Gary Leeman

Gary Leeman
Gary Leeman
	Leeman in 2008
Born	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

1983 — WHL First All-Star Team
1993 — Stanley Cup championship (Montreal)
1989 — Played in NHL All Star Game (Toronto)

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

^ "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.
^ "Flames, Toronto swap 10 players". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. January 3, 1992. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
^ Wilson, Kent (February 8, 2011). "WORST TRADES IN FLAMES HISTORY". Retrieved 12 August 2013.
^ Selley, Chris (April 4, 2008). "On second thought..." Maclean's. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.