Fred Speck

Frederick Edmondstone Speck (July 22, 1947 – February 10, 2011) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. A centre, Speck had a brief major league career, playing in 28 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks, and 111 games in the World Hockey Association. For most of his career Speck played in the minor leagues, and in 1970–71, his first season in the American Hockey League, he was the top scorer, and was also named the most valuable player and rookie of the year.

Fred Speck
Born (1947-07-22)July 22, 1947
Thorold, Ontario, Canada
Died February 10, 2011(2011-02-10) (aged 63)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Detroit Red Wings
Cleveland Barons
Vancouver Canucks
Minnesota Fighting Saints
Los Angeles Sharks
Michigan Stags
Playing career 1968–1978

Professional career

Minor league hockey

Speck was signed by the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL after a scout saw him playing junior hockey in Ontario. He was signed and played one game with the Hamilton Red Wings of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1963. He received more ice time the following season and began to produce offensively, scoring 8 points in 17 games. His totals increased the following year, with 34 points in 41 games. Over the next three seasons with Hamilton Speck's totals increased, and he scored 197 points between 1965–66 and 1967–68, including 85 points in his final season. In 1967–68 he made his professional debut, playing one regular season game and three more in the playoffs for the Fort Worth Wings of the Central Hockey League that season, scoring a goal and an assist in his first game, and scoring four points in the playoffs. Speck joined Fort Worth full-time for the 1968–69, recording 45 points.

Playing in the NHL

Speck made his National Hockey League debut with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1968–69 season, playing five games for them. He played another five games for Detroit in the 1969–70 season, but was held pointless. Still playing with Fort Worth, Speck scored 76 points in 1969–70.[1] After CHL playoffs ended Speck joined the San Diego Gulls of the Western Hockey League for a two playoff games, and moved to the Baltimore Clippers of the American Hockey League in 1970–71. Speck scored 92 points and led the team to a first place AHL finish. Speck was named to the AHL first All-star team, and won three league awards: the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award, the John B. Sollenberger Trophy, and the Les Cunningham Award. On June 8, 1971, after the season ended the Vancouver Canucks claimed Speck in the Intra-League Draft. Speck joined the new NHL club for their first 18 games scoring one goal and two assists.

Finishing in the minors

The Canucks re-assigned Speck to the minor leagues, and he split the season between the Cleveland Barons of the AHL and the Seattle Totems of the WHL. The following season saw Speck sign with the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association, where he played 47 games before being traded for Bill Young in February to the Los Angeles Sharks. He remained with the Sharks until 18 games into the 1973–74 season when the team moved to Detroit and became the Michigan Stags. Speck finished the season with the Greensboro Generals of the Southern Hockey League and began play in 1974–75 with the Syracuse Blazers of the North American Hockey League. Speck scored 34 points in 17 games and led the Blazers to a first place finish during the season. After Syracuse, Speck re-joined the Baltimore Clippers, leading the team in scoring with 75 points in 76 games for the 1975–76 season. After one season in Baltimore Speck joined the Brantford Alexanders of the upstart OHA Senior A Hockey League and played two seasons before retiring in 1977.

Personal

Speck met his wife while playing junior hockey with the Hamilton Red Wings. Fred and Linda had two children, son Wade and daughter Paige. After retiring from hockey in 1978, Speck became a sales manager, a career he continued until he became ill in November 2010. He started to lose weight and died of an unknown illness on February 10, 2011.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1962–63 Hamilton Red Wings OHA 10000 —————
1963–64 Hamilton Red Wings OHA 1726820 —————
1964–65 Hamilton Red Wings OHA 41161834108 —————
1965–66 Hamilton Red Wings OHA 48203757123 51238
1966–67 Hamilton Red Wings OHA 3923325567 13461014
1967–68 Hamilton Red Wings OHA 52315485115 11681415
1967–68 Fort Worth Wings CHL 11122 31344
1968–69 Detroit Red Wings NHL 50002 —————
1968–69 Fort Worth Wings CHL 6321244526 —————
1969–70 Detroit Red Wings NHL 50000 —————
1969–70 Fort Worth Wings CHL 6730467647 70337
1969–70 San Diego Gulls WHL ————— 20000
1970–71 Baltimore Clippers AHL 7231619240 64594
1971–72 Vancouver Canucks NHL 181230 —————
1971–72 Seattle Totems WHL 63360 —————
1971–72 Cleveland Barons AHL 27681421 60116
1972–73 Minnesota Fighting Saints WHA 4713162952 —————
1972–73 Los Angeles Sharks WHA 283131622 63252
1973–74 Los Angeles Sharks WHA 182574 —————
1973–74 Greensboro Generals SHL 813419 —————
1974–75 Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades WHA 30481218 —————
1974–75 Syracuse Blazers NAHL 1711233416 726816
1975–76 Baltimore Clippers AHL 7623527593 —————
1976–77 Brantford Alexanders OHA-Sr 2716213729 —————
1976–77 Brantford Alexanders OHA-Sr 3817355257 —————
WHA totals 12322426496 63252
NHL totals 281232 —————

Awards and achievements
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gollark: ```cvoid efork(char **args) { pid_t pid = fork(); if (pid < 0) { perror("fork"); exit(3); } else if (pid == 0) { if (execvp(args[0], args) == -1) { perror("execvp"); exit(2); } exit(0); } else { int status; waitpid(pid, &status, 0); printf("%d\n", status); }}```
gollark: Please help as my code does not work correctly æææ.
gollark: Palaiologos, *you* can write C, yes?
gollark: <@!309787486278909952> Have you problemized the problemoid yet?

References
  1. Smith, Russ L. (March 22, 1970). "Disputed goal that cost the Iowa Stars from winning the regular season championship". Waterloo Courier. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
  2. "Tough and fast, local legend Fred Speck dies". Hamilton Spectator. February 15, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
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