Rocky Ray Saganiuk (born October 15, 1957) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player who played 259 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

Playing career

Born in

Myrnam, Alberta Myrnam is a village in east central Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately east of the capital city, Edmonton, and about east-south-east of the town of Two Hills. Its economic base is mixed farming, cattle farming, and grain farming. Hi ...

, Saganiuk played junior hockey for the

Kamloops Chiefs The Kamloops Chiefs were a junior ice hockey team based in Kamloops, British Columbia that played in the Western Canada Hockey League from 1973–77. They were founded in 1971 as the Vancouver Nats, and relocated to Seattle, Washington to become ...

and

Lethbridge Broncos The Lethbridge Broncos were a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League from 1974 until 1986. They played at the Lethbridge Sportsplex. :Division titles won: 1977–78, 1981–82 :Regular season titles won: 1981–82 : WHL Championship ...

. He was drafted in 1977 by the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

of the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

(WHA) and the

. Saganiuk signed with the Maple Leafs and made his professional debut in 1977 with the

Dallas Black Hawks The Dallas Black Hawks were a minor-league professional ice hockey team in Dallas, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was a member of the Central Hockey League and played home games at State Fair Coliseum. Origins and relocation to Dallas The Blac ...

of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

, a

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

of the Maple Leafs. He had an outstanding season for the

New Brunswick Hawks The New Brunswick Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. Home games were played at the Moncton Coliseum. They were a member of the American Hockey League (AHL) between 1978 and 1982. The Hawks operated as a min ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) in 1978–79, for which he won the

Les Cunningham Award The Les Cunningham Award is given annually to American Hockey League's "Most Valuable Player" of the regular season, as voted on by AHL media and players. The award was first presented in the 1947–48 season, is named after Les Cunningham, a five ...

as the most valuable player of the 1978–79 AHL season. He played the next three seasons in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, from 1979 to 1982, scoring 24 goals and 47 points in his best season.. Before the 1983–84 season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He only played one season with the Penguins, playing in only 29 games.

Post-playing career

After retiring from the NHL due to injuries, Saganiuk helped develop hockey in Britain as a player-coach with both

Ayr Bruins The Ayr Bruins were an ice hockey club based in Ayr, Scotland between 1939 and 1992. Established in 1939 under the name Ayr Raiders, the club played their home games at the Ayr Ice Rink (Beresford Terrace) between 1939 and 1972 and at Ayr Ice R ...

and

Peterborough Pirates The Peterborough Pirates were an English ice hockey team. It was established in 1982, as the senior adult semi-professional team of the newly formed Peterborough Ice Hockey Club. ''The Pirates'', based at the East of England Ice Rink, Peterboro ...

. He also had spells as coach of the

Durham Wasps The Durham Wasps were an ice hockey team located in Durham and was one of England's most well-known names in ice hockey. The team was bought by Sir John Hall and moved to the neighbouring city of Newcastle Upon Tyne in August 1996. The Newcas ...

, Murrayfield Racers and

Blackburn Hawks The Blackburn Hawks (formerly known as the Blackhawks and the Lancashire Hawks) are a British ice hockey team based in Blackburn, Lancashire. They are currently members of the EIHA Moralee Conference (NIHL N1), and have previously played in the ...

. Saganiuk returned to North America, first as a coach in the WHL, and then as a youth hockey director in Chicago.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saganiuk, Rocky 1957 births Living people Baltimore Skipjacks players Canadian ice hockey coaches Dallas Black Hawks players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Edmonton Oilers (WHA) draft picks Ice hockey people from Alberta Kamloops Chiefs players Lethbridge Broncos players Lethbridge Hurricanes coaches New Brunswick Hawks players Pittsburgh Penguins players Taber Golden Suns players Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks Toronto Maple Leafs players