Victor John Stasiuk (born May 23, 1929) 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 h ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and a former

NHL 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 ...

head coach.

Biography

Stasiuk played junior hockey in his native

Lethbridge, Alberta Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian Rocky Mountains contribute to ...

before signing with the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He played sparingly in Chicago, and was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in 1951. He spent time in the minors with the

Indianapolis Capitals The Indianapolis Capitals were an American Hockey League professional ice hockey team based in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1939 to 1952. The Capitals were a farm team for the Detroit Red Wings. Indianapolis won the Calder Cup in 1942 and 1950. T ...

and the Edmonton Flyers. He was part of three Stanley Cup teams in 1952, 1954, and 1955. In 1954, however, although Stasiuk played 42 regular season games for Detroit, because he spent the playoffs in the minors, his name was left off the Stanley Cup after the Wings captured the league crown.Vic Stasiuk at hockeyDB.com
/ref> In 1955, Stasiuk was traded to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

and found chemistry with

Johnny Bucyk John Paul Bucyk (born May 12, 1935) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Having played most of his career with the Boston Bruins, he has been associated in one capacity or another with the ...

and

Bronco Horvath Bronco Joseph Horvath (March 12, 1930 – December 17, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 434 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1968. Early life Horvath was born to an ethnic Hungarian family ...

, a grouping dubbed "The Uke line" because of the Ukrainian ancestry of the three players. In 1957-58, this line became the first in NHL history to have all three participants reach the 20 goal mark. In 1960, Stasiuk scored a career high 68 points, and he was selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game. In 1961, he was traded back to Detroit, playing with this club until 1963, before finishing his career in the minors. He played for the

, Detroit Red Wings, and

, He recorded 183 goals and 254 assists in 745 NHL games.Vic Stasiuk at Legends of Hockey
/ref> After retiring, Stasiuk moved to coaching. He took over the Pittsburgh Hornets 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 developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

for two seasons and later led the same league's Quebec Aces to back-to-back losses in the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its cur ...

finals. Immediately after coaching the EHL Jersey Devils from 1966-68,The EHL
/ref> Stasiuk earned a job with the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

. His team finished out of the playoffs by a single point in 1969-70, and then were eliminated in the first round of the postseason the next year. Stasiuk was fired after the 1970-71 season; the Flyers offered him a scouting position, but he took a head coaching job three games into the NHL season with the

California Golden Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The ...

."Philadelphia Fires Stasiuk", The Leader Post, May 28, 1971
/ref> Stasiuk was fired after the season due to a stylistic conflict with management, and he then spent one year behind the bench of the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

before settling into a career in junior hockey coaching."Vic Stasiuk, Canucks not talking - yet", The Sun, April 27, 1972
/ref>

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Coaching record

References

External links