Larry Hillman obit

Four-time Maple Leafs Cup winner Larry Hillman dies

 

He was not on the list.

Larry Hillman’s life as a Maple Leaf could not have been better timed.

From June of 1960 — when he was claimed off waivers from Boston — to June of ’68 — when he departed to Minnesota in the same fashion — the solid defenceman had his name on four Stanley Cups, and played a huge role in the club’s final championship in 1967.

Family and friends posted that the Kirkland Lake, Ontario, native died late Friday at age 85, though no cause of death was listed. His years in Toronto were preceded by a Cup with Detroit in 1955 and another with Montreal in 1969.

He once took credit for the “Hillman Hex” on the Leafs after a salary dispute with general manager/coach Punch Imlach, which took on a life of its own as Toronto’s title drought reached half a century. But Hillman insisted in recent years he’d lifted it in hopes his former team would win again.

Like many Leafs who were the backbone of the 1960s dynasty, Hillman came from a rugged upbringing in the Northern Ontario. He went by the locker-room monicker ‘Morley’ — one of his middle names.

“A very low-key man, a solid defender, very loyal, the ultimate pro,” Brian Conacher, Hillman’s teammate in ’67, said on Saturday. “Hockey was his life. He was shuffled around by the Leafs (to the farm) a few times and played for so many teams (eight in the NHL in 19 years), you might get the idea he couldn’t keep his job. But he was certainly a special player in our Cup year.”

Leafs forward Ron Ellis called Hillman “a great stay-at-home defenceman” whose work was often overlooked.

“One thing that stands out to me was in the ’67 playoffs, he and (defence partner) Marcel Pronovost were not on the ice for an even-strength goal against,” Ellis said Saturday. “They were a good match — he let Marcel do all the rushing.”

With Imlach using four primary defencemen, that season was considered Hillman’s best as a Leaf as he went through all 12 playoff games against Chicago and Montreal without taking a penalty.

“That was a special time for everyone to be a Leaf,” Ellis said, “to win the last Cup of the Original Six in Canada’s centennial year.”

Hillman moved on to play with Minnesota, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Buffalo. He concluded his career with three years in the World Hockey Association with Cleveland and Winnipeg, later coaching the Jets to the 1978 Avco Cup.

Developing his game in junior with Windsor and Hamilton, the six-foot Hillman broke in with the Red Wings and became the youngest player to get his name on the Cup at 18 years, two months and nine days, which can’t be bettered as current rules require a player to be at least 18 to start a season. Hillman went to Boston, but was demoted in 1959-60, winning the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top defenceman, leading new Leafs’ boss Imlach to acquire his rights.

Relying on more physicality than finesse, as did most blueliners of his day, Hillman could both hit and move the puck quickly. But the Leafs were still a hard team to make with strong rearguards such as Tim Horton, Carl Brewer, Bob Baun and Allan Stanley. In 1967, he played 55 regular season games in a Toronto lineup sprinkled with many players over 30 years old. He was ranked as the 88th best player in franchise history in the 2002 book ‘Maple Leafs Top 100’ by a media panel.

But in the summer of 1967, Hillman requested a $5,000 raise from Imlach to top him up to $20,000 a year. The tight-fisted Imlach refused to go beyond $19,500 and fined Hillman $100 a day while he held out. Though claimed by the North Stars the following year, the loss of $2,400 for staying away three weeks irked Hillman for years and he famously vowed the Leafs would not win another Cup until it was repaid — with interest.

“Imlach was not an easy guy to play for,” Conacher said. “You didn’t respect him as much as fear him.”

Only Hillman, Frank Mahovlich and Mike Walton ever did win another Cup after ’67.

“It would have been a lot cheaper to pay that than signing all those million-dollar players,” Hillman joked of the hex in 2016.

But for the Leafs’ 2017 centennial, club president Brendan Shanahan went to the board of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and had a $2,400 cheque issued — with compound interest — to offer him, a gesture Hillman greatly appreciated.

“I was hoping 40 years was enough,” Hillman told the Sun of the Cup drought in 2008. “It’s harder now to win with 30 teams in the league instead of six. You’re gambling all the time when you often have no cards to start with.

“It was too bad that they broke us up after the last Cup, because a group of us, such as Johnny Bower and Dave Keon, had been there for a long time.”

As a coach, Hillman had a very gifted Jets team that included Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson, Kent Nilsson and Willy Lindstrom, which won 50 regular season games and the 1978 league title, though he was let go before the Jets joined the NHL the next year.

