Terry Sawchuk
Encyclopedia
Terrance Gordon Sawchuk (December 28, 1929 – May 31, 1970) was a Ukrainian-Canadian professional
ice hockey
goaltender
who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League
for the Detroit Red Wings
, Boston Bruins
, Toronto Maple Leafs
, Los Angeles Kings
and New York Rangers
.
to Canada
as a boy from Galicia
, Austria–Hungary (now Ukraine
), and his wife, Anne Maslak Sawchuk, a homemaker. The second son died young from scarlet fever and the oldest, an aspiring hockey goaltender whom Terry idolized, died suddenly of a heart attack at age seventeen. At age twelve, Sawchuk injured his right elbow playing football and, not wanting to be punished by his parents, hid the injury, preventing the dislocation from properly healing. Thus, the arm was left with limited mobility and several inches shorter than the left, and bothered him for his entire athletic career. After inheriting his older brother's goalie equipment, Sawchuk began playing ice hockey in a local league and worked for a sheet-metal company installing vents over bakery ovens. His goaltending talent was so evident that at age fourteen a local scout for the Detroit Red Wings
had him work out with the team, who later signed him to an amateur contract and sent him to play for their junior team in Galt, Ontario, in 1946, where he also finished the eleventh grade but most likely did not graduate from high school. The Red Wings signed him to a professional contract in 1947, and he quickly progressed through their developmental system, winning honors as the Rookie of the Year in both the U.S. and American Hockey Leagues. Sawchuk also filled in for seven games when the Detroit goalie Harry Lumley was injured in January 1950. Sawchuk showed such promise that the Red Wings traded Lumley to the Chicago Black Hawks, though he had just led the team to the 1949–1950 Stanley Cup
. Nicknamed "Ukey" or "The Uke" by his teammates because of his Ukrainian
ancestry, Sawchuk led the Red Wings to three Stanley Cups in five years, winning the Calder Trophy as the top rookie
(the first to win such honors in all three professional hockey leagues) and three Vezina Trophies
for the fewest goals allowed (he missed out the other two years by one goal). He was selected as an All-Star five times in his first five years in the NHL, had fifty-six shutouts, and his goals-against average (GAA) remained under 2.00. In the 1951–1952 playoffs, the Red Wings swept both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens
, with Sawchuk surrendering just five goals in eight games (for a 0.67 GAA), with four shutouts.
Sawchuk was ordered by Detroit general manager Jack Adams to lose weight before the 1951–1952 season, and his personality seemed to change when he dropped more than forty pounds, becoming sullen and withdrawn. He became increasingly surly with reporters and fans, preferred doing crossword puzzles to giving interviews, and struggled for years to regain the weight. Also contributing to his moodiness and self-doubt was the pressure of playing day in and day out despite repeated injuries — there were no backup goaltenders. He frequently played through pain, and during his career he had three operations on his right elbow, an appendectomy, countless cuts and bruises, a broken instep, a collapsed lung, ruptured discs in his back, and severed tendons in his hand. Years of crouching in the net caused Sawchuk to walk with a permanent stoop and resulted in lordosis (swayback), which prevented him from sleeping for more than two hours at a time. He also received approximately 400 stitches to his face before adopting a protective facemask in 1962. In 1966, Life Magazine had a make-up artist apply stitches and scars to Sawchuk's face to demonstrate all of the injuries to his face over the years. The make-up artist did not have enough room for everything.
