Gary Leeman

Gary Leeman
Leeman in 2008
Born (1964-02-19) February 19, 1964 (age 60)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Right wing
Shot Right
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Calgary Flames
Montreal Canadiens
Vancouver Canucks
St. Louis Blues
NHL draft 24th overall, 1982
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 1983–1999

Gary Spencer Leeman (born February 19, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player in the NHL. In 1990, he became the second Toronto Maple Leaf player ever to score 50 goals or more in a single NHL season, after Rick Vaive did it in 1981-82.

Playing career

As a youth, Leeman played in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Wexford, Toronto.[1]

Leeman played for the Notre Dame Hounds Junior A team in Wilcox, Saskatchewan and was a standout defenceman for two seasons with the WHL's Regina Pats, where he was voted the league's Top Defenceman and a First Team All-Star.

Leeman was drafted 24th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft as a defenceman, and returned to junior for a season, where he scored 86 points in 63 games.

He also represented Canada at the World Junior Championships twice, in Leningrad and in Sweden.

Leeman converted to a winger in the NHL.[2] He was best known as a speedy, gritty scoring machine and had a 50-goal season to his credit for the Maple Leafs. He formed the "Hound Line" along with Wendel Clark and Russ Courtnall while helping the Leafs come within a game of the semi-finals. Starting in 1986–87, Leeman was a top goal scorer with Toronto and had four straight 20-goal seasons.

After nearly nine seasons in Toronto, Leeman was the key player sent to the Calgary Flames in the January 2, 1992 blockbuster trade that brought Doug Gilmour to Toronto. To date, the ten-player deal is the largest in NHL history and, looking back, is seen as lopsided in favour of Toronto.[3][4]

On January 28, 1993, Leeman was traded from the Flames to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Brian Skrudland. He won a Stanley Cup in Montreal in that season. He later played for the Vancouver Canucks and the St. Louis Blues. He played a total of 667 regular season games in the NHL, scoring 199 goals and 267 assists for 466 points.

Leeman finished his career in Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the Hannover Scorpions. He retired in 1999.

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1981–82 Regina Pats WHL 72 19 41 60 112 3 2 2 4 0
1982–83 Regina Pats WHL 63 24 62 86 88 5 1 5 6 4
1982–83 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL — — — — — 2 0 0 0 0
1983–84 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 52 4 8 12 31 — — — — —
1984–85 St. Catharines Saints AHL 7 2 2 4 11 — — — — —
1984–85 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 53 5 26 31 72 — — — — —
1985–86 St. Catharines Saints AHL 25 15 13 28 6 — — — — —
1985–86 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 53 9 23 32 20 10 2 10 12 2
1986–87 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 21 31 52 66 5 0 1 1 14
1987–88 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 30 31 61 62 2 2 0 2 2
1988–89 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 61 32 43 75 66 — — — — —
1989–90 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 51 44 95 63 5 3 3 6 16
1990–91 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 52 17 12 29 39 — — — — —
1991–92 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 34 7 13 20 44 — — — — —
1991–92 Calgary Flames NHL 29 2 7 9 27 — — — — —
1992–93 Calgary Flames NHL 30 9 5 14 10 — — — — —
1992–93 Montreal Canadiens NHL 20 6 12 18 14 11 1 2 3 2
1993–94 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 23 18 8 26 16 — — — — —
1993–94 Montreal Canadiens NHL 31 4 11 15 17 1 0 0 0 0
1994–95 Vancouver Canucks NHL 10 2 0 2 0 — — — — —
1995–96 HC Gherdëina ITA 20 7 12 19 59 7 2 4 6 12
1996–97 Utah Grizzlies IHL 15 6 1 7 20 4 0 3 3 4
1996–97 Worcester IceCats AHL 24 9 7 16 21 — — — — —
1996–97 St. Louis Blues NHL 2 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
1997–98 Hannover Scorpions DEL 36 11 34 45 12 9 3 4 7 14
1998–99 EHC Biel-Bienne CHE II 8 7 4 11 10 — — — — —
1998–99 HC Sierre CHE II 1 2 1 3 0 — — — — —
1998–99 Hannover Scorpions DEL 10 2 3 5 31 4 2 0 2 12
NHL totals 667 199 267 466 531 36 8 16 24 36

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1983 Canada WJC 7 1 2 3 2
1984 Canada WJC 7 3 8 11 10
Junior totals 14 4 10 14 12

References

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-13.
  2. ^ "Flames, Toronto swap 10 players". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. January 3, 1992. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  3. ^ Wilson, Kent (February 8, 2011). "WORST TRADES IN FLAMES HISTORY". Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  4. ^ Selley, Chris (April 4, 2008). "On second thought..." Maclean's. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.