Wayne Merrick

Leonard Wayne Merrick, born April 23, 1952, is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 774 career National Hockey League games. A center, he played for the St. Louis Blues, California Seals, Cleveland Barons, and New York Islanders. During the 1977–78 season, the Islanders acquired Merrick from the Cleveland Barons in exchange for J.P. Parise and Jean Potvin, and he went on to provide toughness and grit to the talent-laden New York Islanders teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He centered the famed "Banana Line" between John Tonelli and Bob Nystrom. Merrick won four consecutive Stanley Cups with the Islanders between 1980 and 1983, and he scored the Cup-clinching goal in game five of the 1981 Stanley Cup Final.