Pete Stemkowski – The Story of “Stemmer” 

When you talk to Pete Stemkowski today, you get at least one of three things from him – a story, a joke, or a trivia question. On many occasions, he will give you all three in a matter of seconds.

It has been nearly half a century since the 81-year-old Stemkowski played his final game for the Rangers, but his ability to recall his tenure in New York – and his entire hockey career – is impeccable. And the stories that he shares encompasses the incredible hockey life that “Stemmer” has had, which included 15 seasons in the NHL as a player, one Stanley Cup championship in the final year of the Original Six era, and one memorable overtime goal that still resonates with Rangers fans today.

It's a story that began in Winnipeg, where Stemkowski was born and raised. As a teenager, he was signed to a “C” form by the Toronto Maple Leafs, which gave them his professional rights as a player; it was at a time shortly before the NHL Amateur Draft came into existence and – as Stemkowski remembered it – he was given $100 by the Maple Leafs for signing the “C” form.

“I could last a whole summer on $100 back then,” Stemkowski said, recalling the interaction he had with a member of the Leafs’ front office. “Having $100 was like having the world to me.”

Stemkowski played with the Winnipeg Monarchs through the start of the 1962-63 season before moving to Toronto to play with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association. Most of the Maple Leafs’ best prospects played with the Marlboros, and in 1963-64, Stemkowski showed why he was among them. He finished that season with 103 points in 51 regular season games before helping the Marlboros win the Memorial Cup.

“Stemmer” also made his NHL debut as a 20-year-old during the 1963-64 season, although the one game he played with the Maple Leafs did not go as he would have hoped. “We lost 11-0 to the Bruins,” Stemkowski remembered. “I was laying in my bed and got a phone call on a Saturday afternoon that I had to go to Maple Leaf Gardens that night and play for the Maple Leafs against the Bruins. I was a junior player at the time, but they needed someone and couldn’t call anybody up in time from Rochester of the American League for the game that night.

“After the game, someone asked (Maple Leafs general manager and head coach Punch Imlach) if they would be taking me to Chicago. Imlach said, ‘no way, we embarrassed him enough out there tonight.’ Then they went to Chicago the next night and shut out Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and the Black Hawks, 2-0. Go figure!”

Stemkowski only played one NHL game in 1963-64 and then 92 NHL games combined over the next two seasons. By 1966-67 – the final year of the Original Six era – he was a regular in the Toronto lineup, and because of a lineup adjustment from an unlikely source, he would become a part of Maple Leafs lore.

Toronto had lost 10 consecutive games in January and the first part of February in 1966-67, and during that difficult stretch, Imlach was also hospitalized. Imlach’s interim replacement was the legendary Francis “King” Clancy, who decided to play Stemkowski at center on a line with Bob Pulford at left wing and Jim Pappin at right wing. The positive results for the team – and the three players – were immediate.

“We went to practice one day and heard Imlach is in the hospital,” Stemkowski remembered. “Clancy was like your uncle; he was a laid-back guy. The first practice, we were going to do line rushes and he started calling out names. He just called out our three names and told us what positions we were. Pulford told him he was a center, and King just said, ‘Ah, just go to left wing for now.’ So, he went to left wing, and that’s how it started.”

Toronto had a 15-6-3 record over its final 24 regular season games, and Stemkowski had 26 points and a plus-20 plus/minus rating over that span; the 26 points were the fourth-most in the NHL, and the plus-20 rating was the second-best in the league during that time. The Pulford-Stemkowski-Pappin line carried the Maple Leafs into the playoffs, and the team that was referred to as the “Over The Hill Gang” defeated Chicago and Montreal in six games apiece to win the Stanley Cup.

Stemkowski had 12 points in 12 playoff games and factored in on some of the most important goals of the Leafs’ playoff run, as he scored the game-winning goal in Game 5 of the Semifinals in Chicago, set up Pulford for a goal in double overtime in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against Montreal, and assisted on what would be the Cup-clinching goal in Game 6 of the series in Toronto.

“I was a physical guy and I forechecked hard, and I think that helped loosen the puck up in the zone a few times; Pappin was a good outside right winger with a good shot, and Pulford was tough on the boards,” Stemkowski said. “We each had different personalities, and Pulford and Pappin didn’t always get along, but we worked well together as a line.”

Despite his role in helping the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup, Stemkowski was traded to the Detroit Red Wings the following season. A few seasons later – early in 1970-71 – he was traded again to the Rangers, where he would spend most of his NHL career.

