Darryl Sittler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Position | Center |
Shot | Left |
Height Weight |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) |
Pro Clubs | Toronto Maple Leafs Philadelphia Flyers Detroit Red Wings |
Nationality | Canada |
Born | September 18, 1950, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |
NHL Draft | 8th overall, 1970 Toronto Maple Leafs |
Pro Career | 1970 – 1985 |
Hall of Fame | 1989 |
Darryl Glen Sittler (born September 18, 1950 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1970 until 1985 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
Sittler grew up in St. Jacobs, Ontario and played minor hockey in nearby Elmira. He was drafted out of the Junior C Elmira Sugar Kings by the London Nationals, soon renamed the London Knights, and played under coaches Turk Broda and Bep Guidolin. Sittler was selected eighth overall by the Maple Leafs in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft.
After struggling in his first two seasons in the NHL—including suffering a broken wrist in his rookie year—Sittler became the Leafs' most productive offensive star of the 1970s and team leader on and off the ice. He was made team captain on September 10, 1975 after the Leafs told previous captain, 35-year-old Dave Keon, that they no longer had any use for him. In his first season as captain, on February 7, 1976, Sittler set the NHL record for most points scored in one game when he recorded ten points (six goals, four assists) against the Boston Bruins. More than 30 years later, this record still stands, despite the marked increase in scoring from that era to the contemporary period. Sittler finished the season with 41 goals and 59 assists, being the first Leaf ever to reach the 100 point mark, and to this day one of the few Leafs to do so. A few months later, Sittler tied the playoff record for most goals in one game, with five against Philadelphia. That summer, in the inaugural Canada Cup, he scored in overtime to win the final series for Team Canada over Czechoslovakia.
In 1977-78, his 117 points ranked him third in regular season scoring behind Guy Lafleur and Bryan Trottier, and also earned Sittler a Second Team All-Star selection. During the playoffs, the Leafs upset the New York Islanders in the quarter-finals, winning in overtime during game seven, before being swept by the Montreal Canadiens in the Conference finals.
The 1978-79 season saw Sittler suffer some knee problems and miss 10 games. It was also the year that Leafs owner Harold Ballard fired and then rehired coach Roger Neilson, which saw Sittler lobby on the players' behalf for Neilson's reinstatement.
Sittler's relationship with Ballard slowly deteriorated, particularly after Ballard hired Punch Imlach as general manager in July 1979. Imlach and Ballard both had strained relations with NHLPA executive director Alan Eagleson, who, as a player agent, represented more than a dozen Leafs, including Sittler and his best friend and linemate, Lanny McDonald. Imlach believed Sittler had too much influence on the team and tried to undermine his authority with the players. When Sittler and Mike Palmateer agreed to appear on the TV show Showdown, as negotiated by the NHLPA, Imlach went to court to try to get injunction to stop them. When Imlach said that he was open to offers for Sittler from other teams, Eagleson said it would cost $500,000 to get Sittler to waive the no-trade clause in his contract. So, instead of trading Sitttler, Imlach sent McDonald to the woeful Colorado Rockies on December 29, 1979. In response, Sittler ripped the captain's C off his sweater, later commenting that a captain had to be the go-between with players and management, and he no longer had any communication with management.[1] Ballard would liken Sittler's actions to burning the Canadian flag.[2]
Through the summer, Ballard insisted that Sittler wouldn't be back with the Leafs. But before the start of the 1980-81 season, Sittler and Ballard appeared together at a news conference described as "all smiles and buddy-buddy"[3] to announce that Sittler would be at training camp. He showed up with the C back on his sweater, reassuming the role of team captain. Sittler had arranged the talks with Ballard on his own.[3] The discussions took place with Imlach hospitalized following his second heart attack. At the news conference, Ballard said the real battle had been between Imlach and Eagleson, and Sittler just got caught in the crossfire.
During the 1981-82 season, Ballard considered Imlach's health to be too poor for him to continue as general manager. But even with Imlach gone, Sittler's relationship with the Leafs worsened to the point where he told Ballard and acting general manager Gerry McNamara at the end of November that he would waive his no-trade clause if he was sent to the Philadelphia Flyers or the Minnesota North Stars. In the first week of December, Eagleson agreed to terms with Flyers' owner Ed Snider and North Stars' general manager Lou Nanne.[4] But it took another seven weeks for the Leafs to make a deal. During that time, Sittler added the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Islanders to the list of teams he could be traded to. On January 5, 1982, on advice from his physician, Sittler walked out on the Leafs, saying he was "mentally depressed" because a trade was taking so long to complete. Finally, on January 20, 1982, the 31-year-old Sittler was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Rich Costello plus the Hartford Whalers' second-round pick in the 1982 draft (used by the Leafs to select Peter Ihnačák), and future considerations, which ended up being Ken Strong. Only Ihnacak would play regularly for the Leafs.
