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.
Leeman played for the Notre Dame Hounds Midget AAA 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. 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.
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 1981–82Regina PatsWHL7219416011232240 1982–83Regina PatsWHL632462868851564 1982–83Toronto Maple LeafsNHL—————20000 1983–84Toronto Maple LeafsNHL52481231————— 1984–85St. Catharines SaintsAHL722411————— 1984–85Toronto Maple LeafsNHL535263172————— 1985–86St. Catharines SaintsAHL251513286————— 1985–86Toronto Maple LeafsNHL53923322010210122 1986–87Toronto Maple LeafsNHL8021315266501114 1987–88Toronto Maple LeafsNHL803031616222022 1988–89Toronto Maple LeafsNHL6132437566————— 1989–90Toronto Maple LeafsNHL8051449563533616 1990–91Toronto Maple LeafsNHL5217122939————— 1991–92Toronto Maple LeafsNHL347132044————— 1991–92Calgary FlamesNHL2927927————— 1992–93Calgary FlamesNHL30951410————— 1992–93Montreal CanadiensNHL206121814111232 1993–94Fredericton CanadiensAHL231882616————— 1993–94Montreal CanadiensNHL31411151710000 1994–95Vancouver CanucksNHL102020————— 1995–96HC GherdëinaITA207121959724612 1996–97Utah GrizzliesIHL156172040334 1996–97Worcester IceCatsAHL24971621————— 1996–97St. Louis BluesNHL20110————— 1997–98Hannover ScorpionsDEL3611344512934714 1998–99EHC Biel-BienneCHE II8741110————— 1998–99HC SierreCHE II12130————— 1998–99Hannover ScorpionsDEL1023531420212 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
External links