TORONTO (May 31) — Today is an appropriate and coincidental anniversary for this solemn blog.

It was 56 years ago tonight that I lost my first hockey hero.

Terry Sawchuk captured my fancy before anyone. I would watch on black–and–white TV as he played goal for the Maple Leafs while wearing that cool contraption on his face. To this day, any person who remembers the National Hockey League of the 1960’s will instantly recognize Sawchuk’s mask. I close my eyes and return to Red seats, directly behind the Leafs’ bench, for a game against Montreal in 1966–67, the first season I attended hockey at Maple Leaf Gardens. During a stoppage in play and with Sawchuk in the net to my left (at the south end), I waved at him… and can still swear that he returned the gesture. Even if Terry was probably adjusting his catcher’s glove. I was rather confused, at 11 years of age, when he died on May 31, 1970, for it initially mentioned the involvement of his teammate with the Rangers, Ron Stewart. The Leafs forward of the early 60’s was cleared of wrongdoing for an apparently drunken incident in which Sawchuk fell on top of a barbecue pit, sustaining injuries that proved fatal.

The Hall–of–Fame netminder had backstopped Toronto to the 1967 Stanley Cup.

Next up, unforgettably, was Tim Horton, the defense stalwart of the 60’s Cup dynasty, who died Feb. 21, 1974 in a single–car accident on the QEW. Four mornings later, I skipped school and found myself where I never could today: right next to the rear entrance of a Hearse being loaded with Horton’s casket. Seek out film of the funeral on YouTube. I’m in the blurred image, hard against the white vehicle. I couldn’t believe my ears when Dad woke me up and told me of Horton’s overnight demise. I had watched him on TV, with a badly swollen cheek, play gallantly for the Buffalo Sabres against the Maple Leafs at the Gardens. Just the night before. How could he be gone?

TERRY SAWCHUK WEARING HIS ICONIC GOALIE MASK AS A LEAF IN 1965–66 (vs. DETROIT).

A somber thwack of departures has occurred in the 2000’s. When Dennis Hull passed on Saturday at 81, it put to rest the three most–memorable brother acts of my youth: Bobby and Dennis, in Chicago; the Plagers (Bob, Barclay, Bill), in St. Louis and the Drydens: Ken with Montreal; Dave with Chicago, Buffalo and Edmonton. None hit harder or more unexpectedly than Ken’s rapid demise in late–summer, a year ago. I had gotten to know the ex–Canadien (not always amicably) during his years (1997–2003) running the Maple Leafs. We became more friendly afterward. I last saw him at Montreal–Trudeau Airport while arriving for a Canadiens playoff game in 2009. Not even Dryden’s closest former teammates with the Habs were made aware of his terminal condition and death; likely from pancreatic cancer. The same scourge that took Tony Esposito at 78 on Aug. 10, 2021. Leaving Phil, now 84, as the surviving member of that other sibling sensation. Bobby and Dennis Hull died three years and four months apart; the Golden Jet perishing at 84 on Jan. 30, 2023. Barclay Plager lived only to 46 and died of brain cancer on Feb. 6, 1988. Bill Plager made it to 70 and passed of natural causes on Jan. 3, 2016. Bob lost his life most–cruelly; suffering a heart attack while driving on Interstate–64 in St. Louis, Mar. 24, 2021. He was 78.

The death of Dennis Hull put an end to the prolific “M–P–H” forward line that led Chicago to Stanley Cup final appearances in 1971 and 1973 (both losses to Montreal). Hubert (Pit) Martin died in a snowmobiling accident near Rouyn–Noranda, Que. on Nov. 30, 2008. He was 64. Jim Pappin, the former Leaf, was 82 when he perished of cancer at home in Palm Desert, Calif. on June 29, 2022. The trio skated together in Chicago from 1968 to 1975.

THE “M–P–H” LINE OF THE BLACKHAWKS: JIM PAPPIN (8), PIT MARTIN (7) AND DENNIS HULL (10).

The toughest losses, of course, involve the legendary Leafs I came to know during my 23–year radio career (1988–2011) at The FAN–590. These include the Stanley Cup heroes to whom I grew closest: Johnny Bower and George Armstrong. Inseparable pals while toiling for the Leafs under Punch Imlach… then to Bower’s final breath on Dec. 26, 2017. The Chief hung around for another few years before an illness took him, quickly and mercifully, on Jan. 24, 2021. Bower left us at 93; Armstrong at 90. The stories involving the two almost exclusively feature Armstrong and his hilarious pranks. Such as switching Bower’s false teeth in a glass inside the Leafs dressing room, having obtained the clackers from a corpse. The replacements would neither fit snuggly nor stay in Bower’s mouth. The best Armstrong story I know dates to his final season as a player with the Leafs: 1970–71. After practice one day at the Gardens, a bunch of younger Leafs were occupying every nook and cranny of the dressing room sauna. George opened the door and sought a place for himself, generating loud gripes from his teammates.

