Johnny McCreedy

John McCreedy only played two seasons in the National Hockey League. But both times he helped the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Detroit Red Wings in epic 7 game showdowns.

The first came in 1942. That was the magical year when Toronto erased a 3-0 series deficit to win four games in a row and steal the Stanley Cup right out of the hands of the Red Wings.

McCreedy remained in Toronto the next two seasons, but served with the Royal Canadian Air Force rather than the Maple Leafs. But he returned to the Leafs in the 1944-45 season, again helping the Leafs defeat the Wings for the Stanley Cup.

McCreedy hung up his blades after that championship and returned to University.

He had dropped out of school and left his native Winnipeg after winning the Memorial Cup in 1937. He moved to Trail, British Columbia. He made a good living there for two seasons, working for Cominco and playing for the about-to-be famous Smoke Eaters. Not only did they win the Allan Cup in 1939 as Canada's amateur champs, but they represented the nation at the 1939 World Championships, winning gold before touring the continent.

McCreedy headed to the mining town of Kirkland Lake, where the Blue Devils won the Allan Cup in 1940. Due to the World War the World Hockey Championships were cancelled, so McCreedy never had a chance to return to Europe.

The following year McCreedy moved to Sydney, Nova Scotia and led the Millionaires hockey team right back to the Allan Cup finals, only to come up short to the Regina Rangers.

That's a pretty amazing record - two Stanley Cups, two Allan Cups, 1 Memorial Cup and 1 World Championship all in a span of 8 seasons!

By the way, Mr. McCreedy earned his bachelor of science in mining and joined nickel giant INCO in 1949. He stayed with the company and became Vice Chairman in 1979.

Interestingly, McCreedy played a significant role the creation of one of hockey's most cherished trophies. When the Canada Cup tournament became a reality starting in 1976, McCreedy had INCO finance the famous half maple leaf trophy. Interestingly the original trophy was made of solid nickel, weighed 125 pounds and cost $50,000 to make! INCO made a much lighter, nickel plated trophy for the subsequent tournaments.