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| 1973 NHL DRAFT PICK |
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Tom Lysiak
Selected in first round
No.
2 overall by Atlanta Flames
Born April 22, 1953
 | Position:
Center / Left Wing
Height: 6-1 Weight: 190
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| BEFORE THE DRAFT |
Last Team:
Medicine Hat (WCHL)
Birthplace: High Prairie, Alberta (Canada)
Hometown:
High Prairie, Alberta |
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| PRE-DRAFT
STATISTICS | | Year |
Team | League |
GP | G |
A | TP |
PIM | | 1970-71 |
Medicine Hat | WCHL |
60 |
14 | 16 |
30 | 112 | | 1971-72 |
Medicine Hat | WCHL |
68 | 46 |
97 | 143 |
96 | | 1972-73 |
Medicine Hat | WCHL |
67 | 58 |
96 | 154 |
104 |
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PRE-DRAFT AWARDS AND HONORS
WCHL Brownridge Trophy (Points Leader): 1971-72 (143
points),
1972-73 (154 points)
WCHL All-Star First Team: 1971-72, 1972-73
WCHL/WHL
Records: Most points in one game (four goals, six assists for 10 points
vs. Edmonton at Medicine Hat on Dec. 30, 1971, shares record with four other
players)
WCHL Assists Leader: 1971-72 (97 assists),
1972-73 (143 points)
WCHL Playoffs Points Leader: 1973 (39 points)
WCHL Playoffs Assists Leader: 1973 (27 assists)
1970-71:
Played on first Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL) team.
Miscellaneous: Held Alberta career bantam scoring record from 1968 to
1998. Record broken by Jared Aulin. ... Played on line in Medicine Hat with Lanny McDonald. ... Led Medicine Hat to 1973 WCHL
title. ... Had 22
fights during his WCHL career, winning all but one. |
| NHL CAREER |
Debut: October 10, 1973 (N.Y. Islanders at
Atlanta)
Numbers: 12 (Atlanta); 12 (Chicago)
Stanley Cup: Never won.
Playing Status: Retired September 1986 |
| CAREER NHL STATISTICS | | Years | Teams | GP | G | A | TP | PIM | | 1973-1986 |
Atlanta, Chicago | 919 |
292 | 551 | 843 |
567 |
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| CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS | | Years | Teams | GP | G | A | TP | PIM | | 1974-1986 |
Atlanta, Chicago | 76 |
25 | 38 | 63 |
49 |
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NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
Sporting News NHL West Rookie of Year: 1973-74 (Atlanta)
All-Star Game: 1975, 1976, 1977 (Atlanta)
Atlanta Ellmans Trophy (MVP): 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77
Atlanta
Krystal Award (Three-Star Selections): 1975-76, 1977-78
Atlanta
Colonial Trophy (Most Popular Player): 1977-78
Atlanta
Captain: September 1977 to March 13, 1979
Atlanta Points Leader: 1973-74 (64), 1974-75 (77), 1975-76 (82),
1976-77 (81), 1977-78 (69)
Atlanta Goals Leader: Montreal assists in season (82 in 1974-75)
Atlanta Assists Leader: 1973-74 (45), 1974-75 (52), 1975-76 (51),
1976-77 (51), 1977-78 (42)
Atlanta Playoffs Points Leader: 1977 (4,
tie)
Atlanta Playoffs Goals Leader: 1978 (1, tie)
Atlanta
Playoffs Assists Leader: 1974 (2, tie), 1977 (3, tie)
Chicago Points
Leader: 1980-81(76)
Chicago Assists Leader: 1980-81 (55)
Chicago Playoffs Goals Leader: 1980 (4, tie)
Chicago Playoffs
Assists Leader: 1981 (3, tie)
Miscellaneous: Set Atlanta/Calgary franchise records (since broken)
with 64 points and 45 assists in 1973-74. ... Set Atlanta/Calgary franchise
records (since broken) with 77 points and 52 assists in 1974-75. ... Set
Atlanta/Calgary franchise record (since broken) with 82 points in 1975-76. ... Played on Atlanta's "Downtown Connecters" line with Eric Vail
and Willi Plett from 1976 to 1978. ... Set Atlanta/Calgary franchise record
(since broken) with two goals in seven seconds vs. Chicago on April 1, 1977.
