On This Date in Sports February 1, 1970: Sawchuk's Swan Song

In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com

Playing with the New York Rangers, Terry Sawchuk earns the final win and the final shutout of his career. The Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-0 at Madison Square Garden.  It is the 445th win and the 103rd shutout for Terry Sawchuk, which was most among goalies in the original-six era. Sawchuk would be killed in an altercation with teammate Ron Stewart four months later. 

Terry Sawchuk was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on December 28, 1929. The son of an immigrant from what is now Ukraine suffered a serious injury playing rugby at the age of 12. The injury left his left arm with limited mobility. Eventually, Sawchuk began playing hockey and learned how to play goalie, using second-hand equipment.     

Terry Sawchuk signed a contract with the Detroit Red Wings in 1947. Three years later, he made his NHL debut when Harry Lumley was injured during the 1949/50 season. After Lumley was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks, Sawchuk got his chance to start for Detroit and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 1951. He helped the Red Wings win the Stanley Cups in his first five seasons. 

After his success in Detroit, the Red Wings traded Terry Sawchuk to the Boston Bruins in 1955. Sawchuk struggled with illness and depression in Boston and was labeled a quitter. After two years, he returned to the Red Wings and began his rebound. After seven seasons in Detroit, Terry Sawchuk was placed on waivers in favor of Roger Crozier, a young goalie who took over for the Red Wings. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs picked up Terry Sawchuk in 1964. Over the next three seasons, he shared the goaltending duties with Johnny Bower in Toronto. In 1967, Terry Sawchuk again lifted the Stanley Cup, stopping 40 shots as the Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 in Game 6 of the 1967 Stanley Cup Finals. 

It was the end of the original-six era, and expansion was coming to the NHL. This led Terry Sawchuk to be left exposed for the expansion draft where the Los Angeles Kings picked him. After one season in Los Angeles, Sawchuk returned to the Red Wings. After one season in Detroit, he moved on to the New York Rangers in 1969. In his one season in New York, Sawchuk saw limited action behind Ed Giacomin.

While he moved around in his later years, Terry Sawchuk’s personal life was also unstable, and he had a mistress and got a divorce from his wife of 16 years. Sawchuk had a worsening alcohol problem and verbally and physically abused his wife. 

After the 1969/70 season, Terry Sawchuk got into a fight with Ron Stewart, a teammate on the Rangers, over expenses at a house they rented on Long Island. Both players were drunk, but Sawchuk was the worse for wear, suffering several internal injuries. The injuries would lead to Sawchuk’s death on May 31, 1970, at the age of 40. Ron Stewart would not be charged in Terry Sawchuk’s death as a grand jury ruled the death to be accidental.