Stanley Cup Champion Passes Away
Leave a Comment / In Memoriam / By Ted Talks Hockey
Stanley Cup Champion Passes Away
James Joseph Pappin was born on September 10, 1939, in Copper Cliff, Ontario, Canada, and passed away on June 29, 2022, at the age of 82.
Pappin played 14 seasons in the NHL from 1963 to 1977; he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, California Golden Seals, and the Cleveland Barons. He won the Stanley Cup in 1964 and 1967 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored the Cup-winning goal on May 2 in Game 6 against the Montreal Canadians in 1967, the last time the Maple won the Stanley Cup. Pappin was the league leader in playoff goals and points for 1967, with four goals and six assists in the finals.
The Minors
Pappin began his junior hockey career with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where he played two seasons from 1958 to 1960. Midway through the 1959–60 season, he joined the Sudbury Wolves of the Eastern Professional Hockey League (EPHL), where he played until part way through the 1960–61 season before moving on to play in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans from 1960–61 to 1963–64. While a member of the Americans, Pappin was highly successful, scoring 134 goals in 275 regular-season games and winning three Calder Cups in 1965, 1966, and 1968. He scored the most goals during the 1965 and 1966 playoffs and scored both championship-winning goals in the decisive games. In 1996 the Rochester Americans inducted Pappin into the team’s Hall of Fame.
NHL Career and the lost ring
Pappin made his NHL debut on November 23, 1963; as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs that season, he appeared in 50 games for the Leafs, scoring 11 goals and 19 points. From 1963 to 1967–68, Pappin would bounce back and forth from the AHL’s Rochester Americans to the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs until finally becoming an NHL regular with the Leafs during the 1967–68 season. After two All-Star appearances and two Stanley Cup championships with Toronto, Pappin was dealt to Chicago on May 23, 1968, for Pierre Pilote, which was instigated by the general manager and coach Punch Imlach who had an acrimonious relationship with Pappin. The trade so incensed Pappin that he gave his 1967 championship ring to his father-in-law at the time (Peter Kyrzakos), who lost the ring while vacationing on a beach in the Gulf of Mexico in Florida during the 1970s. While swimming in clear water, Kyrzakos was pulled under by the current and lost the ring. Desperate to retrieve the treasure, he hired divers to find it, but to no avail after two days of searching. Unable to retrieve the ring, Kyrzakos contacted Eddie Schack, Pappin’s former teammate, and had him make a replica of Schack’s ring. In 1982 Kyrzakos informed Pappin of how the ring was lost and presented him with the replica. Pappin wore the replica ring every day for more than two decades. Pappin later sold the replica ring for approximately $17,000, part of the money he gave to Kyrzakos as repayment for the cost of the replica.
In 2007 treasure hunter Mark DesErmia searched for the ring and found it using an underwater metal detector in neck-deep water. DesErmia was offered $100,000 from a collector for the ring but declined the offer due to his conscious DesErmia explained, “I just didn’t feel right about it,” I felt like he needed it back. It was part of history. It was his.” While in his possession DesErmia grew quite fond of the ring and wore it on his pinky finger each day, he even wore it in the water but only in a tube that he wore around his neck to ensure it wouldn’t get lost a second time.
DesErmia did say that he received a substantial reward from Pappin for the ring but would not reveal the exact amount. Although DesErmia feels returning the ring was the right thing to do, he says, “but I feel almost naked now without the ring. I feel lost without it.” Losing a championship ring is rare, virtually unheard of. The only other time a ring of this magnitude has been lost was when Tampa Bay Lightning equipment manager Vincent Humphries lost his 2004 Stanley Cup ring on Interstate 75 in South Carolina while changing a flat tire.
Chicago Blackhawks
Pappin had his best years in the NHL while playing in the windy city. In seven seasons in Chicago, he scored 22 goals or more every season and reached career highs in goals (41), assists (51), and points(92) in 1972–73. He played in three All-star games while in Chicago. His tenure in Chicago ended when he was traded to the California Golden Seals on June 1, 1975, for Joey Johnston. He played his final two NHL seasons for the franchise, including his final season when the team relocated to Cleveland in 1976 to become the Cleveland Barons. He played his final NHL game on December 11, 1976, at the age of 37. Three days later, he made it official when he announced his retirement to Barons general manager Bill McCreary Sr.
Jim Pappin passed away on June 29, 2022, at the age of 82.
Stanley Cup Champion Passes Away
Keep Your Stick on the Ice.
Stanley Cup Champion Passes Away
