coming back from the States and I say, 'Okay, I'll pay attention to this.'"
And that's just what Gilmour and the rest of Canada have been doing now for 30-plus years. The Hip has grown from a Kingston bar band into a Canadian institution and one that the Toronto Maple Leafs legend and Hockey Hall of Famer is rallying behind.
Following lead singer Gord Downie's revelation earlier this year of his glioblastoma diagnosis and the band's cross-Canada Man Machine Poem Tour in the summer, Gilmour was inspired to create "Courage: Let's Do It for Gordie!" The online campaign, which began on Wednesday and runs until December 30, is raising money for the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
Gilmour, in Toronto to promote the initiative, says he was spurred on by watching the band on what could have been its last ever tour, which wrapped up with a nationally televised show in Kingston on August 20.
"They've done a lot for everybody and you just look back at that last concert and tour and the passion that Gordie had to still do it," Gilmour told TSN.ca. "We can't imagine how to do it. From going through the process – I think it was a six-week training period that the band was practicing and he was still doing his treatments and tired from everything else. You talk about courage – well, there it is."
There are different donation tiers in the campaign starting at $10 that gives the donor the chance to win the grand prize of a trip to Toronto to watch a Maple Leafs game in a private box with Gilmour, along with roundtrip airfare and two nights' accommodation. While the grand prize is a raffle, Gilmour also has put up some personal mementos as rewards if certain donation tiers are met. Among them are a game-used stick from the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals signed by Gilmour and his Calgary Flames teammates, a game-worn jersey from Gilmour's participation in Wayne Gretzky's Ninety Nine All-Star Tour during the 1994-95 National Hockey League lockout and a custom-made motorcycle.
"So I was going through [my things] and I have lots of memorabilia, but these were one-of-a-kind things," Gilmour said. "I played one game on the Gretzky Tour and that was in Stockholm during the lockout. So I've got my jersey – these are all kind of one-offs – and then, obviously, my Harley-Davidson. Being from Kingston and with the Hip, it's got a Kingston logo on it from the Frontenacs [the Ontario Hockey League club for which Gilmour serves as general manager] and their last gig was at the [Rogers] K-Rock [Centre, the arena home to the Frontenacs], so it all kind of made sense for me. And I think it's a pretty good price."
The Hip holds a special place in the heart of many hockey players and Gilmour understands why.
"As an athlete, you listen to a lot of music before games and it's inspirational," Gilmour said. "I think the music just connects with us. You can go over different songs and maybe it's because we're Canadian, a lot of us – that's not to say that the Americans don't listen to it, but for me growing up as far as the NHL side, listening to them and the new generation coming in [and doing the same]. There were a lot of phone calls on that last concert, people trying to get tickets. But it was just no, you couldn't do it. They were sold out."
The man nicknamed "Killer" is more than just a fan of the band, though. He's a friend.
"It's just the history and knowing these guys for a long time and being very proud of what they've accomplished and this last tour was quite amazing," Gilmour said. "The guys, I've known for a long time. The other band members, the three of them that live in Kingston still – Gordie and Johnny [Fay] are up here [in Toronto] – I see them all the time. K-Rock, the rink of the [Frontenacs], is on Tragically Hip Way."
Gilmour even recalls when the band was honoured with the street name change in 2012.
"The day they renamed it, my assistant and I were crossing the street and [guitarist] Paul Langlois was in his car, honking at me, 'Get off my street!'" Gilmour said.
Before kicking off the campaign, Gilmour was able to meet with Dr. James Perry and the team at Sunnybrook to better understand what it this they're doing and what kind of help they need.
"When you have the opportunity to meet the doctors at Sunnybrook, [you see] the reality of what they need and that's research and its funding," Gilmour said. "We had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Perry and listen to him speak about where they're at [in the department], some good news and some bad news," said Gilmour. "The whole thing is about research – how to get rid of this, to stop it for 10 years or 20 years depending on what you're at. That's all we're doing. Gordie showed us all how brave he was and now it's time to, hopefully, bring in some more money on his behalf and his fund."
Tragically Hip fans have the opportunity to do their part until December 30.
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