Ron Ellis, who played his entire 16-year NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of their last Stanley Cup championship team in 1967, died at the age of 79.
The forward played 1,034 NHL regular-season games with the Maple Leafs from 1963-81, and had 640 points (332 goals, 308 assists), and 26 points (18 goals, eight assists) in 70 Stanley Cup Playoff games, including three points (two goals, one assist) in 12 games to help Toronto win the Cup in 1967.
He is one of five players to play more than 1,000 games with the Maple Leafs and is among their all-time leaders in goals (fifth), points (seventh), even-strength points (511, fifth), game-winning goals (50, fifth), shots (2,333, fifth) and shooting percentage (14.2 percent, tied for sixth; minimum 1,000 shots).
Ellis scored an NHL career-high 35 goals in 1969-70 and had an NHL career-high 61 points (32 goals, 29 assists) in 1974-75.
He also played for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, which pitted a team of NHL players against the national team of the Soviet Union. Ellis had three assists in the series, won by Canada 4-3 with one tie.
Along with the entire 1967 Maple Leafs team, Ellis was honored in February as the recipient of the 2024 NHL Alumni Association Keith Magnuson Man of the Year Award.
There were seven surviving members of that team, five in attendance: Brian Conacher, Dave Keon, Bob Pulford, Pete Stemkowski and Mike Walton. Ellis and Frank Mahovlich were the two surviving members who were not able to attend.
The award is given to former players who have applied the intangibles of perseverance, commitment and teamwork developed through the game into a successful post-career transition.