The Red Wings traded Sawchuk to the Boston Bruins
in June 1955 because they had a capable younger goaltender in the minor leagues (Glenn Hall
), which devastated the self-critical goalie. During his second season with Boston, Sawchuk was diagnosed with mononucleosis
, but returned to the team after only two weeks. Physically weak, playing poorly, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, he announced his retirement in early 1957 and was labeled a "quitter" by team executives and several newspapers. Detroit reacquired Sawchuk by trading a young forward named Johnny Bucyk
to Boston. After seven seasons, when they had another promising young goalie (Roger Crozier
) ready for promotion from the minor leagues, Detroit left Sawchuk unprotected in the intraleague waiver draft, and he was quickly claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs
. With Sawchuk sharing goaltending duties with the forty-year-old Johnny Bower
, the veteran duo won the 1964–1965 Vezina Trophy
and led Toronto to the 1966–1967 Stanley Cup. Left unprotected in the June 1967 expansion draft, Sawchuk was the first player selected, taken by the Los Angeles Kings
where he played one season before being traded back to Detroit. Sawchuk spent his final season with the New York Rangers
, where he played sparingly. On February 1, 1970, in only his fourth start of the season, he recorded his 103rd and final shutout of his career by blanking the Pittsburgh Penguins
. Sawchuk appeared in his last NHL game on April 14 when Rangers coach Emile Francis
replaced goalie Ed Giacomin in an effort to slow down the playoff game against the Boston Bruins. He was in the net for less than a minute before Giacomin returned.
Sawchuk married Patricia Ann Bowman Morey on 6 August 1953 after a brief courtship. They had seven children, and the family suffered for many years from Sawchuk's increasing alcoholism, philandering (a Toronto girlfriend became pregnant by him in 1967), verbal and physical abuse. Morey threatened to divorce him numerous times, and finally did so in 1969.
, a condition that often affected his conduct. After the 1969–1970 season ended, Sawchuk and Rangers teammate Ron Stewart
, both of whom had been drinking, argued over expenses for the house they rented together on Long Island, New York. Sawchuk suffered severe internal injuries during the scuffle from falling on top of Stewart's bent knee. At Long Beach Memorial Hospital, Sawchuk's gallbladder was removed and he had a second operation on his damaged and bleeding liver. The press described the incident as "horseplay," and Sawchuk told the police that he accepted full responsibility for the events. At New York Hospital in Manhattan, another operation was performed on Sawchuk's bleeding liver. He never recovered and died shortly thereafter from a pulmonary embolism on May 31, 1970 at the age of forty. The last reporter to speak to him, a little over a week before his death, was Shirley Fischler (wife of Stan Fischler
), who went to see him in the hospital as a visitor, not identifying herself as a reporter. Sawchuk told her the incident with Ron Stewart "was just a fluke, a complete fluke accident." Fischler described him as "so pale and thin that the scars had almost disappeared from his face." A Nassau County grand jury exonerated Stewart and ruled that Sawchuk's death was accidental. Sawchuk was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Pontiac, Michigan
.
During his career, Sawchuk won 501 games (447 regular season and 54 playoff), while recording 115 shutout
s, (103 in the regular season and 12 in the playoffs). Sawchuk set the standard for measuring goaltenders, and was publicly hailed as the "best goalie ever" by a rival general manager in 1952, during only his second season. Sawchuk finished his hockey career with 447 wins, a record that stood for thirty years, and his career record of 103 shutouts remained unsurpassed among NHL goaltenders, until Martin Brodeur
bested that mark on December 21, 2009. In 1971, Sawchuk was posthumously elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
and awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy
for his contribution to hockey in the United States. The Red Wings retired his number 1 in 1994. In 1997, the book Shutout: The Legend of Terry Sawchuk by sports author Brian Kendall, was published. Also, the book Sawchuk: The troubles and triumphs of the World's Greatest Goalie was published in 1998 by David Dupis, with participation by the Sawchuk family. In 2001, he was honored with his image on a Canadian postage stamp, even though he had become a U.S. citizen in 1959. In 2008, Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems, a book of poetry about Sawchuk by Randall Maggs
, was published. The Terry Sawchuk Arena in his hometown of Winnipeg
is named in his honour.
----
Professional sports
Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...
ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
goaltender
Goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...
who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
for the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
, Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
, Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
and New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
.
Early life and playing career
Sawchuk was born and raised in East Kildonan, a working-class, Ukrainian section of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was the third of four sons and one adopted daughter of Louis Sawchuk, a tinsmith who had emigratedEmigre
Emigre, also known as Emigre Graphics, is a digital type foundry, publisher and distributor of graphic design centered information based in Berkeley, California, that was founded in 1984 by husband-and-wife team Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko. The type foundry also published Emigre magazine...
to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as a boy from Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine...
