Terry Sawchuk

Terry Sawchuk
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1971
Date of birth	December 28, 1929
place of birth	Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada
date of death	May 31, 1970
Place of death	New York City , New York , USA
Nickname	Ukey
size	180 cm
Weight	86 kg
position	goalkeeper
number	#1
Catch hand	Left
Career stations
1945-1946	Winnipeg Monarchs
1946-1947	Galt Red Wings
1947-1948	Omaha Knights
1948-1950	Indianapolis Capitals
1950-1955	Detroit Red Wings
1955-1957	Boston Bruins
1957-1964	Detroit Red Wings
1964-1967	Toronto Maple Leafs
1967-1968	Los Angeles Kings
1968-1969	Detroit Red Wings
1969-1970	New York Rangers

Terrance Gordon "Ukey" Sawchuk (born December 28, 1929 in Winnipeg , Manitoba , † May 31, 1970 in New York City , New York , USA ) was a Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper who between 1950 and 1970 for the Detroit Red Wings , Boston Bruins , Toronto Maple Leafs , Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers played in the National Hockey League . Sawchuk, who won the Stanley Cup four times in the course of his career and was awarded the Vezina Trophy as best goalkeeper just as often , was considered the best goalkeeper of his time and one of the best ever.

Career

Sawchuk began playing as a center at a young age but was repurposed as a goalkeeper as he grew up. He was nicknamed Ukey because of his Ukrainian descent. As a result of a sports accident during his childhood, his right arm was slightly shorter than his left and restricted mobility for the entire course of his career. At the age of 14, the Detroit Red Wings from the National Hockey League became aware of the goalkeeping talent. After signing an amateur contract, they let him gain his first experience in the lower-tier leagues before giving him a professional contract in 1947 at the age of 18.

Sawchuk's number 1 was banned from the Detroit Red Wings

For the 1950/51 season Sawchuk moved to the NHL and came as a rookie in 70 games to 44 wins and a goalscoring average of 1.99. He also got eleven shutouts . In the following season 1951/52 he came again to 44 wins in 70 games. His goal average was 1.9. He also had twelve shutouts. Overall, he had at least 40 wins three times and over 30 wins five times in a row. He also had a goal under two five times in a row. In the first six seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, he came to 57 shutouts. There were also nine shutouts in the play-offs . In total, he had 103 shutouts in his NHL career.

In the summer of 1955, Sawchuk left the Red Wings and joined the Boston Bruins . He played for these two years before ending his career due to numerous injuries and illnesses. After Detroit brought him back in a transfer, however, he played another seven years for the Wings in the NHL. This was followed by three years with the Toronto Maple Leafs until 1967, with which he won his last of four Stanley Cups . He was then selected in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft by the Los Angeles Kings , for whom he ran up for a year as well as the Detroit Red Wings and ultimately the New York Rangers again . Until 1962 he played without a mask. By then, he had already had numerous fractures and concussions. In total, his face and head were sewn with 400 stitches.

After an argument with his teammate Ron Stewart at the end of the 1969/70 season , the goalkeeper, who had acquired US citizenship in 1959, was hospitalized and succumbed to his a few weeks later, on May 31, 1970, at the age of 40 serious internal injuries. Sawchuk won 501 NHL games during his career and posted 115 shutouts . He set records in these categories for many years. After his death, he was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1971 and honored his contributions to ice hockey in the United States with the Lester Patrick Trophy .

Achievements and Awards

1948 USHL Rookie of the Year 1948 USHL Second All-Star Team 1949 Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award 1950 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1950 Calder Cup win with the Indianapolis Capitals 1950 AHL First All-Star Team 1951 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1951 NHL First All-Star Team 1951 Calder Memorial Trophy 1952 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1952 Stanley Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings 1952 Vezina Trophy 1952 NHL First All-Star Team 1953 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1953 Vezina Trophy 1953 NHL First All-Star Team 1954 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1954 Stanley Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings

1954 NHL Second All-Star Team 1955 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1955 Stanley Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings 1955 Vezina Trophy 1955 NHL Second All-Star Team 1956 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1959 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1959 NHL Second All-Star Team 1963 NHL Second All-Star Team 1963 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1964 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1965 Vezina Trophy 1967 Stanley Cup win with the Toronto Maple Leafs 1968 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game 1971 Lester Patrick Trophy 1971 inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame 1975 Induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Victories	Defeats	draw	Minutes	GT	Shutouts	GTS
Regular season	21st	971	447	330	172	57194	2389	103	2.51
Playoffs	15th	106	54	48	-	6290	266	12	2.54

( Legend for the goalkeeper statistics: GP or Sp = total games; W or S = wins; L or N = defeats; T or U or OT = draws or overtime or shootout defeats; min. = Minutes; SOG or SaT = shots on goal; GA or GT = goals conceded; SO = shutouts ; GAA or GTS = goals conceded ; Sv% or SVS% = catch quota ; EN = empty net goal ; ¹  play-downs / relegation ; italics : statistics not complete)

Web links

Commons : Terry Sawchuk  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Terry Sawchuk in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
• Terry Sawchuk at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Terry Sawchuk in the database of hockey-reference.com (English)
• Terry Sawchuk at hockeygoalies.org