Gerry James
Feb. 13 (age 89)
James played one game for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1954-55 before joining the organization full time and had 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) in 149 NHL games. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1981, joining his father, 1964 inductee Eddie “Dynamite” James. Gerry played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the age of 17 and had more than 1,000 rushing yards in 1955 and ’57. He was with the Blue Bombers from 1952 to 1964 and the Maple Leafs between 1955 and 1960. James rejoined the Maple Leafs after winning the 1959 Grey Cup championship for their final 44 games of the 1959-60 season and their run to the Stanley Cup Final, a four-game loss to the Montreal Canadiens. He is the only athlete to play in the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup Final in the same season.
Paul D’Amato
Feb. 20 (age 75)
The actor was best known for playing Tim “Dr. Hook” McCracken in the 1977 movie “Slap Shot” starring Paul Newman. D’Amato portrayed the “coach and chief punk” of the Syracuse Bulldogs of the fictional Federal Hockey League, who was based on John Byrne’s rendition of the comic book character, Wolverine.
Jean-Guy Talbot
Feb. 23 (age 91)
The dependable, stay-at-home defenseman is a seven-time Stanley Cup winner with the Canadiens and one of 12 players who won the Cup in five consecutive seasons from 1956-60. Talbot started his NHL career with Montreal, won the Cup twice more in 1965 and 1966, and played for the Minnesota North Stars, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres. He retired from the NHL after 57 games with Buffalo in 1970-71, finishing with 285 points (43 goals, 242 assists) in 1,066 games over 17 seasons. Talbot coached the Blues from 1972-74 and the New York Rangers in 1977-78 before settling in Trois-Rivieres, about 85 miles northeast of Montreal.
Kenneth Mitchell
Feb. 24 (age 49)
The actor and Toronto native was cast in the 2004 film “Miracle” as Ralph Cox, a forward who was the last player cut from the United States hockey team that won gold in 1980. Mitchell also appeared in the television drama “Jericho” and played three recurring Klingon characters in “Star Trek: Discovery.” He revealed in February 2020 a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Tim Ecclestone
March 2 (age 76)
The forward was an original member of the Blues and acquired in a trade with the Rangers following the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft. Ecclestone helped the Blues reach the Stanley Cup Final in their first three seasons, getting swept by the Canadiens twice and the Bruins in 1970. He was traded with forward Red Berenson to the Red Wings for forwards Wayne Connelly and Garry Unger on Feb. 6, 1971, finished that season with an NHL career-high 19 goals and 53 points in 74 games and scored 18 goals in each of his next two seasons with the Red Wings while equaling his career high in points in 1971-72. The 1971 NHL All-Star had 359 points (126 goals, 233 assists) in 692 regular-season games for the Blues, Red Wings, Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames and 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 48 playoff games. He retired following the 1977-78 season and remained in the Atlanta area as part owner of a sports bar.
Dr. Francis Fontaine
March 8 (age 50)
Dr. Fontaine specialized in the treatment of elite athletes, including members of the Canadiens, and worked closely with many Olympic athletes. He was also medical director, consultant in performance medicine for the Cirque du Soleil Group since August 2019. Dr. Fontaine held a doctorate in medicine from the University of Montreal in 2003 and was the first in Quebec to practice the Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) method that aims to treat tendon, joint or ligament injuries. He was a doctor at the Winter Olympics in 2010, 2018 and 2022, and medical director of the Yvon Michel Group from 2008 to 2018.
Konstantin Koltsov
March 18 (age 42)
The forward was selected by the Penguins with the No. 18 pick of the 1999 NHL Draft. Koltsov played 144 NHL games for Pittsburgh from 2003-06, including all 82 games in 2003-04, and had 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists). He was teammates with Mario Lemieux for all three of his seasons and current Penguins captain Sidney Crosby during the latter’s rookie season in 2005-06. Koltsov played for Belarus at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, where they finished fourth, and at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. After playing his final game for the Penguins in 2006, he played 10 seasons in the Russian Super League and Kontinental Hockey League for Salavat Yulaev Ufa, Atlant Mytishchi, Ak Bars Kazan and Dinamo Minsk before retiring in 2016.
Chris Simon
March 18 (age 52)
The forward was chosen by the Flyers in the second round (No. 25) of the 1990 NHL Draft and had 305 points (144 goals, 161 assists) in 782 regular-season games over 15 seasons for the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, Blackhawks, Rangers, Calgary Flames, New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild. Simon had 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in 75 playoff games and helped the Avalanche win the Cup in 1996. He also reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Capitals in 1998 and Flames in 2004. He last played in the NHL for the Wild in 2007-08 before joining the KHL, where he was a two-time All-Star from 2008-13.
