Jack McLeod
Builder (1993)
Hockey
Jack McLeod was born in Regina on April 30, 1930, and became one of Saskatchewan's best two-sport athletes.
In baseball, he played junior at Gull Lake, senior with Swift Current, Moose Jaw and Eston and semi-pro with North Battleford and Saskatoon.
In hockey, he played junior with Notre Dame and Moose jaw, professional with New York Rangers, Saskatoon Quakers, Cincinnati, Vancouver and Calgary and competed three times in the world hockey championships.
Jack's first coaching experiences in hockey were with Saskatoon's senior Quakers in 1958-59, Moose Jaw's senior Pla-Mors in 1961-62 and Moose Jaw's junior Canucks in 1964-65.
He was invited to become coach and general manager of Canada's national team in the fall of 1965 and stayed until the team was disbanded in 1970. One of his big thrills was coaching Canada to victory over the Soviets in the 1967 Centennial Cup series.
Jack joined the Saskatoon Blades in 1970, serving as general manager until 1980 and coaching for most of the seasons as well. They were the Western Hockey League's east division champions three times, 1973, 1975 and 1976, and the club also had three second-place finishes. His record over the nine years as a coach was 291 wins, 238 losses and 72 ties for a winning percentage of .544. He has more victories than any coach in Blades' history and during his time with Saskatoon, the Blades sent more players to the NHL than any other junior team in Canada.
** Deceased
" This is probably my greatest memory from sports. A Canadian team hadn’t won since Penticton Vees (in 1955). " -- Jack McLeod scored 12 goals for the Trail Smoke Eaters when they won the world hockey championship in 1961