Frantisek Kucera was a serviceable defenseman at the NHL level. Because he never really embraced the more physical North American game - an almost must for any NHL defenseman - Kucera was best suited as third pairing defenseman who could move into a 4th D role.
In such roles he was a reliable depth defender. He could read the oncoming play well and had good mobility to defend one on one on the rush, but not in the corners or in front of the net. He could be counted on to make a safe though never spectacular clearing of the zone. He rarely rushed the puck. Rather he would bank the puck off of the glass, or make a strong pass out. He was a right handed defender, a bit of a rarity in hockey, making it a touch easier for him to stay employed.
Including all his time in the Czech Republic during and after his NHL days were done, Kucera had a long career. In the NHL he played in 465 NHL games with Chicago, Hartford, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Washington, never really staying in one place very long.
From 1998 through his retirement in 2005 he mostly played back home with his native HC Sparta Praha and on the Czech national team. He was a member of the 1998 Olympic gold medal team
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"In this corner, standing at 5 foot 9 inches tall weighing in at 180 pounds, from the Winnipeg Jets, the veteran of many fights Doug Lecuyer!"
"And now entering the ring, in his first professional bout, standing at 6 feet tall and weighing 175lbs if he has all of his hockey equipment on, Wayne Gretzky."
Wait a minute. Wayne Gretzky in a fight?
Yep. It is true. The Wayner actually received three 5 minute major penalties for pugilism. Mind you he wasn't very good at it.
In an interview with the CBC's Peter Gzowski Wayne talked freely about his fight with Minnesota's Neal Broten at Christmas time in 1982. Wayne insisted he won that fight of Ghandi-impersonators. However Gzowski reminded Wayne about a fight a couple of years later with Chicago's Bob Murray. Wayne didn't want to talk too much about that one. Obviously he didn't fare as well against big Bob. Mind you I'm sure Bob had Dave Semenko among others gunning for him for a number of games afterwards.
But what the Gzowski interview failed to point out that Gretzky's first fight was with a kid from Wainright Alberta named Doug Lecuyer.
Now Neal Broten was a lot like Wayne in that he couldn't hurt a fly. Bob Murray was big and strong but not much of a fighter. But Doug Lecuyer certainly knew how to handle himself in a fight.
A fine junior player in Edmonton, Calgary and Portland (WCJHL), Doug put PIMs total in junior was 1317. He stood only 5'9" and 180lbs, so he was hardly a heavyweight, but rather he played a fiesty, pesty Theoren Fleury-like game.
The fight came late in Gretzky's rookie season. Coincidentally, it was Lecuyer's rookie season as well. On March 14, 1980, the two somehow got entangled and dropped the gloves. Its tough to uncover much about this tilt. But I can assure you that as soon as the Oilers realized that Wayne was in a fight of all things they all jumped. The fight was pretty short, and not a classic. It led to a bunch of brawling and lots of name calling!
So who is this Lecuyer guy? He played an abrasive style to survive because he was so small. Scouts had always told him that he wouldn't make it to the big leagues because of his size. But Doug did make it to a certain extent. He played 126 games over 5 pro seasons.
Originally drafted by Chicago 29th overall in 1978, Lecuyer was pretty good with the puck too. He scored 40 goals 3 times in junior and was a point-a-game player at the minor league level. In his 126 NHL games he scored 11 goals and 31 assists for 42 points, to go along with 178 PIM. 3 of his 11 goals were game winners too.
Doug was playing a very minor role as a rookie with the Hawks in 1979-80. Lecuyer of course made a name for himself when he fought "The Kid" of all people. Shortly after, Lecuyer had a strong player, scoring 4 goals in 7 games. The 4 goals matched his career production in the previous 55 games.
Lecuyer's name was becoming well known in hockeyland after that, and his stock went up. The Hawks, who saw him play all season, realized his stock would likely never get higher and took the chance and traded him away to Winnipeg with Tim Trimper in exchange for Peter Marsh in December of 1980. Lecuyer went on to score 6 goals and 23 points in 45 games with the Jets that season.
Lecuyer played the entire 1981-82 in the CHL with the Tulsa Oilers where he played well. He scored 30 goals and 38 points in 69 games, but never got recalled to the NHL.
On October 4, 1982, the Pittsburgh Penguins plucked him off of the waiver wire. Lecuyer played 12 games with Pittsburgh, scoring 1 goal and 4 assists, but spent most of the year with the Pens farm team in the AHL. It proved to Lecuyer's last season of professional hockey.
Lecuyer can claim he once fought Wayne Gretzky. But he can also claim he played hard for 126 NHL games, and earned every one of his paychecks.
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It is believed that Fred Saskamoose was the first full blooded Native Indian to play in the National Hockey League. It was fitting that he played with the Chicago Blackhawks. Fred played center for 11 games for the Hawks in the 1953-54 season.
