Rocky Saganiuk
Rocky Ray Saganiuk (born October 15, 1957) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 259 games in the National Hockey League. He played with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins.[1]
Born in Myrnam, Alberta and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Saganiuk played junior hockey for the Kamloops Chiefs and Lethbridge Broncos. He was drafted in 1977 by both the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Saganiuk signed with the Maple Leafs and made his professional debut in 1977 with the Dallas Black Hawks farm team of the Leafs. He had an outstanding season for the Hawks in 1978–79, for which he won the Les Cunningham Award as the most valuable player of the 1978–79 AHL season.[2]
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.
After retiring from the NHL due to injuries, Saganiuk helped develop hockey in Britain as a player-coach with both Ayr Bruins and Peterborough Pirates. He also had spells as coach of the Durham Wasps, Murrayfield Racers and Blackburn Hawks.
Saganiuk returned to North America, first as a coach in the WHL, and then as a youth hockey director in Chicago.