, Austria–Hungary (now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
), and his wife, Anne Maslak Sawchuk, a homemaker. The second son died young from scarlet fever and the oldest, an aspiring hockey goaltender whom Terry idolized, died suddenly of a heart attack at age seventeen. At age twelve, Sawchuk injured his right elbow playing football and, not wanting to be punished by his parents, hid the injury, preventing the dislocation from properly healing. Thus, the arm was left with limited mobility and several inches shorter than the left, and bothered him for his entire athletic career. After inheriting his older brother's goalie equipment, Sawchuk began playing ice hockey in a local league and worked for a sheet-metal company installing vents over bakery ovens. His goaltending talent was so evident that at age fourteen a local scout for the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
had him work out with the team, who later signed him to an amateur contract and sent him to play for their junior team in Galt, Ontario, in 1946, where he also finished the eleventh grade but most likely did not graduate from high school. The Red Wings signed him to a professional contract in 1947, and he quickly progressed through their developmental system, winning honors as the Rookie of the Year in both the U.S. and American Hockey Leagues. Sawchuk also filled in for seven games when the Detroit goalie Harry Lumley was injured in January 1950. Sawchuk showed such promise that the Red Wings traded Lumley to the Chicago Black Hawks, though he had just led the team to the 1949–1950 Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
. Nicknamed "Ukey" or "The Uke" by his teammates because of his Ukrainian
Ukrainian Canadian
A Ukrainian Canadian is a person of Ukrainian descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. In 2006, there were an estimated 1,209,085 persons residing in Canada of Ukrainian origin, making them Canada's ninth largest ethnic group; and giving Canada the world's third-largest...
ancestry, Sawchuk led the Red Wings to three Stanley Cups in five years, winning the Calder Trophy as the top rookie
Rookie
Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport or has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...
(the first to win such honors in all three professional hockey leagues) and three Vezina Trophies
Vezina Trophy
The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the 30 General Managers of the teams in the National Hockey League vote to determine the goaltender who was the most valuable to his team...
for the fewest goals allowed (he missed out the other two years by one goal). He was selected as an All-Star five times in his first five years in the NHL, had fifty-six shutouts, and his goals-against average (GAA) remained under 2.00. In the 1951–1952 playoffs, the Red Wings swept both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
, with Sawchuk surrendering just five goals in eight games (for a 0.67 GAA), with four shutouts.
Sawchuk was ordered by Detroit general manager Jack Adams to lose weight before the 1951–1952 season, and his personality seemed to change when he dropped more than forty pounds, becoming sullen and withdrawn. He became increasingly surly with reporters and fans, preferred doing crossword puzzles to giving interviews, and struggled for years to regain the weight. Also contributing to his moodiness and self-doubt was the pressure of playing day in and day out despite repeated injuries — there were no backup goaltenders. He frequently played through pain, and during his career he had three operations on his right elbow, an appendectomy, countless cuts and bruises, a broken instep, a collapsed lung, ruptured discs in his back, and severed tendons in his hand. Years of crouching in the net caused Sawchuk to walk with a permanent stoop and resulted in lordosis (swayback), which prevented him from sleeping for more than two hours at a time. He also received approximately 400 stitches to his face before adopting a protective facemask in 1962. In 1966, Life Magazine had a make-up artist apply stitches and scars to Sawchuk's face to demonstrate all of the injuries to his face over the years. The make-up artist did not have enough room for everything.
The Red Wings traded Sawchuk to the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
in June 1955 because they had a capable younger goaltender in the minor leagues (Glenn Hall
Glenn Hall
Glenn Henry "Mr. Goalie" Hall is a former professional ice hockey goaltender. During his National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, and St. Louis Blues, Hall seldom missed a game and was a consistent performer, winning the Vezina Trophy three times, and the...
), which devastated the self-critical goalie. During his second season with Boston, Sawchuk was diagnosed with mononucleosis
Infectious mononucleosis
Infectious mononucleosis is an infectious, widespread viral...