Fred grew up on the isolated Sandy Lake Reserve in Saskatchewan. In his early years there was no such things as cars, phones or even electricity! But there was lots of snow and ice, and Fred loved to play hockey - complete with a stick carved out of an old willow tree branch!
Fred soon left the reserve though, as the Catholic church convince his parents that he needed a good education, and that could only be accomplished by leaving the reserve and going to Duck Lake. While education wasn't high on Fred's task list, he became a great athlete as the clergy worked the children hard on the local farms. Fred would be in great physical shape before long after he and the others had to take care of 80 milking cows and 50 acres of gardens at the school, not to mention lots of sports - soccer, baseball, boxing, but especially hockey.
Fred had enough by the age of 15 though and yearned to be at home with his parents. He left the school and returned to the reserve. But by this time he had already gotten quite a name for himself as a hock talent at the midget level, and this had caught the eyes of junior hockey scouts. Although he was reluctant to leave home again, he agreed to join the the Moose Jaw Canucks.
Fred continued to develop and excel as a hockey over the next 4 seasons. By his 4th season he was named as the best player in the league.
By this time Fred had already signed a C-Form with the Chicago Blackhawks. A C-Form was used to acquire an amateur player's professional rights in the days long before the NHL had an entry draft. Fred had actually attend Blackhawk training camps in the past. In fact on one occasion he centered hockey's most culturally diverse line - Al Laycock, a Black left winger and Jimmy Chow, of Asian descent, joined the Native Canadian.
Late in his 4th season in Moose Jaw Fred was actually called up to the National Hockey League by the Chicago Blackhawks, and finished the year with the Hawks. Fred was as strong as a moose and a great skater. Legend has it that he actually shot the puck harder than Bobby Hull - the great Chicago Blackhawk who is considered to be the heaviest shooter of all time!
For Fred the whole experience was at first overwhelming, but he later took in as much as he could. He was in shock to arrive in Toronto, and then when the game started he couldn't believe how many people were there watching the game, and that after years of listening to games on radio and tv, he too would be part of Hockey Night In Canada! He even met Foster Hewitt, who asked how to properly pronounce his name.
Fred took his place in the NHL for granted a bit and was surprised by his demotion to the minor leagues in 1954-55. He played for the New Westminister Royals and Chicoutimi Sagueneens before joining the Calgary Stampeders of the WHL in 1955-56. He would never make it back to the National Hockey League.
Fred quit the pro hockey only 2 games into the '55-56 season as he wanted to be with his wife who refused to leave the Sandy Lake Reserve. Tired of being told what to do my hockey bosses, Fred took a taxi 600 miles from Calgary to Sandy Lake to be with his wife.
Angry at Fred's leaving, the Hawks refused to grant him his amateur status until 1957. He would play senior hockey in the Okanagan Senior Hockey League. He was quite the attraction as fans wanted to see a former NHLer and an Indian hero.
Saskamoose would later go on to become a band chief in 1980. His name was "Chief Running Deer" although he was also known as "Chief Thunder Stick" because of his booming slap shot. Fred devoted his energies to Indian affairs in Saskatchewan.
Fred Saskamoose, one of best men in all of Canada, played 11 games with the Hawks, recording no points and 6 penalty minutes. He was inducted into the Saskatchewan Indian Hall of Fame in 1994.
Doug Zmolek was close to achieving every hockey playing Minnesotan kid's dream. Then a funny thing happened.
Born in Rochester, Minnesota in 1970, Zmolek grew up playing the game as long as he can remember. He first became a star at John Marshall high school, leading to a scholarship to the University of Minnesota.
Now that is the dream for many Minnesotan kids, or at least their parents. But Zmolek took it to another level. He became a collegiate all star, an member of the United States World Junior team, and highly sought after by NHL scouts. He had size, a mean streak and good agility on his skates.
So high, that he went 7th overall in 1989. Even better, he was draft by the Minnesota North Stars.
A big, physical stay at home defenseman, Zmolek would become solid NHL depth defender for 8 seasons. But a funny thing happened before he left university - the Minnesota North Stars were no more.
In a complicated move, the North Stars moved to Texas to become the Dallas Stars. But first the franchise was split into two, with half of the players dispersed to a new franchise - the San Jose Sharks. Complicated yes, but Zmolek's future was clear. He was heading to California.
Zmolek stepped directly into the NHL after leaving university, playing admirably with a weak expansion franchise. He accepted the role of the tough, hard as nails defender, never an easy task. Over the years he would settle into a more comfortable role as a stay at home, positional defender who would display his physicality when needed.
Zmolek played two seasons in San Jose before he was reunited with the other half of his original franchise. He would play about 2 seasons in Dallas, then 2 seasons in Los Angeles and finally 2 seasons in Chicago. Because he had little offensive upside he was expendable, thus the vagabond career.
Life has come full circle for Zmolek. He returned to Rochester, Minnesota and became head of hockey operations for youth in the city. He also runs his own hockey school there.
Doug played 467 career NHL games, scoring 11 goals and 53 assists for 64 points. He added 905 penalty minutes.
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