The Chief responded by urinating on the coals… sending his hockey colleagues scrambling for fresh air.

“There was plenty of fu**ing room in the sauna after that!” Armstrong told me, to hysterics, some years back.

Thankfully, most members are still alive from the Leaf teams I watched in my season tickets during the latter half of the 1970’s. Dad bought a pair in the south–mezzanine Blues (Sec. 30, Row F, Seats 27, 28) for 1975–76. The timing proved immaculate as the roster Jim Gregory rebuilt after being raided by the World Hockey Association began to gel. Primarily around Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald, Errol Thompson or Dave (Tiger) Williams, Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull and Mike Palmateer. Of this group, only Salming is deceased, having famously lost a quick battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) on Nov. 24, 2022. The great Swede was still 71. Brian Glennie, George Ferguson, Scott Garland, Don Ashby, Wayne Thomas, Ron Ellis and Kurt Walker have also perished. Such others, in no particular order, as Jim McKenny (now 79); Randy Carlyle (70); Rod Seiling (81); Mike Pelyk (79); Ron Wilson (71); Jack Valiquette (70); Pat Boutette (74); Bob Neely (72); Trevor Johansen (69); Jimmy Jones (73); Jerry Butler (75) and Stan Weir (74) remain among us. They were memorable years. And, so darned long ago.

DARRYL SITTLER, HOLDING THE HOME JERSEY HE WORE DURING HIS RECORD 10–POINT GAME AGAINST BOSTON ON FEB. 7, 1976. THE UNIFORM WAS RETURNED TO HIM BY A COLLECTOR JUST FOUR MONTHS PRIOR TO THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIX–GOAL, FOUR–ASSIST ERUPTION.

I also got to know the great Leafs defenceman, Bob Baun, in the latter part of his life.

Back in 2000, Toronto television station CFTO (Channel 9) partnered with The FAN–590 on a half–hour show featuring sports in Toronto. I will never forget walking slowly around the perimeter of the Maple Leaf Gardens ice pad — a cameraman following us on the cement floor — while Baun regaeled me with stories from his Leaf years in the 60’s and early 70’s. The Gardens was quiet as we made our trek and I remember how surreal it felt watching this man and thinking of all the tumultuous Saturday nights he played in that arena during his 11 years with the Blue and White. Another seared image of the Boomer dates to Oct. 28, 1967, the night Dad took me to see the expansion California Seals play the Leafs for the first time. Dad pointed out No. 21 in the white jersey and bright–green pants. Of course I remembered Baun skating for the Leafs. Though not as far back as his time (1959–65) playing alongside Carl Brewer. He returned to the Leafs in November 1970 and was forced to retire after sustaining a neck injury in a collision at the Gardens with Mickey Redmond of Detroit. Early in the 1972–73 season. Bob pointed out the site of the mishap during our walk. He was sick in his final years and died Aug. 14, 2023 at age 86.

Other notable NHL types we’ve lost since 2020 include: Dale Hawerchuk, Henri Richard, Eddie Shack, Pat Stapleton, Howie Meeker, Bob Nevin, Ralph Backstrom, Rod Gilbert, Rene Robert, Bryan Watson, Lou Angotti, Leo Boivin, Mike Bossy, Emile Francis, Clark Gillies, Larry Hillman, Guy Lafleur, Eric Nesterenko, Mike Nykoluk, Fred Stanfield, Marv Edwards, Gilles Gilbert, Petr Klima, Peter McNab, Gino Odjick, Vic Stasiuk, Sergei Berezin, Henry Boucha, Brad Maxwell, Chris Simon, Jean–Guy Talbot, Dunc Wilson, Alex Delvecchio, Al MacNeil, Donnie Marshall, Gerry McNamara, Phil Roberto, Greg Millen, Ed Van Impe, Guy Chouinard, John Garrett, Ed Giacomin, Phil Goyette, Glenn Hall, Forbes Kennedy, Claude Lemieux, Lowell MacDonald, Jim Morrison, Bernie Parent, Bob Pulford and Bobby Rousseau. Like I wrote, a somber thwack of departures. All having left their mark on the game.

Still royally among us are five stalwart members of the 1967 Leafs team that won the Stanley Cup: Dave Keon (now 86); Frank Mahovlich (88); Peter Stemkowski (82); Mike Walton (81) and Brian Conacher (84).

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