Is there one memory that stands out from your experiences at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France?

The last game. In those days, there were no playoffs, just a round-robin. When we went into the last game, because of the way things had worked, we had a chance to finish either first or third, but not second. We had to win. But we just didn’t do well. The score ended up 5-0 for them. We didn’t even have one good scoring chance in the whole game. We only had something like 13 shots, and none of them were any good.

How much of a “true amateur” were you in those days on the national team?

I guess we were true amateur. At that time, the people on the national team — and most of us were going to school — got an allowance of $2,500 for the winter. And we paid our own school tuition out of that, which was only $600. On that question, there was some kind of a document circulating, and all the teams had to sign it, that said not only had you not been a professional athlete, but had no intention of turning pro. I can remember Father Bauer trying to finesse this one, because nobody knew exactly what their plans were. A lot of guys wanted to play pro hockey.

How did your life change when Canada disbanded its national team in 1970 after the IIHF refused Canada’s request to use some semi-professional players?

That was early January 1970, so the only thing that happened to me was for the next three months I didn’t play much hockey. I was in school and finishing a degree at the U of M. I was interested in playing pro hockey, but no one was interested in me at that time. I went to the Buffalo Sabres training camp and could have gone to Salt Lake City, the old Western League at that time, but I decided instead to go to Queens University. I went for two years, and then the World Hockey Association came in. I was still owned by this Salt Lake city team but in the meantime, they’d had some kind of an arrangement with the California Seals, and I ended up making the Seals, because so many of the Seals had left (to go to the WHA).

What route took you from Creelman, Sask., to the national team?

I was playing junior in Weyburn in 1965. The Pats picked me up to play against Edmonton Oil Kings. While I was there, Fran Huck had already committed himself to playing with the national team. He told me they were looking for players and he said ‘would you like me to have them call you?’ So I said ‘sure.’

Your NHL stat totals show 18 goals and 32 assists in 199 games. Tell me the whole story behind your most memorable goal.

The first one was certainly a good one to get, but probably the most memorable was a night at home against Chicago. I did a lot of penalty killing and I was out there with a guy named Rick Kessel. He got a break on Tony Esposito and beat him, but tried to flip it in high and Esposito got his blocker on it somehow. But by the time I showed up, the puck was just lying there with any empty net and I just whammed it in and it ended up being the only goal. It was a 1-0 game.

From what you can tell, how have the Olympic Games changed in the 42 years since you competed?

What’s different from when I was there is the variety of sports. It’s a bigger festival now. There’s all this snowboarding and aerial skiing. It was pretty small stuff when I was there.

How has the game of hockey changed in that period?

The level of play is so much higher. Goaltending is so much better. The level of intensity all over the ice is so much higher. The guys who are superstars now, like Crosby or Ovechkin, have to be really special. It’s really impressive to see these guys play.

Not too many players from California Golden Seals had a New York-based fan club. That must have been quite a thrill. What was that all about?

There was a guy in New York who was in charge of the marquee at Madison Square Gardens. He decided to publicize the least known figure on each team that came in. So instead of “Bill Walton and the Portland Trail Blazers” it was somebody else. So he picked my name from the Seals. So up on the marquee was “Morris Mott and the California Golden Seals.” The next thing I know, this group of teenagers from Long Island formed this fan club around this guy that nobody had heard of. Ted Irvine from Winnipeg was with the rangers told me at the time and has told me several times since that he played so many years in New York and nobody formed a fan club for him, and here I was . . .

What was the highest annual salary you reached in the NHL?

Fifty thousand dollars. Brad Park was the highest paid player in the time I was there, and he was getting around $300,000.

How long are you going to keep working?

I’m 63, so maybe a couple more years. It’s not onerous. After a while, it’s like in hockey, you say, ‘well, I think I’m as good at this as I’m ever going to get.’