John "Goose" McCormack

Though long-necked Johnny "Goose" McCormack was a scoring sensation with the junior leagues with the St Michaels Majors and in the Ontario senior leagues with the Toronto Marlies, he was known as a defensive player extraordinaire at the NHL level.

McCormack had trouble breaking into a regular role with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was with the Leafs for 4 seasons, but only played regularly in two of those, and then he only played enough to score no more than 6 goals in a season.

In 1951, after earning a Stanley Cup with the Leafs, Toronto sold McCormack's hockey rights to Montreal. The story behind his departure from Toronto is interesting. He had schedule a marriage during the hockey season. He apparently got his girlfriend pregnant, thus making an off-season marriage impossible due to a lack of time. Leafs boss Conn Smythe was so enraged when he found out that he demoted McCormack to the minor leagues before eventually trading him to the Canadiens, never to play for the Leafs again.

He would go onto be a key defensive specialist in Montreal. In his first year he scored only twice, while in 1952-53 he only had one goal in 59 games. But he was a key player in the Stanley Cup finals as the Habs defeated the Red Wings. Habs coach Dick Irvin had Goose and Bert Olmstead on the ice any time the great Gordie Howe was out there. Their job was to shadow Howe, and never leave him unattended, even if the play was in deep in the opposite end from where Howe was. Goose and Olmstead did a great job as the Habs won the Cup.

Ironically, Goose was sent to the minors during the 1953-54 season. It was ironic because Goose had 5 goals for Montreal that season, 3 more than he scored in the previous two years with Montreal. He also had a career high 15 points in one season.

The Habs felt McCormack was replaceable in the summer of 1954, and exposed him in the Intra League draft. John was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks. He played one season with Chicago, scoring 5 goals and 12 points.

After just one season with Chicago, McCormack was included in a huge trade which saw himself, Dave Creighton, Gord Hollingworth and Jerry Toppazzini go to Detroit for Tony Leswick, Glen Skov, Johnny Wilson and Benny Woit. However McCormack never played with the Wings. He spent the 1955-56 season, his last in pro hockey, with the WHL's Edmonton Flyers.

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Rudy Migay

Rudy Migay was a spectacular player at the minor league level, but primarily a defensive player with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was best known as a penalty killer along with usual partner Ron Stewart.

The Fort William, Ontario native made quite a name for himself at the junior and AHL levels as a playmaking center. He was adoringly nicknamed "Toy Terrier" because of puny size (he stood just 5'6" and 150 pounds) combined with his tenacious style of play.

However the Leafs were a powerful team in the late 1940s, especially at center ice. Names like Max Bentley and Teeder Kennedy made it next to impossible to get much ice time. Migay was resigned to play with the Pittsburgh Hornets for 4 years before finally cracking the Leafs lineup.

Needless to say, Migay was definitely excited to join the Leafs, although he had to reinvent his game. It took him nearly three years to score as many points as he did in his last year of junior. Migay was content to play in a checking role for nearly 6 complete seasons with the Maple Leafs.

By the end of the 1957-58 season Migay's days in Toronto were coming to a close. He had finished the year in the minor leagues, and aside from the 20 more big league games, he wound up his career in the minor leagues both as player and as a playing coach.

It was a bitter ending for Migay, who felt he could have played at the NHL level over those final years of his career.

"I thought I might have a chance at coming back. I was hoping for a trade," said Migay, who along with Stan Mikita and Elmer Vasko was one of the few players of Slovak descent in the NHL's younger years.

The trade never materialized, of course. It was a different time back in the 1950s and 1960s. Teams could easily bury a player in the minor leagues and hope that the exiled players would tear up the minor leagues and possibly command more from in a trade. Migay held up his part of the deal - he went down without complaint and worked his butt off - scoring 82 points in just 51 games and shared the AHL's Most Valuable Player award (along with Bill Hicke)

Migay was never far from the game after he hung up the blades. While he operated a fuel business for a short period of time, he ultimately was employed in hockey for much of his adult life. He coached at the AHL and CHL levels before becoming a long time scout with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres.

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