With the Flyers in 1982-83, Sittler earned his fourth All-Star game appearance and he returned to the Flyers the following season. Before the 1984-85 season, Sittler was told that he would be named the Flyers' team captain. On the day the announcement was to be made—Sittler even had a brief speech prepared[5]—he was instead told by Flyers' newly-appointed general manager Bobby Clarke that he had been traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Murray Craven and Joe Paterson. It was this incident that Sittler described as the biggest disappointment of his life. "Clarke can't come close to realizing how much he hurt me, and my family, that day," he wrote in his 1991 autobiography.[6] Sittler contemplated retirement, and didn't report to the Wings for a few days, but then joined the team. He had an unproductive season, struggling to get ice time under coach Nick Polano, and finishing the year with the worst goals-per-game average of his NHL career. The Red Wings bought out Sittler's contract after the end of the season. He received a one-year contract offer from the Vancouver Canucks but decided to retire.
In recent years, particularly since the death of former Leaf owner Harold Ballard, the Toronto Maple Leaf's have tried to bring the former star back to a more prominent role, but Sittler - like other stars of that era (Dave Keon in particular) still appears to be somewhat distant to the modern day club.
[edit] Retirement
Sittler was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1991, a year after Ballard died, he rejoined the organization as a consultant under new general manager Cliff Fletcher. In 1998, he was ranked number 93 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 greatest hockey players of all time and on February 8, 2003, Sittler's number 27 was honoured by the Leafs.[7]
[edit] Career statistics
Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1967-68 | London Nationals | OHA | 54 | 22 | 41 | 63 | 84 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 6 | ||
1968-69 | London Knights | OHA | 53 | 34 | 65 | 99 | 90 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 11 | ||
1969-70 | London Knights | OHA | 54 | 42 | 48 | 90 | 126 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 32 | ||
1970-71 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 49 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 37 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 31 | ||
1971-72 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 74 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
1972-73 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 78 | 29 | 48 | 77 | 69 | |||||||
1973-74 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 78 | 38 | 46 | 84 | 55 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
1974-75 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 72 | 36 | 44 | 80 | 47 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 | ||
1975-76 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 79 | 41 | 59 | 100 | 90 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 19 | ||
1976-77 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 73 | 38 | 52 | 90 | 89 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 4 | ||
1977-78 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 80 | 45 | 72 | 117 | 100 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 12 | ||
1978-79 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 36 | 51 | 87 | 69 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 17 | ||
1979-80 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 73 | 40 | 57 | 97 | 62 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
1980-81 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 80 | 43 | 53 | 96 | 77 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
1981-82 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 38 | 18 | 20 | 38 | 24 | |||||||
1981-82 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 35 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 50 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
1982-83 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 80 | 43 | 40 | 83 | 60 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
1983-84 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 76 | 27 | 36 | 63 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
1984-85 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 61 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 37 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
OHA Totals | 161 | 98 | 154 | 252 | 300 | 23 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 49 | ||||
NHL Totals | 1096 | 484 | 637 | 1121 | 948 | 76 | 29 | 45 | 74 | 137 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Daryl Sittler's longest year," Frank Orr, Toronto Star, March 16, 1980, p. C3.
- ^ "Maple Leaf forever? Sittler will stay put at least this season," Ken McKee, Toronto Star, March 8, 1980, p. C3.
- ^ a b "Peace is wonderful, but ...," Frank Orr, Toronto Star, September 5, 1980, p. D1.
- ^ "Sittler saga finally ends," Wayne Parrish, Toronto Star, January 21, 1982, p. D1.
- ^ "Sittler considering retirement," Rick Fraser, Toronto Star, October 12, 1984, p. B1.
- ^ Sittler, Darryl Sittler & Chris Goyens, Macmillan Canada, 1991, p. 224
- ^ "Banner night for Leafs; Sundin hot on Sittler's special evening," Paul Hunter, Toronto Star, February 9, 2003, p. E1.
[edit] See also
- List of retired NHL players
- List of NHL statistical leaders
- List of NHL seasons
- List of NHL players with 1000 points
[edit] External links
Preceded by: Dave Keon |
Toronto Maple Leafs Captains 1975-79 & 1980-82 |
Succeeded by: Rick Vaive |
Categories: 1950 births | Canadian ice hockey players | Detroit Red Wings players | Hockey Hall of Fame | Ice hockey personnel from Ontario | Living people | London Knights alumni | London Nationals alumni | National Hockey League 100-point seasons | National Hockey League first round draft picks | People from Waterloo Region, Ontario | Philadelphia Flyers players | Superstars competitors | Toronto Maple Leafs players