, but returned to the team after only two weeks. Physically weak, playing poorly, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, he announced his retirement in early 1957 and was labeled a "quitter" by team executives and several newspapers. Detroit reacquired Sawchuk by trading a young forward named Johnny Bucyk
Johnny Bucyk
John Paul "Chief" Bucyk is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Having played most of his career with the Boston Bruins, he has been associated in one capacity or another with the Bruins' organization since the late 1950s.-Early life:Bucyk...
to Boston. After seven seasons, when they had another promising young goalie (Roger Crozier
Roger Crozier
Roger Allan Crozier was a Canadian professional hockey goaltender who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals....
) ready for promotion from the minor leagues, Detroit left Sawchuk unprotected in the intraleague waiver draft, and he was quickly claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
. With Sawchuk sharing goaltending duties with the forty-year-old Johnny Bower
Johnny Bower
John William Bower , nicknamed "The China Wall", is a Hockey Hall of Fame goalie.-Playing career:...
, the veteran duo won the 1964–1965 Vezina Trophy
Vezina Trophy
The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the 30 General Managers of the teams in the National Hockey League vote to determine the goaltender who was the most valuable to his team...
and led Toronto to the 1966–1967 Stanley Cup. Left unprotected in the June 1967 expansion draft, Sawchuk was the first player selected, taken by the Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
where he played one season before being traded back to Detroit. Sawchuk spent his final season with the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
, where he played sparingly. On February 1, 1970, in only his fourth start of the season, he recorded his 103rd and final shutout of his career by blanking the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
. Sawchuk appeared in his last NHL game on April 14 when Rangers coach Emile Francis
Emile Francis
Emile "The Cat" Francis is a former player, coach, and general manager in the National Hockey League, most notably with the New York Rangers....
replaced goalie Ed Giacomin in an effort to slow down the playoff game against the Boston Bruins. He was in the net for less than a minute before Giacomin returned.
Sawchuk married Patricia Ann Bowman Morey on 6 August 1953 after a brief courtship. They had seven children, and the family suffered for many years from Sawchuk's increasing alcoholism, philandering (a Toronto girlfriend became pregnant by him in 1967), verbal and physical abuse. Morey threatened to divorce him numerous times, and finally did so in 1969.
Death
Sawchuk struggled with untreated depressionClinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, a condition that often affected his conduct. After the 1969–1970 season ended, Sawchuk and Rangers teammate Ron Stewart
Ron Stewart
Ronald George Stewart is a retired professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League from 1952 to 1973, as well as an NHL coach.- Hockey career:...
, both of whom had been drinking, argued over expenses for the house they rented together on Long Island, New York. Sawchuk suffered severe internal injuries during the scuffle from falling on top of Stewart's bent knee. At Long Beach Memorial Hospital, Sawchuk's gallbladder was removed and he had a second operation on his damaged and bleeding liver. The press described the incident as "horseplay," and Sawchuk told the police that he accepted full responsibility for the events. At New York Hospital in Manhattan, another operation was performed on Sawchuk's bleeding liver. He never recovered and died shortly thereafter from a pulmonary embolism on May 31, 1970 at the age of forty. The last reporter to speak to him, a little over a week before his death, was Shirley Fischler (wife of Stan Fischler
Stan Fischler
Stan Fischler is a hockey and New York City Subway historian, broadcaster, author and professor.For his hockey knowledge, Fischler promotes himself as “The Hockey Maven” in both local and national circles...
), who went to see him in the hospital as a visitor, not identifying herself as a reporter. Sawchuk told her the incident with Ron Stewart "was just a fluke, a complete fluke accident." Fischler described him as "so pale and thin that the scars had almost disappeared from his face." A Nassau County grand jury exonerated Stewart and ruled that Sawchuk's death was accidental. Sawchuk was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...
.
