Toronto Maple Leafs legend Bobby Baun, who entered hockey lore by playing on a broken leg and scoring an overtime goal to help eliminate the Detroit Red Wings in the 1964 Stanley Cup final, has died at the age of 86.
The NHL Alumni Association announced Baun’s death, but the cause of death was not known.
A four-time Cup champion who ended his 17-year NHL career by playing two years in Detroit from 1969-1971, the five-foot-nine, 175-pound defenseman earned national recognition in Game 6 of the Cup final at Olympia Stadium located at the corner of Grand River Avenue and McGraw Street in Detroit.
With the Red Wings leading the series 3-2 and leading 3-2 in the third period on a go-ahead goal by Gordie Howe, Baun returned to the ice after suffering a broken ankle when he blocked a shot by Howe. Baun set up the tying goal and scored the winner in overtime. The Leafs won 4-0 in Game 7.
“When I think back, that loss in Game 6 irks me to this day,” Red Wings forward Paul Henderson said in a Detroit News story in 2022. “We were leading three games to two and we could’ve won the cup that night. I mean, Bobby Baun had the worst shot in the whole league but it went in off Bill Gadsby’s stick (and past goalie Terry Sawchuk).”
In the Olympia Stadium medical clinic, Baun was told the damage would get no worse if the ankle were frozen by injection and taped up. He returned to play one more shift in the third period and scored the winning goal at the 1:43 mark of overtime.
“Was it worth it?” Baun said in an interview with nhl.com in 2017. “Sure it was. That’s how much winning the Stanley Cup meant to me. Most hockey players would tell you they’d do the very same thing.”
Overall, Baun had 37 goals, 224 points and 1,489 penalty minutes in 964 regular-season games from 1956-1973. He added three goals, 12 assists and 171 penalty minutes in 96 playoff contests, including that historic 1964 overtime goal which led Toronto to its third straight Stanley Cup title.