???I was the first one to interview Howie Meeker,??? Dick Irvin, who was a fixture on HNIC for 33 years, said when he was a guest on the HI/O Show on The Gazette???s hockeyinsideout.com website. ???He was working for the CBC in Newfoundland and he was in town for some convention or something and there was a game that night, on a Wednesday night, and (former Gazette sports editor) Red Fisher was su