Former NHL All-Star Tom Lysiak has actually died of leukemia at the age of 63.
Lysiak’s daughter, Jessie Lysiak Braun, confirmed on Twitter that he died Monday.
He played 13 NHL seasons along with the Atlanta Flames and Chicago Blackhawks, placing up 292 objectives and 551 helps in 919 occupation games. Lysiak earned the All-Star Game in 1975, 1976 and 1977.
In the process, Lysiak additionally earned a fan forever from Ed Olczyk, that idolized the focus from Higher Prairie, Alberta, while growing up in Chicago. Olczyk’s friend sent a letter to Lysiak once they were 14 saying the aspiring pro hockey gamer wanted to be his teammate someday, and Lysiak responded along with a signed picture.
“On that picture it says: ‘To Eddie, chance someday we can easily play together. Finest wishes, Tommy Lysiak,'” Olczyk said Tuesday. “I believed that was adore the greatest point ever. I still have actually that picture on my mantle at home. There’s not a day that I don’t notice it.”
Olczyk went on to play 2 seasons as a teammate of Lysiak’s along with the Blackhawks and showed him, his wife and daughter that photo a couple of years ago. once play-by-play announcer Mike Emrick available his on-air condolences Monday night throughout Game 1 of the Stanley Mug Last to Lysiak’s family, including son-in-law Justin Braun of the San Jose Sharks, Olczyk said it was hard to get hold of through the emotions of the moment.
Braun, that is married to Lysiak’s daughter, is expected to leave the group temporarily after Game 2 in Pittsburgh on Wednesday to attend his father-in-law’s funeral.
“It’s a solid situation. To Justin’s credit, he was company as usual,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer told reporters in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. “You feel for him. He went out there, he battled for us under solid circumstances.”
On the ice, Lysiak was the runner game rookie of the year in 1973-74, and after being dealt to Chicago was the Blackhawks’ best scorer in 1980-81 along with 76 points. Lysiak was offered a 20-game suspension, among the longest in NHL history, for tripping linesman Ron Foyt throughout a 1983 game versus the Hartford Whalers.
During his junior career, Lysiak starred for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Canadian Hockey League, recording 297 factors in 144 games and winning scoring titles in 1972 and 1973. He helped the Tigers to a WCHL title and an appearance at the Memorial Mug in the 1972-73 season.
Tigers President Darrell Maser said in a statement that Lysiak “is certainly considered to be, by several people, the greatest Tiger gamer of Every one of time.”
Olczyk said he was lucky to play along with Lysiak and now-Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter throughout his initial NHL game. Virtually 40 years later, he still thinks highly of Lysiak as a individual and a player.
“He was a terrific mentor, he was a truly great player, a fairly underrated gamer once it came to the passing and the faceoffs and exactly what have actually you,” Olczyk said.
