Ron Ellis obit

Ellis dies at 79, won Stanley Cup with Maple Leafs in 1967

5th-leading goal-scorer in Toronto history played 1,034 games with team during 16 NHL seasons 

He was not on the list.

Ron Ellis, who played his entire 16-year NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of their last Stanley Cup championship team in 1967, died at the age of 79.

The forward played 1,034 NHL regular-season games with the Maple Leafs from 1963-81, and had 640 points (332 goals, 308 assists), and 26 points (18 goals, eight assists) in 70 Stanley Cup Playoff games, including three points (two goals, one assist) in 12 games to help Toronto win the Cup in 1967.

He is one of five players to play more than 1,000 games with the Maple Leafs and is among their all-time leaders in goals (fifth), points (seventh), even-strength points (511, fifth), game-winning goals (50, fifth), shots (2,333, fifth) and shooting percentage (14.2 percent, tied for sixth; minimum 1,000 shots).

Ellis scored an NHL career-high 35 goals in 1969-70 and had an NHL career-high 61 points (32 goals, 29 assists) in 1974-75.

He also played for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, which pitted a team of NHL players against the national team of the Soviet Union. Ellis had three assists in the series, won by Canada 4-3 with one tie.

Along with the entire 1967 Maple Leafs team, Ellis was honored in February as the recipient of the 2024 NHL Alumni Association Keith Magnuson Man of the Year Award.

There were seven surviving members of that team, five in attendance: Brian Conacher, Dave Keon, Bob Pulford, Pete Stemkowski and Mike Walton. Ellis and Frank Mahovlich were the two surviving members who were not able to attend.

The award is given to former players who have applied the intangibles of perseverance, commitment and teamwork developed through the game into a successful post-career transition.

Ellis won the Stanley Cup in 1967, and took part in the famed 1972 Summit Series against the Russian National team. After playing, Ellis went into business and later joined the staff of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Ellis died on May 11, 2024, at the age of 79.

Ellis was signed by the Leafs and played junior hockey with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1961–1964. He played on the team that won the Memorial Cup in 1964. Ellis became a full-time Leaf in 1964–65 and played 11 seasons to 1974–75, winning the Stanley Cup in 1967.

Ellis was also a member of Team Canada at the 1972 Summit Series, one of only seven Canadians to play every game in the series, and part of the only line to play together for every game, with centre Bobby Clarke and left winger Paul Henderson.

Ellis retired at age 30 during Leafs training camp in 1975, coming off the most productive season of his career with 61 points. He said he no longer had the desire to play and denied that his decision had anything to do with being passed over as team captain in favour of Darryl Sittler a month earlier.

In 1977, Ellis came out of retirement to play for Canada at the world hockey championships and then decided to resume his NHL career with the Leafs in 1977–78.

Punch Imlach was hired as general manager of the Leafs for the 1979–80 season and didn't feel that Ellis was worth the money he was being paid. He offered to buy out Ellis's contract at the end of the season, but the two couldn't reach an agreement. Despite objections from new coach Mike Nykoluk, Imlach put Ellis on waivers during the 1980–81 season and gave him an ultimatum: retire or be sent to the minor leagues. The 36-year-old Ellis chose to retire. He had played 1,034 career NHL games scoring 332 goals and 308 assists for 640 points.

After his life in hockey, worked as a teacher and in insurance. For six years, Ellis ran his own sporting goods store. In 1993, he joined the Hockey Hall of Fame as a director of public affairs and assistant to the president. As of 2014, Ellis was still director of public affairs for the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

The stresses of life after hockey took their toll. In 1986 a bout with clinical depression began. He would later go public with his story by writing a book with Kevin Shea titled Over The Boards: The Ron Ellis Story, published in 2002. He was a speaker on the importance of diagnosing and treating clinical depression.

On October 17, 2016, Ellis was part of a healthy class inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, where he thanked Jim Gregory as his mentor and coach.