According to the Canadian Press on Saturday, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Larry Hillman of Kirkland Lake, Ontario passed away at the age of 85. The cause of death was not given.
Hillman played 19 National Hockey League seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Maple Leafs, Minnesota North Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres from 1954 to 1973. In 789 NHL regular season games, he had 36 goals and 196 assists for 232 points, 565 penalty minutes, 82 power-play points, four shorthanded points and three game-winning goals. Hillman was best known as a Maple Leaf because that is where he played the most–264 games from 1960 to 1968. Hillman’s game-winning goals came in an 8-5 Boston Bruins win over the Montreal Canadiens on March 22, 1958, in a 3-1 Toronto Maple Leafs win over the Detroit Red Wings on February 25, 1961, and in a 2-0 Maple Leafs win over the Red Wings on January 21, 1968.
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Hillman had two goals and nine assists for 11 points in 74 games. He was also a four-time Stanley Cup champion having won with the Red Wings in 1955, Maple Leafs in 1964 and 1967, and Canadiens in 1969. When Hillman won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings, he became the youngest player to ever win the Stanley Cup at 18 years, two months and nine days.
Hillman also played three seasons in the World Hockey Association with the Cleveland Crusaders and Winnipeg Jets. While with the Jets, he won the 1976 Avco Cup.
