Greg Polis

Gregory Linn Polis (August 8, 1950 – March 18, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who skated at left wing in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals. Born in Westlock, Alberta, he grew up in the nearby prairie town of Dapp, which had a population of 75. With few other children around, the young Polis trained by bringing his pet Labrador Retriever to chase down and retrieve the puck — a detail that Topps and O-Pee-Chee reprinted, with an accompanying cartoon, as an annual feature on his hockey cards in the early 1970s. The repetition of the line that "Greg's dog used to chase pucks for him in his childhood" became a long-running source of amusement among hockey card collectors.

Before reaching the NHL, Polis played four seasons for the Estevan Bruins in the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Canada Hockey League, both precursors of the Western Hockey League, and was regarded as one of the best players to come out of that junior organization. He was named a league all-star at left wing three times and twice finished second in the league in scoring.