Joey Moss, 1963-2020

November 1, 2020 8:16 AM

Tributes have been pouring in for Joey Moss, long-time locker room attendant for the Edmonton Oilers. Wayne Gretzky, who brought him to the club, talked about him for 20 minutes. People who knew him are remembering his singing of the national anthem, his "smartass attitude", his legendary wrestling matches, his dancing, his empathy, his work ethic, and the way he flirted even after getting dementia and breaking his hip. There's general agreement that he deserves a permanent tribute that's significant, substantial, and soon.
posted by clawsoon (13 comments total)

He was apparently a great guy. Rest in Peace.

Darryl Sutter, of the hockey-famous Sutter family has a son, Christopher, with Down's Syndrome who spent several happy years as locker room attendant while Darryl was coaching the Los Angeles Kings.

Joey was a widely recognized and loved member of the Edmonton community.
posted by blob at 8:49 AM on November 1, 2020 [2 favorites]

.
posted by rhizome at 10:45 AM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

What a rad dude. Didn’t realize Gretzky was such a mensch either.
posted by hototogisu at 11:18 AM on November 1, 2020 [4 favorites]

.
posted by jim in austin at 2:22 PM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

.
posted by brappi at 2:44 PM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

.
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:56 PM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

Growing up in Edmonton, Joey Moss was such an icon.
He was simultaneously someone with a job we all wanted, a friend you didn't have to have ever met, and a playground insult because people can be terrible.

It never occurred to me that it was abnormal to have him involved with the greatest hockey team of all time (I'm not invested in sports at all anymore, but it was just a given at the time). He was just another part of a team where everyone was the absolute best and nobody questioned that in my hearing. Ever.

Goodbye, Joey.
posted by Acari at 4:43 PM on November 1, 2020 [8 favorites]

.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 6:30 PM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

From the second to last link: "Even a hero has heroes."

What a remarkable, wonderful person. Thanks for posting this.
posted by punchtothehead at 6:18 AM on November 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I'm an Edmontonian and not even remotely a hockey person, and still I cried when I heard this. We are sad. They lit up the bridge with the Oilers colours, and are talking about naming things after him. We have a mural of him that was done years ago; the painter is someone I knew from University.
posted by kitcat at 10:31 AM on November 2, 2020 [2 favorites]

I can remember Joey Moss way back to when I was a kid, and not paying attention to hockey for 20 years and then seeing him still on the sidelines and thinking "holy shit, that kid is still with the Oilers". He brought me a lot of joy because like others have said, he had a dream job and a personality, added something to the room, and most importantly at the time, he brought visibility to a condition and the ability to go beyond that condition way before characters like Benny in LA Law. The fact that Gretzky dated his sister, had a connection to Downe Syndrome in his own family and was able to give Joey his break in professional sports is just icing on the cake. All I thought as a kid was "hey this guy must be pretty special to have that job."

A few years ago I took my son to an Oilers game and we saw the Joey Moss mural that was up in Edmonton, and I explained who he was, and then we saw his picture on the side of a van, and another van, being able to use Joey as a recognizable person and showing how everyone is an important part of society, how it takes all kinds to bake a cake. There's no doubt he was cared for by an entire city, he'll be sorely missed.

.
posted by furtive at 1:50 PM on November 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

I've read a couple of pieces on Joey Moss from former players and they all mentioned how his presence in the locker room brought balance and perspective to them and that the team got at least as much out of having Joey there as he got out of being with the team. Sam Gagner took Joey with him on one of his first dates with his wife! Not specifically about Joey but Justin Bourne wrote about how the presence of helpers like Joey help the team. How all the players are in competition with each other and every interaction is affected by this competition:

Having someone like Pistol Pete, or Joey Moss, or anyone who exists somewhat outside that competitive ecosystem creates the opportunity for everyone to talk to without pressure. In the midst of the darkest times, there’s a ray of light. And if you’re ever so misfortunate as to be stuck in a cave at night, you’ll come to see just how much you can appreciate a single candle.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 7:48 PM on November 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

That Sam Gagner tribute is great, any portmanteau. So much love in there.
posted by clawsoon at 4:14 AM on November 3, 2020