Pete Stemkowski

Peter David Stemkowski, a Canadian professional ice hockey centre, was born August 25, 1943, and played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League. A product of the Toronto Maple Leafs junior system, he played in his native Winnipeg before moving to Toronto at the age of 17 to join the Ontario Hockey Association's Toronto Marlboros, the Leafs' junior team. He split his first three professional seasons between Toronto and the Leafs' American Hockey League farm club in Rochester before making the Maple Leafs squad in 1966–67. Over his career he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, and Los Angeles Kings. Nicknamed "Stemmer," he was considered a textbook two-way centre, able to kill penalties and play defence as well as score goals, and was regarded as one of the top faceoff men in the NHL. He won the Stanley Cup in 1967 with the Maple Leafs. Stemkowski is best remembered for his performance in the semifinal series of the 1971 Stanley Cup playoffs, when he scored two overtime goals for the New York Rangers in a series the team ultimately lost to the Chicago Black Hawks.