Maple Leafs legend Ron Ellis dies at 79

Ellis produced a healthy mix of accolades over his career. Before fully breaking into the NHL, the Lindsay, Ontario native won the Memorial Cup with the Toronto Marlboros in 1964. The next season, he would make the jump to the Maple Leafs roster and quickly became an integral part of a Toronto team that was deemed the “Over-the-Hill Gang.”

Ellis and the Leafs went on to win the 1967 Stanley Cup, the franchise’s last championship to date. He would end up playing 15 seasons in his NHL career, all with the Maple Leafs. He initially retired following the 1974-75 season at the age of 30, but came out of retirement to play for Team Canada at the 1977 IIHF World Championship. He ended up scoring nine points in 10 games as Canada finished fourth. His performance led him to return to the Leafs for the 1977-78 campaign.

He hung up his skates for good after being placed on waivers by Leafs general manager George “Punch” Imlach during the 1980-81 season. In 1,034 games, the 5-foot-9 winger scored 332 goals and 308 assists for 640 points, registering 26 points in 70 career playoff games.

Outside of winning the Stanley Cup, arguably Ellis’ greatest hockey moment was playing for Canada in the famous 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. He was on a line with Paul Henderson and Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke for the entire series, though he was not on the ice when Henderson scored the series-winning goal in Game 8. Ellis registered three assists in the series.

Ellis stayed in the game, joining the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993 as a director of public affairs and assistant to the president. He was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in October 2016.