Remembering one of hockey's unsung heroes

Ron Ellis departed the nation’s capital 63 years ago as a teenage hockey star bound for the bright lights of Toronto, the quintessential young Canadian searching for glory.

- DAMIEN COX

Ace Bailey asked that his No. 6 be unretired so Ron Ellis could wear it. No Leaf has worn it since.

He never left. He scored lots of goals in a Toron

to uniform, won multiple championships and never played for another NHL team. He was also there when linemate Paul Henderson leapt over the boards and, seconds later, scored the most famous goal in Canadian hockey history.

“Ronnie was a good player for a long time,” said Ellis’s former Maple Leafs teammate Mike Pelyk. “He never wanted to be front and centre. He wanted to be in the background, doing his job. He was just a fine person.”

The personal and professional story of Ellis, who died this weekend at the age of 79, was also about overcoming challenges. He was born with a club foot, yet somehow became one of the NHL’s best skaters. He flourished during the tyrannical reign of Punch Imlach and the destructive ownership of Harold Ballard.

For most of his adult life, he also struggled with depression, which was partly what drove him to a premature retirement before he came back to play several more seasons with the Leafs.

“I couldn’t play to the ability I wanted to play,” Ellis said last year in an interview with Gord Stellick for the book “Revival: The Chaotic, Colourful Journey of the 1977-78 Toronto Maple Leafs.”

“I couldn’t give the team everything I had.”