Vic Lynn, the only man to play for all of the so-called “Original Six” National Hockey League teams, died earlier this month at age 85.
Lynn, a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who would eventually win three Stanley Cups, saw his career get off to an inauspicious start.
He made his debut in the 1942-43 season, playing in a single game for the New York Rangers. The following year, he was picked up by the Detroit Red Wings and saw action in three games, but again failed to register a single point.
He spent all the 1943-44 and most of the 1944-45 season in the American Hockey League, but was picked up for two games by the Montreal Canadiens for two games in the ’44-’45 campaign. Again, he failed to score.
During the 1945-46 season, Lynn started out with Buffalo in the American Hockey League, where the speedy winger scored 26 goals and 25 assists in 53 games. That performance caught the attention of Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Conn Smythe, who brought Lynn up to Toronto in 1946, according to The Canadian Press.
In 31 games, Lynn finally made his mark, scoring six goals and 14 assists in 31 games. He also registered 44 penalty minutes. In the Stanley Cup playoffs that year, Lynn notched four goals and an assist in 11 games.
Smythe teamed Lynn with Howie Meeker and Ted Kennedy to form “The K-L-M Line,” and the trio helped Toronto capture Stanley Cup victories in 1947, ’48 and ’49.
In November 1950, Lynn was traded to the Boston Bruins with Bill Ezinicki for Fernie Flaman, Leo Boivin, Ken Smith and Phil Maloney, where he played for a short time before heading to American Hockey League Cleveland Barons. Then, in 1953, he got one more shot at the top with the Chicago Black Hawks where he played his final 11 NHL games of his career.
In all, Lynn scored 49 goals and 76 assists for 125 points in 327 NHL games. He also registered 274 penalty minutes.
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