Dunc Fisher

In 1950 the Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Rangers in the second overtime period in the seventh and deciding game of the Stanley Cups. The game is one of hockey's classic match-ups as Detroit's Pete Babando went from unheard of skater to national hero, scoring in the the second over time to give the Wings the Cup.

However what is often forgotten about in the recollection of this classic game is that just moments earlier the Rangers had a flurry of chances to score in the Red Wings end. The best chance was off of the stick of Dunc Fisher.

Dunc, a second year right winger, sped around an exhausted Black Jack Stewart and faced goalie Harry Lumley on a breakaway. Fisher had Lumley beaten on a low wrist shot, only to ring the puck off of the post.

Moments later, Babando scored for Detroit, giving them the win, and the Cup. They say hockey is a game of inches. Had Fisher's shot been an inch over he likely would have scored and he would be a hockey hero forever etched in hockey history. Instead he is virtually forgotten about by newer generations.

Fisher, a 5'7" 170lb right wing from Regina, Saskatchewan, made his NHL debut in the 1948 playoffs with the Rangers after spending the year with the Rangers AHL affiliate. He even picked up an assist in his in his first game. Fisher would play 2 1/2 seasons with the Rangers before being traded to Boston in exchange for Ed Harrison and Zellio Toppazzini. After a season and a half in Boston, Fisher wasn't producing offensively as the Bruins had hoped, and they demoted him to the minors where he would be an AHL All Star for the next 6 seasons. His excellence at the AHL level finally earned him a shot at the NHL again in 1958 when the Red Wings traded Don Poile and Hec Lalande to acquire the high scoring minor leaguer. Dunc however failed to scored in 8 appearances and finished his career in the minors.

In 275 NHL games Dunc Fisher scored 45 goals and 70 assists for 115 points. He appeared in 21 games scoring 4 goals and 8 points. He was at best an average player at the NHL level. He would have became a hockey legend had he not hit the post in that Stanley Cup Finals game 7. Alas, it was not meant to be, as Pete Babando became the hero.