Legacy
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
s, (103 in the regular season and 12 in the playoffs). Sawchuk set the standard for measuring goaltenders, and was publicly hailed as the "best goalie ever" by a rival general manager in 1952, during only his second season. Sawchuk finished his hockey career with 447 wins, a record that stood for thirty years, and his career record of 103 shutouts remained unsurpassed among NHL goaltenders, until Martin Brodeur
Martin Brodeur
Martin Pierre Brodeur is a French-Canadian ice hockey goaltender who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the New Jersey Devils. In his 19-year tenure with the Devils, he has won three Stanley Cup championships and has been in the playoffs every year but two...
bested that mark on December 21, 2009. In 1971, Sawchuk was posthumously elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
and awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy
Lester Patrick Trophy
The Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the National Hockey League and USA Hockey since 1966 to honor a recipient's contribution to ice hockey in the United States. It is considered a non-NHL trophy because it may be awarded to players, coaches, officials, and other personnel outside the NHL...
for his contribution to hockey in the United States. The Red Wings retired his number 1 in 1994. In 1997, the book Shutout: The Legend of Terry Sawchuk by sports author Brian Kendall, was published. Also, the book Sawchuk: The troubles and triumphs of the World's Greatest Goalie was published in 1998 by David Dupis, with participation by the Sawchuk family. In 2001, he was honored with his image on a Canadian postage stamp, even though he had become a U.S. citizen in 1959. In 2008, Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems, a book of poetry about Sawchuk by Randall Maggs
Randall Maggs
Randall Maggs is a Canadian poet and former professor of English Literature at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College of Memorial University, in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. He is one of the organizers and now artistic director of the March Hare, the largest literary festival in Atlantic Canada.-Early...
, was published. The Terry Sawchuk Arena in his hometown of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
is named in his honour.
Awards and achievements
- USHL Rookie of the Year (1948)
- AHLAmerican Hockey LeagueThe American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
Rookie of the Year (19491948–49 AHL seasonThe 1948–49 AHL season was the 13th season of the American Hockey League. Eleven teams played 68 games each in the schedule. The Wally Kilrea Trophy for the league's "top point scorer," is renamed the Carl Liscombe Trophy. The St. Louis Flyers won their first F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy as West...
) - Calder Memorial TrophyCalder Memorial TrophyThe Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League." The Rookie of the Year trophy has been awarded 79 times since its creation for the 1936–37 NHL season...
winner (1951) - NHL All-Star Game (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 19559th National Hockey League All-Star GameThe Ninth National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at the Detroit Olympia, home of the Detroit Red Wings, on October 2, 1955. The Red Wings, winner of the 1954 Stanley Cup Finals, played a team of All-Stars, winning by a score of 3–1.-Game summary:...
, 1956, 195913th National Hockey League All-Star GameThe 13th National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at the Montreal Forum on October 3, 1959, which saw the hometown Montreal Canadiens defeat the NHL all-stars 6–1.- Contracts and eligibility :...
, 196317th National Hockey League All-Star GameThe 17th National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at Maple Leaf Gardens on October 5, 1963. The hometown Toronto Maple Leafs tied the NHL all-stars 3–3.- "Big M" Records Three Points, but Leafs Tie All-Stars :...
, 196418th National Hockey League All-Star GameThe 18th National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at Maple Leaf Gardens on October 10, 1964. The NHL All-Stars defeated the hometown Toronto Maple Leafs 3–2.-The game :...
, and 1968) - NHL First All-Star Team (1951, 1952, and 1953)
- NHL Second All-Star Team (1954, 1955, 1959, and 1963)
- Vezina TrophyVezina TrophyThe Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the 30 General Managers of the teams in the National Hockey League vote to determine the goaltender who was the most valuable to his team...
winner (1952, 1953, 1955, and 1965) - Stanley CupStanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
championships (19521952 Stanley Cup FinalsThe 1952 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens in the first of the four Detroit-Montreal Final series of the 1950s. The Canadiens were appearing in their second straight Finals series, while Detroit was returning after winning...
, 19541954 Stanley Cup Finals-References:* Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame . Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7...
, 19551955 Stanley Cup FinalsThe 1955 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Montreal Canadiens, appearing in their fifth of ten straight Finals and the defending champion Detroit Red Wings, in the fourth Detroit-Montreal Final series of the 1950s and the second consecutively. The Wings would win the...
