When Conn Smythe ruled the Maple Leafs during the post World War II years and his Toronto club won Stanley Cups in 1947, 48, 49 and 1951, he had an enforced rule.
If a player got married in the middle of the season, he would be dealt. And so it was Johnny McCormack, one of the NHL's best penalty-killers was dealt to the Canadiens by Smythe.
Danny Lewicki was another story.
He played on a Memorial Cup-winner, an Allan Cup-winner and the 1951 Leafs Stanley Cup-winning team. As author Sean McCaffrey noted in his excellent series, "Tricks Of The Trade,"
Lewicki was another who broke Smythe's rule.
"The Rangers got Lewicki on July 20th, 1954," says McCaffrey, "and only had to pay cash."
The Maven mentions this because the Rangers also acquired me in 1954 – also for cash. I was hired as assistant publicist to head press agent Herb Goren. The "cash" was my salary of $50 a week.
Lewicki played very well for the Rangers. "His best season," wrote McCaffrey, "was the 1954-55 campaign when he posted a career high of 29 goals and 53 points."
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As it happened, Lewicki played another key part of my career. After Dana Mozley of the Daily News gave up his gig as The Hockey News beat writer for the Rangers, THN publisher Ken McKenzie hired me to replace Mozley.
Guess what? My first bylined story in the October 1955 issue of The Hockey News was a profile of Danny Lewicki!