Hillman, who is on a very small list of players to win Cups with three different Original Six teams, ran various outdoors-themed businesses in the north country after his retirement.

Larry’s younger brother Wayne, also a defenceman who played in the NHL and WHA and on teams with Larry, died of cancer in 1990.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

                                Regular season                  Playoffs

Season Team     League GP          G             A             Pts          PIM        GP          G             A             Pts          PIM

1952–53               Windsor Spitfires              OHA       56           2             4             6             39           —           —           —           —                 —

1953–54               Hamilton Tiger Cubs        OHA       58           6             14           20           99           7             0             2             2                 10

1954–55               Hamilton Tiger Cubs        OHA       49           5             20           25           106        3             0             1             1                 9

1954–55               Detroit Red Wings            NHL        6             0             0             0             2             3             0             1             1                 9

1955–56               Detroit Red Wings            NHL        47           0             3             3             53           10           0             1             1                 6

1955–56               Buffalo Bisons    AHL        15           1             3             4             21           —           —           —           —           —

1956–57               Detroit Red Wings            NHL        16           1             2             3             4             —           —           —           —                 —

1956–57               Edmonton Flyers              WHL      46           4             2             6             87           8             0             4             4                 2

1957–58               Boston Bruins    NHL        70           3             19           22           60           11           0             2             2             6

1958–59               Boston Bruins    NHL        55           3             10           13           19           7             0             1             1             0

1959–60               Boston Bruins    NHL        2             0             1             1             2             —           —           —           —           —

1959–60               Providence Reds               AHL        70           12           31           43           159        5             0             1             1                 4

1960–61               Toronto Maple Leafs       NHL        62           3             10           13           59           5             0             0             0                 0

1961–62               Toronto Maple Leafs       NHL        5             0             0             0             4             —           —           —           —                 —

1961–62               Rochester Americans      AHL        26           1             14           15           16           —           —           —           —                 —

1962–63               Toronto Maple Leafs       NHL        5             0             0             0             2             —           —           —           —                 —

1962–63               Springfield Indians           AHL        65           5             23           28           56           —           —           —           —                 —

1963–64               Toronto Maple Leafs       NHL        33           0             4             4             31           11           0             0             0                 2

1963–64               Rochester Americans      AHL        32           1             18           19           48           —           —           —           —                 —

1964–65               Toronto Maple Leafs       NHL        2             0             0             0             2             —           —           —           —                 —

1964–65               Rochester Americans      AHL        71           9             43           52           98           10           3             5             8                 31

1965–66               Toronto Maple Leafs       NHL        48           3             25           28           34           4             1             1             2                 6

1965–66               Rochester Americans      AHL        22           2             20           22           34           —           —           —           —                 —

1966–67               Toronto Maple Leafs       NHL        55           4             19           23           40           12           1             2             3                 6

1966–67               Rochester Americans      AHL        12           1             12           13           16           —           —           —           —                 —

1967–68               Toronto Maple Leafs       NHL        55           3             17           20           13           —           —           —           —                 —

1967–68               Rochester Americans      AHL        6             0             1             1             0             —           —           —           —                 —

1968–69               Minnesota North Stars   NHL        12           1             5             6             0             —           —           —           —                 —

1968–69               Montreal Canadiens        NHL        25           0             5             5             17           1             0             0             0                 0

1969–70               Philadelphia Flyers           NHL        76           5             26           31           73           —           —           —           —                 —

1970–71               Philadelphia Flyers           NHL        73           3             13           16           39           4             0             2             2                 2

1971–72               Los Angeles Kings             NHL        22           1             2             3             11           —           —           —           —                 —

1971–72               Buffalo Sabres   NHL        43           1             11           12           58           —           —           —           —           —

1972–73               Buffalo Sabres   NHL        78           5             24           29           56           6             0             0             0             8

1973–74               Cleveland Crusaders       WHA      44           5             21           26           37           —           —           —           —                 —

1974–75               Cleveland Crusaders       WHA      77           0             16           16           83           5             1             3             4                 8

1975–76               Winnipeg Jets    WHA      71           1             12           13           62           12           0             2             2             32

WHA totals         192        6             49           55           182        17           1             5             6             40

NHL totals           790        36           196        232        579        74           2             9             11           36

Bart Bryant obit

Bart Bryant, who won Memorial and TOUR Championship after turning 40, killed in car accident

 

 He was not on the list.

    Remembering Bart Bryant’s 3 PGA TOUR victories

 

Bart Bryant had to wait nearly two decades to win on the PGA TOUR, enduring injuries and multiple trips to Q-School before handing Tiger Woods the largest defeat of his career.

