Bobby Baun was a professional hockey player with the Toronto Maple Leafs who scored a game-winning goal in the 1964 Stanley Cup finals while skating on a broken ankle.
- Died: August 14, 2023 (Who else died on August 14?)
- Details of death: Died the age of 86.
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Bobby Baun’s legacy
Nicknamed “Boomer,” Baun was a tough-as-nails four-time champion with the Toronto Maple Leafs who built his career on playing hard. He was called up to the Leafs from the minor leagues in the 1956-57 season and remained with the team for the next 11, winning the Stanley Cup four times between 1962 and 1967.
Baun was a hard-hitting player who often remained on the ice while injured. His most iconic play – one of the best known in NHL history – came during game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup finals. Baun was knocked out with a fractured ankle. When the match went into overtime, Baun had his ankle frozen, returned to the ice, and scored the game-winning goal. The Leafs went on to win the series.
Baun’s playing days slowed down in 1967, thanks in part to his advocacy on behalf of other players. He fought for better contracts and held out for a better contract himself, souring his relationship with team general manager Punch Imlach. As a result, Baun got little playing time and the team did not re-sign him. In the 1980s, Baun again battled with the NHL, this time over alleged mismanagement of the league’s pension system. Without much support from other players, he gave up his fight, only for a later audit to reveal that Baun had been right all along: the NHL was not fully paying out pensions that players had earned.
After retirement, Baun devoted himself to farming, selling insurance, and supporting charitable causes, including founding the Bob and Sallie Baun Varsity Scholarship at Ontario Tech University. He received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and is a member of the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
Notable quote
“Your mentality has to be to get out and do the job.”—from a 2014 interview in the Toronto Star
Tributes to Bobby Baun
Full obituary: Toronto Star
