Frank Mahovlich: Highs & Lows of a Hall of Fame Career – Hockey Writers – Hockey History

Few players have lived as remarkable a life as Hall of Famer Frank Mahovlich. He played 1,418 professional games in 22 seasons between the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association (WHA). He was an All-Star in the NHL's “Original 6” city division, played on both sides of the game's biggest rivalry, won six Stanley Cups, and served in the Canadian Senate when his playing days ended.

Big M's legacy begins with the Maple Leafs

Mahovlich was born on Jan. 10, 1938, in Timmins, a small town in northern Ontario. It was evident at an early age that he was a natural at hockey. As a teenager, he started turning heads playing for the Schumacher Lions in the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. The Toronto Maple Leafs signed the young winger and assigned him to their Ontario Hockey League affiliate, the St. Michael's Majors. In the 1956–57 season, his third and final campaign in the minors, he scored 52 goals and 88 points in 49 games while accumulating 122 minutes.

After scoring in three NHL games during the 1956–57 season, Mahovlich became a full-time player for the Maple Leafs in 1957. He scored 20 goals and 36 points in his first full season and surpassed fellow Hall of Famer Bobby Hull. Calder Trophy as the league's best player. This was the first of 16 NHL seasons with at least 20 goals for the “Big M.”

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The 1960-61 season saw Mahovlich go from a good player to a star when he was put on a roster with Red Kelly and Bob Nevin. He led the league in goals for most of the season and has scored 48 goals in the first 56 games. This gave him 14 games to break the record of 50 goals in a single season held by Maurice Richard. However, he failed to score again, and Bernie Geoffrion of the Montreal Canadiens passed him and tied Richard's record. His 48 goals remained the Maple Leafs franchise record until Rick Vaive scored 54 in 1981-82.

After his historic run in 1960-61, Mahovlich led the Maple Leafs in scoring over the next three seasons, all of which ended in Stanley Cup victories. He was part of the fourth tournament in 1967, the last one held in Toronto. In total, he played 720 games for the Maple Leafs, scoring 296 goals and 597 points.

Rocky Road in Toronto Leads to the Motor City

The relationship between the Maple Leafs and Mahovlich has been strained, to say the least. When he was about to be offered a new contract in 1962, he left the team after receiving what he considered a low offer from head coach and general manager Punch Imlach. The Chicago Black Hawks believe they have an agreement with Mahovlich, and owner James D. Norris has already posted a $1,000 deposit of the $1 million he promised to pay. However, the next day, the owner of the Leafs junior team, Conn Smythe, came in, told the Black Hawks there was a misunderstanding, refunded the money, and then gave Mahovlich the contract he wanted.

Fierce fans in Toronto bullied Mahovlich, often booing him at home games, even when the team was winning. They even booed him after the Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1963 because he failed to score in the playoffs. Imlach often mispronounced his name and was a harsh critic when he met with the local media. All this pressure led to Mahovlich checking himself into a Toronto hospital in November 1964 for “chronic fatigue,” where he was diagnosed with severe depression.

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At the start of the 1967-68 season, Mahovlich took himself off the team train to Detroit and checked himself into a hospital after suffering what many described as a nervous breakdown. Milt Dunnell wrote an article in the Toronto Star that called the Leafs forward “a sensitive, easily hurt person.” He returned after missing 11 games, but his time in Toronto was coming to an end.

On March 3, 1968, Mahovlich was traded along with Carl Brewer, Pete Stemkowski, and Garry Unger to the Detroit Red Wings for Doug Barrie, Paul Henderson, Floyd Smith, and Norm Ullman. He had seven goals and 16 points in his first 13 games in Detroit to close the season.

The following season he was inducted into Hall of Famers Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio and scored a career high 49 goals. He followed that up with 38 goals and 70 points in 74 games in 1969-70, his second and final full season in Detroit. He played 198 games for the Red Wings over four seasons, scoring 108 goals and 196 points.

Mahovlich Gets Another Shot at Glory in Montreal

Shortly after Ned Harkness took over as general manager of the Red Wings, he made major changes to his roster. On Jan. 13, 1971, Mahovlich was traded to the Canadiens for Mickey Redmond, Guy Charron, and Bill Collins. He was reunited with his younger brother Peter, with whom he got to play briefly in Detroit.

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Although he had more than a dozen NHL seasons under his belt and was 33 years old when he arrived in Montreal, Mahovlich had his most productive seasons in a Habs jersey. The trade revived him as he scored 17 goals and 41 points in 38 games to close out the 1970-71 season. He had the best postseason game of his career with 14 goals and 27 points in 20 playoff games as the Canadiens won the 1971 Stanley Cup.

Mahovlich scored 43 goals and a career-high 96 points in the 1971-72 season. In the fall of 1972, he was a member of Team Canada in the infamous Summit Series against the Soviet Union. He had a goal and an assist in the six games he played in.

At 35, he scored 38 goals and 93 points in the 1972-73 season. He had nine more goals and 23 points in the playoffs, which culminated in another Canadiens Stanley Cup championship, the sixth and final of Mahovlich's career.

Plenty of Post-NHL Success

After a season with 31 points and 80 points in 1973-74, Mahovlich would be offered a new contract. Instead of staying in Montreal to close out his amazing career, he decided to move on to the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Houston Eros first drafted him in 1972, but traded his rights to the Toronto Toros. With a lucrative contract in hand, Big M is back in the city where his professional career began.

The 36-year-old signed a four-year contract with the Toros and scored 72 goals and 99 points in 148 games over two seasons. The franchise tried to compete with the Maple Leafs, but that was a losing battle. After the 1975-76 season, the team moved to Birmingham, AL, and became the Bulls. He played 89 games over the last two seasons, scoring 17 goals and 44 points. While with the Bulls, he played on the line with Dave Hanson, one of the Hanson Brothers in the classic hockey movie Slap Shot. He tried to make an NHL comeback with the Red Wings but officially retired on Oct. 7, 1979.

Mahovlich was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1981. He was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1997, Hockey News ranked him 26th.^th on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players of All Time. The Maple Leafs retired his number 27 (shared with Darryl Sittler) in 2016. The NHL named him one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in History in 2017.

In 1998, Mahovlich was appointed to the Canadian Senate by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and served as a Liberal Senator until 2013. He served on the Fisheries and Oceans, and National Finance Committees while in the Senate. His interests and special interests included sports, business and nature.

Mahovlich's career saw him play in three decades in two different leagues. He played at the highest level for three of the most storied franchises in hockey history. He reached game highs while coming off some even stronger lows. He was a player who had to deal with a lot of pressure and unfair treatment. Mahovlich should be commended for being one of the first to come forward with his mental health issues long before it became the norm. He served his country on and off the ice with class and dignity, always choosing to take the high road, and his legacy will live on because of it.

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