“When I got traded to New York, I didn’t know how good that team was,” Stemkowski said. “The only player I knew was Ted Irvine because I played some minor league hockey with him in Winnipeg. And then I was driving into the city every day from Long Beach, where the practice rink was. Could you imagine a kid from Western Canada driving from Long Beach to Manhattan every day? It was a big adjustment, but I loved how enthusiastic and passionate the fans were.

“Emile Francis was very organized and a great coach. And then seeing the players like Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield and Brad Park, plus the goaltending we had, I quickly learned that we had some talent here.”

By the end of that season, Stemkowski would center a line with Irvine and Bruce MacGregor – who was acquired from the Red Wings in a separate trade – that served as the team’s checking line. It was a trio that stayed together for the majority of “Stemmer’s” seven-year tenure with the Blueshirts. And while they were at times overshadowed by the “G-A-G Line” or the “Bulldog Line”, for the role that they played, there was perhaps none better in the history of the franchise.

“One day in practice when Emile was giving out the jerseys, he gave me, Teddy, and Bruce the same color, and away we went,” Stemkowski said. “We complemented each other pretty well. Teddy was a fierce guy and wouldn’t mind being physical, and MacGregor was a good penalty killer and a solid guy to play with. We had some pretty good success as a third line.”

Stemkowski developed a reputation for being a clutch player in helping Toronto win the Stanley Cup, and he further cemented that legacy in the 1971 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After he helped the Rangers defeat his former team, the Maple Leafs, in the Quarterfinals, “Stemmer” tallied two overtime goals in the Semifinals against the Black Hawks.

Stemkowski’s first overtime goal of the series quickly ended Game 1, as he scored 97 seconds into the extra session to give the Rangers a 2-1 win and an early series lead. His second one, in Game 6 at MSG, was much later in overtime and much more significant.

The Rangers trailed the series, three-games-to-two, and needed to win to stave off elimination. The Blueshirts rallied to force overtime after trailing 2-0 earlier in the game, and through two overtime periods, they survived several opportunities that Chicago had to end the series. Then, 89 seconds into the third overtime and just before midnight on April 29, 1971, Stemkowski scored one of the most memorable goals in Rangers history.

“Both teams were just on fumes at the end,” Stemkowski said. “Tim Horton shot the puck into the zone, and the boards were always very lively at Madison Square Garden; we used to practice that during the morning skates and see how the puck would come out in front. Sure enough, Horton hit the perfect spot on the boards, the puck came right out to Teddy Irvine – who was driving the net – and after Esposito stopped his shot, I was right there.

“Bingo, (the puck was) in the net. And the celebrations began.”

The Rangers’ victory in Game 6 of the Semifinals in 1971 remains the longest game that the team has won at MSG in franchise history, which gives Stemkowski the honor of having one of the most recognized and celebrated goals in nearly 100 years of Rangers hockey. In 2006, when MSG unveiled the list of the 50 greatest moments that took place at The World’s Most Famous Arena, Stemkowski’s triple overtime goal was listed at No. 18.

“It means a lot to me to have scored that goal because people do remember it and tell me about it to this day.”

Stemkowski is one of four players in Rangers history who have scored two overtime goals in the same playoff series, along with Don Raleigh in the 1950 Stanley Cup Final against Detroit, Stephane Matteau in the Eastern Conference Final in 1994 against New Jersey, and Esa Tikkanen in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in 1997 against Florida (and it is one of “Stemmer’s” favorite trivia questions to ask).

Stemkowski continued to play a key role for the Rangers the following year, as he helped the team advance to the Stanley Cup Final. He played in every role the team asked him to play, and even though he might not have received much ice time on the power play, he still scored more than 20 goals in three straight seasons and led the Rangers with 66 even strength points during the 1973-74 season.

Following his playing career, “Stemmer” continued to be involved in hockey as a broadcaster, first with the San Jose Sharks shortly after they entered the NHL in the early 1990s, and then with the Rangers on their radio broadcasts. He also maintained his connection to Long Beach, which continues to this day, as well as the Rangers family.

“One phone call altered my whole life,” Stemkowski said. “I got that phone call from Sid Abel saying I was traded to the New York Rangers, and sometimes I lay in bed wondering how my life would be different if I didn’t get that call or I was being told that I was traded someplace else.

“That call got me to New York, and I’ve been here ever since.”