, and 19671967 Stanley Cup FinalsThe 1967 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series played between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs would win the series four games to two to win their thirteenth Stanley Cup...
) - Lester Patrick TrophyLester Patrick TrophyThe Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the National Hockey League and USA Hockey since 1966 to honor a recipient's contribution to ice hockey in the United States. It is considered a non-NHL trophy because it may be awarded to players, coaches, officials, and other personnel outside the NHL...
winner (1971) - Inducted into the Hockey Hall of FameHockey Hall of FameThe Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
in 1971 - Inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and MuseumManitoba Sports Hall of Fame and MuseumThe Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, dedicated to the history of sport in Manitoba and honouring the best in sport. The organization began in 1980 and in 1993, a museum was opened in The Forks...
in 1982 - In 1998, he was ranked number 9 on The Hockey NewsThe Hockey NewsThe Hockey News, commonly abbreviated to THN, is a North American ice hockey magazine published by Transcontinental. The Hockey News was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Bill Côté, and has since been the most recognized hockey publication in North America...
list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranking goaltender - On March 6, 1994, the Detroit Red WingsDetroit Red WingsThe Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
retired his #1 jersey - Selected to ManitobaManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
's All-Century First All-Star Team - Selected as Manitoba's Player of the Century
- “Honoured Member” of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of FameManitoba Hockey Hall of FameThe Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1985 when the first honoured members were named and plaques were erected in their honour. The first group of inductees was large in order to recognize the accomplishments of Manitoba players, coaches, builders and teams at the...
Records
- NHL record - Career ties leader - 172
- Sawchuk's NHL record for career shut-outs (103) stood for 39 years until broken by Martin BrodeurMartin BrodeurMartin Pierre Brodeur is a French-Canadian ice hockey goaltender who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the New Jersey Devils. In his 19-year tenure with the Devils, he has won three Stanley Cup championships and has been in the playoffs every year but two...
in 2009.
Regular season
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... |
Team | League | GP | Min | GA | W | L | T | SO | GAA Goals against average Goals Against Average is a statistic used in ice hockey, water polo, lacrosse, and soccer that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender.... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945-46 | Winnipeg Monarchs Winnipeg Monarchs The Winnipeg Monarchs were a junior ice hockey team that played in the Western Canada Hockey League from 1967 to 1977 under three names. The team played as the Winnipeg Jets from 1967 to 1973; the Winnipeg Clubs from 1973 to 1976, and the Winnipeg Monarchs from 1976 to 1977. The Monarchs franchise... |
MJHL | 10 | 600 | 58 | — | — | — | 0 | 5.80 |
| 1946-47 | Galt Red Wings Galt Red Wings The Galt Red Wings were a junior ice hockey team based in Galt, Ontario, now a part of the city of Cambridge. They played in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1944 to 1947 and were operated as an affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. Their home arena was the Galt Arena Gardens.The team was... |
OHA-Jr. | 30 | 1800 | 94 | — | — | — | 4 | 3.13 |
| 1947-48 | Windsor Spitfires | IHL | 3 | 180 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.67 |
| 1947-48 | Omaha Knights Omaha Knights (original) The Omaha Knights were a minor league professional ice hockey team that played in Omaha, Nebraska. The Knights were members of the American Hockey Association from 1939 to 1942, until the team went on hiatus during World War II. The Knights returned to the ice, playing in the United States Hockey... |
USHL | 54 | 3248 | 174 | 30 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 3.21 |
| 1948-49 | Indianapolis Capitals Indianapolis Capitals The Indianapolis Capitals was an American Hockey League professional ice hockey team based in Indianapolis, Indiana from 1939–1952. The Capitals were a farm team for the Detroit Red Wings. Indianapolis won the Calder Cup in 1942 and 1950... |
AHL American Hockey League The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League... |
67 | 4020 | 205 | 38 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 3.06 |
| 1949-50 | Indianapolis Capitals | AHL | 61 | 3660 | 188 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 3.08 |
| 1949–50 | Detroit Red Wings Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York... |
NHL | 7 | 420 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2.29 |
| 1950–51 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 4200 | 139 | 44 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 1.99 |
| 1951–52 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 4200 | 133 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 1.90 |
| 1952–53 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 63 | 3780 | 120 | 32 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 1.90 |
| 1953–54 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 67 | 4004 | 129 | 35 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 1.93 |
| 1954–55 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 68 | 4080 | 132 | 40 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 1.96 |
