Province of Manitoba » Culture Heritage, Tourism and Sport » Historic Resources » People, Places and Events » Manitobans Who Made a Difference » Difference Makers » Terrence "Terry" Gordon Sawchuk

Manitobans Who Made a Difference

(Photo source: David Dupuis, Sawchuk: The Troubles and Triumphs of the World's Greatest Goalie. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing Company Limited, 1998, between pp. 72-73).

Terry Sawchuk, of Ukrainian-Canadian descent, was born in Winnipeg. He first put on skates at age four, and developed a love for the game of hockey, playing with his older brother Michael (Mitch), whom he idolized. Tragedy struck the ten year-old Sawchuk when Mitch died of a heart attack at the age of seventeen. To consol himself, Sawchuk turned to sports, especially hockey. At age 12, during a pick-up football game, however, he injured his right elbow, but fearing punishment, hid the injury from his family. Shortly thereafter, he reinjured and dislocated the elbow when he fell off a rudimentary skateboard onto the pavement. As a result, throughout his career, Sawchuk would be unable to bend his arm, and floating bone chips would constantly plague him. Nevertheless, he learned to adapt.

Sawchuk's ability did not go unnoticed. When he was only fourteen, he attracted the eye of a local scout for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Sawchuk was a keen student of the game and always learned from his experiences. He developed a unique crouch to better handle screen shots, a style never before encountered, as most goalies of the day stood straight up. After playing junior hockey in Winnipeg, in 1946 Sawchuk played in Galt, Ontario, for a team that was affiliated with the Red Wings organization. The following year, he returned to Winnipeg where he played baseball. Sawchuk was so talented at baseball, that he attracted professional scouts from the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cleveland Indians. His first love, however, was hockey.

In 1947, at age seventeen, Sawchuk signed his first professional hockey contract with Omaha, a farm team for Detroit. His acrobatic and fearless play, and superb reflexes, excited all who watched him, and he was named rookie of the year, earning a promotion to Indianapolis to play in the American Hockey League, a step away from the NHL. In 1949, his first year with the team, he was again named rookie of the year. In 1951, Detroit, in a major trade, moved its starting goalie, and Sawchuk received his chance to play in the NHL. He won the Calder Trophy, awarded for the top rookie in the league, and became the first player to win the rookie of the year award in three different leagues, all in a four-year span. In Sawchuk's first five years with the Red Wings, he won the Vézina Trophy (for fewest goals allowed) three times, recorded 56 shutouts, and allowed less than two goals per game.

Physical and psychological strains, though, damaged Sawchuk's health and his career. Although he was traded later in his career, Sawchuk regained his former glory with the Toronto Maple Leafs, sharing the Vézina in 1965 and helping to win a Stanley Cup championship in 1967 with his brilliant play. Tragedy struck three years later when Sawchuk died of injuries suffered accidentally in a scuffle with teammate Ron Stewart.

Although Sawchuk was a man of many contrasts, he is considered by many to be the greatest goalie of all time. In 1998, The Hockey News ranked him as ninth among the top 50 NHL players of all time, and the highest goaltender on the list. As well as the Calder Trophy, Sawchuk won four Vézina trophies, one Hart Trophy (for most valuable player in the league), and four Stanley Cups, played 971 regular season games, had a lifetime goals-against average of 2.52 per game, and was named to the NHL All-Star team seven times. His most incredible statistic, however, is 103 regular season shutouts, considered to be one of the most unbreakable records in sports. A member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, Sawchuk is commemorated by a hockey arena named after him in Winnipeg. His jersey and number "1" were retired by the Detroit Red Wings on March 6, 1994. Sawchuk was one of six NHL stars featured in a Canada Post hockey stamp series issued in 2001.