Bryant had considered quitting the game after a shoulder injury sent him off the TOUR in the early ‘90s but his perseverance paid off with three victories after he turned 40. Two of those wins came in his career year of 2005 when he won two of the TOUR’s biggest events, the TOUR Championship and Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.

Bryant died Tuesday in a car accident at the age of 59. His first wife, Cathy, preceded him in death. She passed away in 2017 from brain cancer, 11 months after her diagnosis.

He is survived by wife Donna, daughters Kristen and Michelle and his stepchildren. His brother, Brad, also is a former TOUR winner.

“The PGA TOUR is saddened by the tragic passing of Bart Bryant and our hearts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “The Bryants have been a part of the PGA TOUR family for over four decades and we are grateful for the impact and legacy he made on our organization and countless communities. Bart will be dearly missed."

Bart Bryant was 41 years old and had just six starts remaining on a major medical extension when he arrived at LaCantera Golf Club in 2004 for the Valero Texas Open. A third-round 60 gave him a three-shot lead over Hunter Mahan, and Bryant maintained that advantage with a 67 on Sunday. The win came in his 187th start on the PGA TOUR.

“One tournament does not make a career,” said Bryant, who was born in Gatesville, Texas, but grew up in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where the Bryant brothers dominated junior and high school golf. “This is just the beginning, that’s what I’d like to think.”

He was right. The next year, Bryant accepted a trophy from Jack Nicklaus, beat two World Golf Hall of Famers, finished in the top 10 on the money list and cracked the top 25 in the world ranking.

Bryant already had won Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament when he arrived at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club in 2005 for his TOUR Championship debut. He started the week with a course-record 62 and held at least a share of the lead after every rounds.

Bryant won by six shots at East Lake to collect the biggest paycheck of his career. Tiger Woods, winner of two majors that year, finished second. It is the furthest back Woods has ever finished in a tournament where he was the runner-up. Woods could drive it 50 yards past Bryant, but the veteran overcame Woods’ power advantage with pinpoint ballstriking, leading the field in both driving accuracy and greens in regulation.

“I certainly don’t put myself in the same category as Retief (Goosen) and Vijay (Singh) and Davis Love and Tiger Woods,” Bryant said. “I mean, these guys are the elite players in the world. … But I have found out that if I’m on top of my game under the right conditions, I definitely can compete with these guys.”

Bryant beat another of the game’s stars, Fred Couples, earlier that year to win the Memorial at Muirfield Village Golf Club. This win required more drama than the one at East Lake. After taking the lead with a birdie on 17, Bryant drove into a hazard on the final hole and had to make a 15-foot par putt to beat Couples by one. Woods tied for third, four shots back.

Bryant’s success in his 40s was the fruit of incredible perseverance, coming 19 years after the preacher’s son turned pro in 1986 out of New Mexico State, where he was a two-time All-American. Bryant graduated Q-School a half-dozen times, the first coming in 1990. He finished 124th on the money list in his rookie year before a shoulder injury derailed his 1992 season. His game got so bad that he considered quitting.

He was off and on the TOUR for the next decade, playing just six full seasons between 1991 and 2003 and cracking the top 125 on the money list just once.

“Things got so bad in the middle ‘90s that I never bothered going to qualifying school,” Bryant said after his win at East Lake. “As long as I was able to feed my family on what I was making on the mini-tour, I was OK.”

When he won the Texas Open, he was the oldest first-time winner on the TOUR in nine years.

Bart’s older brother, Brad, who earned his lone TOUR win at the 1995 Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic, was at the 18th green when Bart won for the first time, making them the 12th set of brothers to win on the PGA TOUR. 

“I think this is bigger for me than when I won,” Brad Bryant said of his brother’s victory. “He has been through so much, and he’s persevered. For our family, this is so big.”

They both won on PGA TOUR Champions, as well. Bart won the DICK’S Sporting Goods Open in both 2013 and 2018, while Brad’s four wins included the 2007 U.S. Senior Open. Bart also paired with Ian Baker-Finch to win the Raphael Division in the 2013 Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf.

After his career year in 2005, Bart Bryant would post just seven more top-10s on TOUR as the injuries that delayed his success quickly took it from him. He did finish runner-up to Jim Furyk at the 2006 RBC Canadian Open and Woods at the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, which was Woods’ fifth consecutive win on TOUR. Woods had to sink a 24-foot birdie putt on the final hole to do it, however.

“I’m lucky to get up there and compete with him every now and then,” Bryant said.

And beat him, the reward for patiently waiting for his opportunity.