Pete Goegan

Pete Goegan played 383 games over 10 seasons in the National Hockey League. Best remembered on the blue line of the Detroit Red Wings, Goegan shuttled back and forth to the minors a lot in his day. In fact many old time fans may better remember his as a Pittsburgh Hornet of the American Hockey League.

"If you didn't produce, you were gone for a month or two and called back up. Up and down, up and down," he said.

Production was tough to define for a classic stay at home defenseman like Goegan. He scored 19 goals and 86 points in his career.

I guess production in Goegan's case came down to how physical he played. He accumulated 365 penalty minutes in his NHL career, not an outrageous amount for a hard hitting defenseman. But he was described as "rugged" and "surly."

Goegan, who also played briefly with the New York Rangers and Minnesota North Stars, hung on to NHL dreams as the NHL expanded in 1967. But when it became apparent the veteran warrior was destined to stay in the minor leagues. Goegan decided to leave the life of professional hockey behind in 1969.

His decision to leave was partly due to "old age" and partly because he broke his ankle when he fell off a ladder while painting his home. Goegan returned to his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario where he took up work as a carpenter. During his hockey career he usually returned home to work on construction sites and to build homes. He finally hung up his tool belt in 1990 when the wear and tear on his back and hips was just too much.

Sadly, he all but completely gave up the game of hockey. A sense of duty led him to coach a kids hockey team at the midget level early into his retirement, but he quit because "the parents got to me."