The blond, crew-cut boy, whose hockey career was carved out on the Exploits River and became the stuff of legend in every nook and cranny of Newfoundland, turned 72 last Wednesday.
"And you know," Alex Faulkner was saying over the phone from Bishop's Falls the other day, "even now, I sometimes look at my wife and say it's a job to believe it really happened."
It began on Thursday, Dec. 7, 1961, the day time stood still and hell froze over, when a Newfoundlander played in the National Hockey League.
"Let's face it," said Faulkner, who was playing in Newfoundland for the Conception Bay CeeBees the year before tugging on a Leafs' sweater, "it's a pretty big jump from Harbour Grace to the NHL.
"What do you figure the odds are on that?"
Strangely enough, maybe a little better than you'd think.
Faulkner, who would play for the Detroit Red Wings the next season and skate all the way to the Stanley Cup final, has never met Dan Cleary.
Yet their storyline is strangely similar.
The only Newfoundlanders to play in a Stanley Cup final - Faulkner and, as of last night, Cleary - did so in a Red Wings' sweater. Faulkner wore 12, while Cleary dons No. 11. And Cleary, of course, hails from Harbour Grace.
Faulkner starred in the '63 NHL playoffs and Cleary opened this year's final against the Pittsburgh Penguins in fine style, scoring Detroit's third goal to ice the win and picking up third-star honours in the Wings' 4-0 victory.
Nearly 50 years ago, Faulkner was making a name for himself in the American Hockey League, with five goals and 27 assists, and among the league's top scorers. In Toronto, the Leafs' Davey Keon was hobbled by injury and the call was put out to the Newfoundlander in Rochester.
Toronto lost that night, 4-1 to the Montreal Canadiens at the Forum, but no matter, it was enough to work an entire province into a frenzy.
But Faulkner's true shining moment in the NHL came the following year, in the Stanley Cup playoffs, as he helped Detroit - which picked him up in the off-season after Toronto failed to protect him - march to the Stanley Cup final.
The Red Wings lost to the Leafs, but Faulkner stood out in that playoff season, with five goals in eight games.
Toronto took the final 4-1, but in Detroit's only win, a 3-2 decision at the old Olympia, Faulkner had a pair of goals, including the game-winner.
He was the first star and ended the night with an interview on Hockey Night in Canada.
"Kinda weird, isn't it," smiled Cleary when reminded of the similarities between the two.
The Cup final appearance by Cleary is another twist to the feel-good story of a player who came oh-so-close to playing his way out of the NHL, and is now instead an integral member of one of the NHL's elite teams.
"They've got two brilliant players," said Faulkner, referring to Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, "but you need a brilliant backup cast.
"Cleary gives them that."
Cleary's value to the Wings was evident Saturday night. He was often used on Detroit's first penalty killing united and took a stint on the first power play with linemates Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filpulla when coach Mike Babcock spelled Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
On his goal, he outraced Pittsburgh defenceman Kris Letang to the puck and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a backhand shot for a shorthanded goal.
And while it might not have been exhibited on the ice, Cleary admitted to battling nerves before his first Stanley Cup final game.
"I tried to think of it as a same 'ol, same 'ol game, but I couldn't accept it," he said. "I was really nervous this afternoon, and excited at the same time.
"It's almost a surreal feeling. I remember growing up and watching the Stanley Cup final, trying to stay up as late as I could. Honest to God, it's something I've always dreamed of.
"It feels great. Honestly, I'm so proud of it. I'm real proud to be a Red Wing and I'm prouder to be a Newfoundlander."
Back in Bishop's Falls, Alex Faulkner was watching, rooting for the Red Wings even if the crowd out around Central, he said, is picking Pittsburgh.
The Red Wings went to the 1964 final, too, but Faulkner wasn't much of a factor. He got off to a great start in 1963-64, with nine points through his first nine games. In the 10th, he collided with Toronto defenceman Bobby Baun and suffered a broken hand.
When he returned to the lineup, Faulkner played three games and then tore ligaments in his ankle.
He didn't know it then, but his NHL career was done. He would play one year in Memphis of the Central Pro league and three in San Diego of the Western Hockey League before coming home in 1970 to play for the St. John's Capitals.
He hopes to meet Cleary soon, and personally thank the current Red Wing for a signed Detroit jersey Cleary sent to Grand Falls for a sick friend of Faulkner's.
As for Cleary, he's anxious to meet his Red Wing forefather.
"I've never had a chance to shake the man's hand, never spoke to him," he said. "It's something I'm looking real forward to doing."
Perhaps, if we may dare to suggest, at a Stanley Cup party. This summer.
In Harbour Grace, of course.
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