Danny Lewicki

When Dashin' Danny Lewicki looked back at his nine year stint in the NHL he has this rather brutal assessment of himself:

"A hockey player who didn't reach his potential. I always felt I could have done better and should have done better."

An excellent skater who stickhandled and shot well, Lewicki played with Toronto, NY Rangers and Chicago.

"Possibly I was a little ahead of my time," he says. Could he play defensively? "Never!" he joked. "Oh, I did a bit, but at 170lbs I wasn't able to hurt anybody."

Lewicki scored 105 goals and 135 assists in 461 regular season games. He is one of the few players to win the Memorial Cup (Port Arthur Bruins, 1948), Allan Cup (Toronto Seniors, 1949) and Stanley Cup (Toronto Maple Leafs, 1950). In fact, he is the only player to win all three while still of junior age.

Despite his fantastic start with the Leafs he always had a frosty relationship with the Leafs. According to his autobiography From The Coal Docks To The NHL, Lewicki said his junior days decision to stay home and play in Stratford rather than immediately report to the Toronto Marlies angered Leafs Boss Conn Smythe and he was never forgiven.

But Lewicki's ability was too good to keep out of the Leafs lineup. A nasty injury - a badly torn groin as a result of stepping on a paper clip - of all things - on the ice, did, however. The Leafs rushed him back for the playoffs even though he knew he was not healthy. It would take a while to truly find his game back - the perfect opportunity for Smythe to bury Lewicki in the minors.

Lewicki finally escaped the Leafs grasp in 1954 and exploded with a 29 goal campaign with the New York Rangers. He would play three more seasons with the Rangers and one with Chicago.

After leaving the NHL in 1959 Lewicki rounded out his career with 4 years in the minors before calling it quits. He regretfully looks back and realized maybe he quit to soon as the NHL expanded just a couple of years after he retired.

Lewicki became a sales representative with CHUM radio for 13 years before joining Acklands as an automotive supplier.