Terrance Richard Duff

Duff, Terrance Richard

Terrance Richard "Dick" Duff, hockey player, coach (b at Kirkland Lake, Ont, 18 Feb 1936). Dick Duff had a distinguished career in the NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE as both a player and coach. Though he took an early interest in hockey as a young boy simply playing with his friends, Duff excelled in the sport and chose to pursue it as a means of furthering his education, moving to Toronto to attend St Michael's College. He played with the college's team, the Majors, ultimately leading them in scoring during his second year and joined the team's parent hockey club, the TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS, in 1955. That year he also helped the Majors to an outstanding Memorial Cup victory against the Regina Pats.

Duff officially joined the Leafs for the 1955-56 season during a time when the team was rebuilding in an attempt to capture its former glory. He factored favourably in that process, becoming one of the team's top scorers and helping it to a long-awaited STANLEY CUP victory in 1962, its first in 11 years. Though he had spent most of the season recovering from a broken ankle, Duff had the distinction of scoring the winning goal. The Leafs won the Cup again in 1963, and Duff set a league record by scoring 2 goals in the first minute and 8 seconds of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals.

Duff was traded to the New York Rangers in 1964, but his interest in the team, and thus his time with them, was short-lived. He was traded again in 1964, this time to the MONTREAL CANADIENS, in a move that revitalized his passion for the game. Duff brought both experience and exceptional skills as a defensive forward to the Canadiens, helping the team to 4 Stanley Cup championships in 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969. He was sold to the Los Angeles Kings in 1970, but his time with the team was again short. He joined the Buffalo Sabres later that year, choosing to retire 8 games into the 1971-72 season. Duff returned to hockey as a Leafs coach for the 1979-80 season, and as assistant coach in 1980-81.

Dick Duff amassed 283 goals and 289 assists for a career total of 572 points in 1030 regular season games, and he earned a total of 79 points in 114 playoff games. In all, he was named to 7 All-Star teams in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and he won 6 Stanley Cups during his time with the Leafs and Canadiens. Duff was inducted into the HOCKEY HALL OF FAME in 2006.