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A winner of five Stanley Cups and countless fights, the renowned enforcer went down swinging in his toughest battle.
Former Montreal Canadiens great and general manager of two different teams, John Ferguson, Sr. passed away Saturday at the age of 68, succumbing to prostrate cancer. Considered to be one of the toughest players to ever play the game, “Fergie,” as he was known around the league, could not beat the disease that he thought he had beaten after being diagnosed with it less than two years ago. Ferguson, whose son, John Jr., is the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, won five Stanley Cups with Les Habitants, with whom he played all eight of his seasons. He was twice an all-star and actually led all rookies in scoring in first year, 1963, when he was runner-up for the top rookie award. It’s considered no coincidence that centre Jean Beliveau won the league’s most valuable player award in that first year with Ferguson patrolling his left wing. Ferguson dropped the gloves 12 seconds into his first NHL game, with none other than Ted Green, and then banged in a pair of goals, never relinquishing the consensus title of heavyweight champ in his eight years. Notorious for starting rows by crashing the net, he totaled 1,214 penalty minutes in 500 career games. In fact, so tough was Ferguson, that one year he was dared to fight Canadian boxing heavyweight champ George Chuvalo, and he was willing but the Canadiens’ brass said no. While his fists may have been Ferguson’s calling card, they weren’t only good for throwing punches. He averaged 18 goals a season, for a total of 145, and added 158 assists. The 5’ 11”, 190-lb. left winger, tallied 29 goals in 1969, a year in which he also scored the Stanley Cup winner, one of 20 career playoff goals. Ferguson made the move to management when he was the coach and general manager of the New York Rangers for two unsuccessful years before running the Winnipeg Jets from 1979-88, mostly as GM. He was also the Ottawa Senators’ director of player personnel from 1992-95 and was the senior scout for the San Jose Sharks at the time of his passing. Prior to his management career, Ferguson was an assistant coach with Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series vs the Soviet Union, which is widely considered to be the greatest hockey series of all time. In a statement, John Jr. said his dad fought the cancer with the same strength he played the game with, showing great class and character, and that he very much appreciated all the support he had gotten from so many people. Ferguson was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the fall of 2005. He seemed to have it beaten but suffered a recurrence. Besides his son, Ferguson is also survived by his wife, Joan.
The copyright of the article Ferguson Dead at 68 in National Hockey League (NHL) is owned by Rudy Kelly. Permission to republish Ferguson Dead at 68 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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