Darryl
Glen Sittler was
born Sept. 18, 1950 in
Kitchener, Ont.
Growing up, his favourite team was
the Montreal Canadiens and his idol was
Jean Beliveau, whom Sittler would
play against in his rookie NHL season. As a
junior, he played with the
London Knights alongside
future Leaf teammates
Dave Hutchison and
Dan Maloney. The Leafs took Sittler with their first
pick in the 1970 draft and immediately showed
big plans for him by assigning him sweater #27, which had been worn by another of his idols,
Frank Mahovlich. Sittler struggled in his
early years with the Leafs but he was still
happy for the
chance to be surrounded by a steady
cast of
veterans like Norm Ullman, Dave Keon, and
Bob Baun, who would teach him
all about playing in the NHL and taking pride in wearing the
Maple Leaf uniform. Their presence served him well for the
time when he would eventually take on a
leadership role with the team. That moment came in the
summer of 1975 when Sittler was chosen to replace Dave Keon as the captain of the Leafs. Sittler knew he had a tough
job and had some large
shoes to fill but he was detrmined to succeed and make the fans proud. From then on, he was the
undisputed leader of the team on and off the
ice. On the ice, he
set numerous team
records including most career goals and points, and he became the first Leaf to
score 100 points in. His proudest moment was defeating the
New York Islanders in the playoffs in 1978 in what was a thrilling series. Individually, he will
best be remembered for a
trio of memorable
games during 1976. On Feb. 7, 1976, he set an NHL
record vs the
Boston Bruins by scoring 10 points in
one game on 6 goals and 4 assists, a record which even
Wayne Gretzky and
mario lemieux in their
prime could not
match. That same season in the playoffs, he tied another record by scoring 5 goals in one game vs the
Philadelphia Flyers. He continued his
good fortune in the first
Canada Cup in 1976 when his goal in OT vs Czechoslovakia gave Canada the series as well as world
hockey supremacy.
; "DARRYL SITTLER")
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