| 1955–56 | Boston Bruins Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the... |
NHL | 68 | 4080 | 181 | 22 | 33 | 13 | 9 | 2.60 |
| 1956–57 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 34 | 2040 | 81 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2.38 |
| 1957–58 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 4200 | 207 | 29 | 29 | 12 | 3 | 2.94 |
| 1958–59 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 67 | 4020 | 209 | 23 | 36 | 8 | 5 | 3.09 |
| 1959–60 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 58 | 3480 | 156 | 24 | 20 | 14 | 5 | 2.67 |
| 1960–61 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 37 | 2150 | 113 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 3.10 |
| 1961–62 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 43 | 2580 | 143 | 14 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 3.28 |
| 1962–63 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 48 | 2775 | 119 | 22 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 2.55 |
| 1963–64 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 53 | 3140 | 138 | 25 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 2.64 |
| 1964–65 | Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... |
NHL | 36 | 2160 | 92 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 2.56 |
| 1965–66 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 27 | 1521 | 80 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 3.16 |
| 1966–67 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 28 | 1409 | 66 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2.81 |
| 1967–68 | Los Angeles Kings Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League... |
NHL | 36 | 1936 | 99 | 11 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 3.07 |
| 1968–69 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 13 | 641 | 28 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2.62 |
| 1969–70 | New York Rangers New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the... |
NHL | 8 | 412 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2.91 |
| NHL totals | 971 | 57,228 | 2401 | 447 | 330 | 172 | 103 | 2.52 | ||
Playoffs
| Season | Team | League | GP | Min | GA | W | L | T | SO | GAA Goals against average Goals Against Average is a statistic used in ice hockey, water polo, lacrosse, and soccer that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender.... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945-46 | Winnipeg Monarchs | MJHL | 2 | 120 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
| 1946-47 | Galt Red Wings | OHA-Jr. | 2 | 125 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.32 |
| 1947-48 | Omaha Knights | USHL | 3 | 180 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 |
| 1948-49 | Indianapolis Capitals | AHL | 2 | 120 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 |
| 1949-50 | Indianapolis Capitals | AHL | 8 | 480 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
| 1950-51 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 6 | 463 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1.68 |
| 1951-52 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 8 | 480 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.63 |
| 1952-53 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 6 | 372 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3.39 |
| 1953-54 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 12 | 751 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1.60 |
| 1954-55 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 11 | 660 | 26 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2.36 |
| 1957-58 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 4 | 252 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4.52 |
| 1959-60 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 6 | 405 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.96 |
| 1960-61 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 8 | 465 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2.32 |
| 1962-63 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 11 | 660 | 35 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3.18 |
| 1963-64 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 13 | 677 | 31 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2.75 |
| 1964-65 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 1 | 60 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 |
| 1965-66 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 2 | 120 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 |
| 1966-67 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 10 | 565 | 25 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.65 |
| 1967-68 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 5 | 280 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3.86 |
| 1969-70 | New York Rangers | NHL | 3 | 80 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 |
| NHL totals | 106 | 6290 | 266 | 54 | 48 | 0 | 12 | 2.54 | ||
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See also
- List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career
- All-time regular season NHL shutouts
- ShutoutShutoutIn team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
- GoaltenderGoaltenderIn ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...
External links
- Terry Sawchuk's biography at Canadian Sports Hall of Fame
- Terry Sawchuk’s biography at Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
- Terry Sawchuk's biography at Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
- Picture of Terry Sawchuk's Name on the 1952 and 1954 Stanley Cup Plaques
- http://redwingslegends.blogspot.com/2006/11/terry-sawchuk.html
- Terry Sawchuk's Grave