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Terrance Gordon Sawchuk, (b. December 28, 1929,
Winnipeg, Manitoba|Winnipeg, Canada, d. May 31,
1970, New York City|New York, United States) was a
player in the National Hockey League.


Considered by many to be the greatest goaltender
to ever play the game of ice hockey, Terry Sawchuk
grew up in a working class neighborhood, playing
hockey on an outdoor rink. Nicknamed "Ukey" 
because of his Ukraine|Ukrainian ancestry, Sawchuk
began his professional career at age 17, winning
rookie-of-the-year honors in the United States
Hockey League. He won rookie-of-the-year honors
again after being promoted to the Indianapolis
Capitals of the American Hockey League. Called up
to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey
League (NHL) for the 1950-51 season, he won the
Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie, making
him the first player to win the rookie-of-the-year
award in three different professional leagues.

In 1952, Terry Sawchuk led the Detroit Red Wings
to the Stanley Cup in the minimum eight games of
two best-of-seven series during which he recorded
four shutouts and allowed only five goals. In each
of his first five years in the NHL, he led the
league in wins and was named to the All-Star team.
In 1955, he was traded to the Boston Bruins where
he had difficulty adjusting. During the 1956-57
season he retired from the game, succumbing to
severe stress. However, the following year he
returned to play after being traded back to
Detroit. He was traded again in 1964, this time to
the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he won another
Vezina Trophy in 1965 and helped the Leafs win the
1967 Stanley Cup.

Sawchuk's ability to play despite painful
injuries, a valuable asset in the days before
goalies wore protective facemasks, was shown early
in his life. A neglected injury he received while
playing a friendly rugby match when he was 12 was
discovered two years later to have been a broken
arm that had healed poorly, leaving Sawchuk with
one arm two inches shorter than the other. In his
professional hockey career, Sawchuk played for
more than a dozen years without a mask and
received over 400 stitches to his face. 

He struggled with untreated depression, a
condition that often affected his conduct. An
alcohol-induced shoving match with his New York
Rangers teammate Ron Stewart left Sawchuk with
internal injuries that led to his death a few
weeks later. Sawchuk was buried in Mount Hope
Cemetery in Pontiac, Michigan. Stewart was cleared
of any wrongdoing in the incident. 

Terry Sawchuk finished his hockey career with 447
wins, a record that stood for thirty years, and
his career record of 103 shutouts remains
unsurpassed. In 1971 Sawchuk was posthumously
elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame and awarded the
Lester Patrick Trophy for his contribution to
hockey in the United States. In 1997, the book
Shutout: The Legend of Terry Sawchuk by sports
author Brian Kendall, was published. In 2001, he
was honored with his image on a List of people on
stamps of Canada|Canadian postage stamp.