Paul Masnick
March 23 (age 92)
The forward was the oldest surviving member of a Canadiens championship team. Masnick played for the 1953 Stanley Cup winners and had 59 points (18 goals, 41 assists) in 232 NHL games for Montreal, Chicago and Toronto. He had nine points (four goals, five assists) in 33 postseason games, including an overtime goal in Game 6 of the 1951 Semifinal in Boston. The goal forced Game 7 in Montreal that the Canadiens would win before they were swept in the Final by the Red Wings.
Dave Forbes
April 1 (age 75)
The undrafted forward played 362 games for the Bruins and Capitals from 1973-78 and Cincinnati of the World Hockey Association between 1978-79. Forbes had NHL career highs of 18 goals and 30 points in 1974-75, played for Boston as a rookie in the 1974 Stanley Cup Final and again in 1977 before he was claimed by Washington in the NHL Waiver Draft on Oct. 10 of that year.
Helen Cummine
April 10 (age 90)
Cummine’s death in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, closed a chapter in the family life of Hockey Hall of Famer Gordie Howe. She was the youngest and last surviving sibling of the late Mr. Hockey’s eight brothers and sisters. Helen and Gordie were last together in February 2015, Howe the guest of honor at the 55th annual Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner in Saskatoon. “She was a special lady, the last of the Howes,” Darcy Bruce told NHL.com columnist Dave Stubbs of her late mother.
Glen Dirk
April 17 (age 85)
The 2023-24 season was Dirk’s 29th as an amateur scout for the New Jersey Devils. He began his NHL scouting career with the Capitals before joining the Devils during the 1994-95 season and helping build the teams that won the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003. Born in Loon Lake, Saskatchewan, “Dirky” devoted his life to scouting for more than 40 years beginning with Regina of the Western Hockey League in 1983. One of his most famous stories was watching a young Scott Niedermayer play in Kamloops and recommending to the Devils that he saw something special on the ice. Niedermayer became a four-time Cup-winning defenseman (Devils, Anaheim Ducks), a 2013 Hall of Fame inductee and named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in 2017.
Wally Harris
April 18 (age 88)
A former NHL referee who in retirement became the League’s first director of officials and subsequently an influential, highly respected supervisor of game crews. Harris refereed 953 regular-season games and another 85 in the playoffs between 1966-83, including Stanley Cup Final series in 1973, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1982 and 1983. He also officiated two NHL All-Star Games, the League’s 28th in 1975 at the Montreal Forum and 34th in 1982 at the Capital Center in Landover, Maryland.
Ed Chadwick
April 23 (age 90)
Played 140 consecutive games as goalie for the Maple Leafs and is the last at the position in team history to play every game in a season. Chadwick was 57-92 with 35 ties, a 2.94 GAA, .901 save percentage and 14 shutouts in six seasons for Toronto and Boston. His NHL career began in 1955-56, when he played five games as a replacement for an injured Harry Lumley. After retiring as a player, Chadwick became a scout for the Oilers. His name is on the Stanley Cup with Edmonton’s 1985, 1987 and 1990 championship teams.
Al Shaver
April 24 (age 96)
A member of the media section at the Hall of Fame and the longtime “Voice of Hockey” in Minnesota, Shaver was the 1993 recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in recognition of those in radio and television who made outstanding contributions to their profession and hockey as selected by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association. He is also a member of the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame who became the radio voice of the North Stars in 1967 and held the position until the franchise relocated to Dallas in 1993. He went on to broadcast men’s hockey at the University of Minnesota until retiring in 1996 after 48 years in broadcasting. He is a 10-time Minnesota Sportscaster of the Year and a 2003 inductee into the Pavek Museum of public broadcasting whose son, Wally, is the voice of the Golden Gophers hockey program.
Bob Cole
April 24 (age 90)
The 1996 Hall of Fame inductee was the voice of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC for five decades. Cole’s broadcasting career began with VOCM radio in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and then CBC Radio in 1969. He moved to television in 1973, when Hockey Night in Canada expanded coverage, and often called Maple Leafs games from 1980 to 2008. The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winner was beloved by fans for his trademark call of “Oh baby!” He was the play-by-play announcer for the 1972 Summit Series that ended with Paul Henderson’s goal in Game 8 to give Canada the win against the Soviet Union, and the 2002 Olympics when Canada defeated the United States to win its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years.
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