... Missed part of 1978-79 season with groin injury. ... Led Atlanta/Calgary franchise in career points,
goals and assists at time he left team on
March 13, 1979. ... Was stunned at being traded away from Atlanta on March 13, 1979, because he had such strong
ties to the city and had just signed a seven-year contract with Flames. Many
fans protested the trade. ... Missed part of 1980-81 season with nerve
condition in back. ... Missed part of 1981-82 season with torn cartilage in
right knee, an injury suffered in game against St. Louis on Dec. 27, 1981. ... Came back from 12-stitch facial cut during 1982 playoff
game at Minnesota to score four points in leading Chicago to victory. ...
Turned down offers to be Chicago captain.
... Played on line with Darryl Sutter and Rich Preston from 1980 to 1984.
...Missed part of 1982-83 season with fractured bone in right foot, suffered
when he was hit by a Dave Maloney shot in Jan. 23, 1983, game vs. N.Y.
Rangers. ... Missed part of 1983-84 season with back pain. ... Missed
part of 1985-86 season with broken foot. ... Became an unrestricted free agent
after 1985-86 season and chose to retire.
The Foyt Incident: The NHL suspended Lysiak 20 games for tripping linesman Ron Foyt during a
Chicago home game vs. Hartford on Oct. 30,
1983. The incident took place after a faceoff near the end of the second
period. Lysiak had been tossed from the faceoff circle by Foyt several times
during the game, and he finally lost his cool. After Foyt dropped the puck, Lysiak
skated over and pulled Foyt's legs out from under him with
his stick. Lysiak was punished under Rule 67, Category One, of the NHL
rulebook, which said that any player who deliberately struck an official or
used physical force against an official would be suspended for 20 games. After
talking to Foyt, referee Dave Newell immediately assessed Lysiak with the mandatory
20-game suspension. At the
time, it was the first full-blown violation of Rule 67, Category One, triggering the longest
non-lifetime suspension in NHL history to that point. On Nov. 3, Lysiak and
the NHLPA filed a lawsuit and got a 10-day
restraining order against the suspension, enabling him to continue playing
until Nov. 14. At that time, the suspension would be subject to a hearing to
determine whether or not the rule was legal. Lysiak's lawyer argued that Rule
67 was illegal because it did not allow for appeal because the
complainant (Foyt)
had been allowed to influence the referee's decision. The NHLPA also argued that it had never agreed to Rule 67 when it was
first imposed in the summer of 1982. The NHL Officials' Association supported
the rule and was concerned that allowing Lysiak to play under the restraining
order would suggest
that players had the right to physically abuse officials. The public was
likewise divided on the fairness of the suspension vs. the role of the
rule to curtail violence in the NHL. The NHL finally agreed to amend Rule 67
and allow for a hearing on the matter to determine if the suspension should be
shortened. As a show of good faith, Lysiak agreed to drop the lawsuit --
thereby voiding the restraining order, which had been extended -- and begin serving his suspension. He
would miss four games prior to the Dec. 8 hearing, when the league would
decide how many more games, if any, he should miss. Critics
insisted the NHL was backing down, but NHL governors stunned everyone at
the meeting by deciding that the 20-game suspension was legitimate. Having lost
his appeal, Lysiak had no choice but to serve the full 20 games. He was not
allowed to return to NHL action until Jan. 14, 1984. |
| NON-NHL CAREER |
World Championships: 1978 (bronze medal)
NON-NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
WHA Draft Pick: 1973 (by Houston, No. 23
overall in Round 2)
Miscellaneous:
Was active in charitable work for muscular dystrophy during his playing days.
... Returned to his farm in the Atlanta area after his retirement and made it
his permanent home.
Personal: Nicknamed "The Bomb." |
| HOW HE GOT AWAY |
| TRADE: Atlanta traded Lysiak, Pat Ribble,
Greg Fox, Harold Phillipoff and Miles Zaharko to Chicago in exchange for Ivan
Boldirev, Phil Russell and Darcy Rota on March 13, 1979. The eight-player deal
was the largest (in terms of players involved) in NHL history to that point. |
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SNAPSHOT '73 | | Total Selected: |
168 | | Forwards: |
103 | | Defense: |
53 | | Goaltenders: |
12 | | Major Junior: |
131 | | College Players: |
28 |
| Canadian: |
151 |
| Euro-Canadian: |
3 | | USA Citizens: |
14 | | U.S.-Born: |
14 |
| European: |
0 |
| Reached NHL: |
70 |
| Won Stanley Cup: |
8 | | Hall of Fame: |
3 |
| All-Star Game: |
13 |
| Year-end All-Star: |
3 |
| Olympians: |
4 |
| Picks Traded: |
35 |
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