Eddie Joyal, an undrafted forward who played nine seasons in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers, died Monday at the age of 86.
"The Jet" was mentored by Gordie Howe and had 262 points (105 goals, 134 assists) in 465 regular-season games and 19 points (11 goals, eight assists) in 50 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He debuted with the Red Wings on Jan. 24, 1963, and helped them to the 1964 Stanley Cup Final, where he scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 and a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.
The Maple Leafs rallied to win Games 6 and 7 and the Stanley Cup.
"We beat Toronto 2-1 in Toronto and that was a pretty big deal for me, but we didn't win the series," Joyal told the St. Albert Gazette on March 19, 2016. "We should've won that series, but we blew it.
Joyal was traded to the Maple Leafs by the Red Wings on May 20, 1965, and taken by the Kings in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, where he had NHL career highs of 57 points in 1967-68 and 33 goals in 1968-69. He played 26 games with the Flyers in 1971-72 before joining Alberta in the World Hockey Association, which would become the Edmonton Oilers.
The Edmonton native was honored with"Eddie Joyal Day" at Rexall Place, formerly known as Northlands Coliseum, in April of 2016, during a year-long celebration of alumni in what was the building's final season. A stretch of road in the town of St. Alberta, an Edmonton suburb, is named Joyal Way.
According to the Gazette, Joyal's was St. Albert's town constable in 1910.
"It's a very nice gesture but it’s a family deal," Joyal said. "The mayor (Nolan Crouse), I would imagine, had a lot to do with it and I appreciate it. I know my family is very, very pleased about it.
It came as a real surprise but it’s really neat.