NHL: Former Leafs player and coach Maloney dead at 68
Dan Maloney, a feared fighter who went on to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets, has died at age 68.
The NHL Alumni Association announced Maloney’s death on its Twitter account. No cause of death was given.
Selected by the Blackhawks 14th overall in the 1970 NHL draft, Maloney went on to play 11 seasons in the NHL with Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit and Toronto. He was part of the trade that sent Marcel Dionne from the Red Wings to Los Angeles. The Leafs broke up their successful line of Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald and Errol (Spud) Thompson to get Maloney, sending Thompson to Detroit.
Maloney had 192 goals and 259 assists over 737 games, scoring 20 or more goals three times in a season. A hard-nosed winger, he also piled up 1,489 penalty minutes with more than 90 fights during his NHL career, according to Hockeyfights.com.
In 1976, then with Detroit, he was acquitted in Toronto of charges of assaulting Maple Leafs defenceman Brian Glennie in a game in November 1975 at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Maloney went into coaching after his playing career ended following the 1981-82 season, spending two seasons as an assistant coach with the Maple Leafs before being promoted to head coach.
Maloney coached the Leafs for the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons, then spent the following three seasons as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets before being fired 52 games into the 1988-89 season. He also served as an assistant with the New York Rangers in 1992-93.
Born in Barrie, Ont., Maloney played junior hockey for the London Knights.