Broda, "Turk" (Walter)
Hockey
b. May 15, 1914, Brandon, MAN
d. Oct. 17, 1972, Toronto, ONT
Because he was chubby and not able to skate well, Broda was put in goal when his elementary school organized a hockey team. Weight remained a problem for him, but he became one of the best goalies in hockey history, so calm and unflappable that Coach Jack Adams once said of him, "He could play in a tornado and never blink an eye."
Broda played with the minor-league Detroit Olympias in 1934-35, then was sold to the Toronto Maple Leafs for $8,000. He joined the NHL team in 1936 and remained there through the 1951-52 season, except for two years he spent in the service during World War II. The Maple Leafs won five Stanley Cups while he was in goal; Broda won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender in 1941 and 1948 and shared the trophy with Al Rollins in 1951.
On several occasions, Maple Leaf management threatened to bench or trade Broda if he didn't lose weight. He was suspended for one game in 1949 while he lost ten pounds to get back down to his recommended playing weight of 190.
Broda had 62 shutouts and a 2.56 goals-against average in 628 regular season games. He was even better in Stanley Cup play, appearing in 101 games, a record for a goalie, with 13 shutouts and a 1.99 average, also a record. In the 1949 Stanley Cup finals, he held the powerful Detroit Red Wings to just 4 goals in a four-game Toronto sweep, and in 1951 he gave up just 9 goals in 8 playoff games.