By the time he was old enough to vote, Danny Lewicki had won just about all there was to win in the hockey world. A poor kid from a Ukrainian immigrant family, young Danny Lewicki did without a lot of things growing up in Fort William, Ontario, now part of Thunder Bay. As a youngster he wore hand-me-down clothing and missed more than a few meals. The highlight of his year was when the circus came to town, his annual outing and the closest thing he ever had to a holiday.

In the 1940s an above-average family income was not the youth hockey prerequisite that it is today and Lewicki soon showed that he could skate with the best of the local kids, making up for a lack of size with speed and manoeuvrability. At fifteen he was playing for a home-town junior B team sponsored by the local Knights of Columbus.

In the spring of 1948 a sixteen-year-old Lewicki was added to the roster of the cross-town Port Arthur Bruins for their run at the Canadian junior championship. The new kid led the way to that year’s Memorial Cup with 40 points, capping his streak by scoring the winning goal.

The next season he was promoted to the OHA’s Stratford Kroehlers and continued proving that even though he stood 5-foot-8 and weighed in at under 150 pounds, he was more than the equal of bigger, older players. Enjoying every minute of his time in Stratford, Lewicki picked up 24 goals and as many assists in only 29 games.

He spent the summer in Stratford, playing semi-pro ball. Working for the team sponsor he only had to put in a half-day when the team had a home game. He didn’t have to turn up at all on days they went out of town, but still got paid for a full 40 hours whether he punched in or played shortstop.

Lewicki was looking forward to another season with the Kroehlers in 1949-50 but things didn’t work out as he had planned. While most kids would have been thrilled to be assigned to the Toronto Marlboros, a team that played in Maple Leaf Gardens under the watchful eye and guiding hand of the Leafs organization, the shifty left wing really wanted to stay in Stratford.

Lewicki refused to report, claiming that Toronto had no rights over him with regard to his amateur career. Conn Smythe, however felt quite strongly otherwise. Standing up to Smythe made Lewicki known for more than his talent on the ice as the story of his fight for hockey autonomy made headlines across Canada.

Lewicki had signed a c-form at the age of 16 in exchange for a hundred dollars, an amount he thought was expense money to attend the Providence Reds training camp. The document, which would probably not stand up in any court today, tied the player to the team that signed him, committing him to play where he was told to play from the age of 18 on or not play at all.

NHL president, Clarence Campbell, sent a telegram informing Lewicki that he was suspended and ineligible to play for any team, amateur or professional in organized hockey.

Labelled a “Problem Child” in the headlines, a reputation that would follow him throughout the rest of his career, Lewicki stood his ground.

The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association initially supported Lewicki’s claim as did the Stratford Kroehlers and, somewhat unexpectedly, Frank Boucher, GM of the New York Rangers. When push came to shove, however, the CAHA, many of their teams staffed by players on loan from NHL clubs, backed down.

Three months into the season Lewicki finally bit the bullet and reported to the Marlies. His initial meeting with Conn Smythe did not go well.

“The Major”, as the militaristic Smythe liked to be called, began by clearing the air, declaring that Lewicki was an impertinent brat. Lewicki knew what the noun meant but had to look up the adjective later in the day.

Asked what kind of salary he expected from the Leafs to suit up for their top junior team, Lewicki reminded Smythe of his previous comments to the effect that the scrawny forward was the best junior player in the country and the best prospect he had seen in twenty years before asking for a $5000 signing bonus and another $10,000 for the upcoming season.

The request did not do anything to improve the relationship between the two. When Smythe’s blood pressure returned to the normal range and the deal was finally done, Lewicki had agreed to a $3000 bonus and $4000 to play for the Marlies, all in all pretty good money for a junior in 1949.

As he had done the year before, Lewicki balanced his scoring numbers, with 36 goals and 36 assists. When the 1949-50 schedule ended three members of the Marlies were told to report to the senior squad for their successful run at the Allan Cup. Lewicki was one of them and answered the call as he had for the Bruins a couple years earlier, leading the Marlies on the score sheet with 22 goals and 42 points in the17 games it took to be declared the top Senior hockey team in Canada.

In 1950-51 19-year-old Danny Lewicki, still eligible for junior play, was a Toronto Maple Leaf. As tough a competitor against full-grown men as he had been playing against kids his own age, he relentlessly drove to the net, his speed making him almost unstoppable. Suiting up for 61 games, he scored 16 goals and added 18 assists and might have won the Calder Trophy, had he not lost a number of games to injury late in the season.

It went to Detroit goaltender Terry Sawchuck with Lewicki finishing as runner-up, giving Canada’s Ukrainian hockey fans something special to celebrate.

Back in action for the postseason Lewicki’s ice time was reduced due to both his injury and coach, Hap Day’s emphasis on going with veteran players. He appeared in nine of the eleven playoff games but was kept off the score sheet as the maple leafs went on to win the Stanley Cup on Bill Barilko’s legendary last goal.

Danny Lewicki spent nine years in the NHL, suiting up with Toronto, New York, where he scored a career high 29 goals in 1954-55, and Chicago before finishing up with four seasons in the minors.

Now 75, Lewicki chronicled his life in the highly personal memoir, From the Coal Docks to the NHL, released in the fall of 2006 and recommended reading for anyone interested in the way things used to be. It can be ordered at DannyLewicki.com.