Jack Stoddard

Stan Fischler has long been enamoured with New York hockey players, especially from eras long gone by.

Take Jack Stoddard for example. Here's what Fischler wrote about Stoddard in his famous book Fischler's Hockey Encyclopedia.

"If Jack Stoddard had been able to play as well as he looked he might have been in the NHL for a long time. The Rangers obtained the tall, handsome forward from Providence of the American League in 1951-52 amid considerable fan fare."

The Rangers did trade a considerable amount to get him - Pat Egan, Zellio Toppazzini and Jean Paul Denis. After all, Stoddard was a big part of championship success with the Providence Reds. But it never really worked out for Stoddard in Manhattan.

"It was a measure of Stoddard's ineffectiveness that his only claim to fame was his number - 13," continued Fischler. "In 1952-53 Jack played a full sixty game schedule, scoring 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points. It was his last experience in the big time."

Nicknamed "The Octopus" because of his long arms, Stoddard soon returned to amateur hockey in Ontario. In 1960 he helped the Chatham Maroons win the Allan Cup as Canada's national amateur champions.