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Walter Edward “Turk” Broda (1914 – 1972)  
He was a National Hockey League (NHL) star Goaltender who spent his whole professional Career from 1936 – 1952 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  
 
Turk Broda was born in Brandon Manitoba on May 15th 1914 to a family of Polish descent.  
 
His parents emigrated from the southeastern Polish province of Podkarpackie, an area of a mixed Polish and Ukrainian peoples. He got his knick name “Turk” because of his strength.  
 
As a kid growing up in Brandon playing Hockey was very basic, you could play on the frozen Assiniboine River or on an open-air rink, which you helped to flood and keep clean.  
 
For the player that aspired to be a goalie like Turk, you used the Eaton’s and Simpson’s catalogues to pad your body from the onslaught of pucks that would be shot at you by the other players.  
 
This was the early background that shaped Turk Broda into one of the best Goalies that Hockey has ever known.  
 
In the season of 1932-33 he played with the Brandon Native Sons who he helped win the Memorial Cup in 1933, and the following year he played with the Winnipeg Monarchs.  
 
He went on to play for the Detroit Red Wings farm team, where on May 6th 1936 Conn Smythe spotted him, and signed him to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto paid $8,000 to Jack Adams of the Detroit-IHL for the Trade.  
 
In 1941 Turk won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender and was selected to play on the first all-star team. In 1942 he repeated his success and helped Toronto win the Stanley Cup. He was also selected to play on the second all-star team.  
 
From 1943 to 1945 Turk left Hockey to serve in the Canadian Army during World War II, and after his return he returned to the Toronto Maple leafs. He won three more Stanley Cups from 1947 to 1949 and also in 1948 won another Vezina Trophy, and was also selected to an All Star team.  
 
In 1951 he won his last Stanley Cup with Toronto, and in 1952 he retired when he and his two brothers joined in a toast to the Stanley Cup. Broda became a junior coach in 1955 – 56, and led the Toronto Marlboros to back-to-back Memorial Cup Championships.  
 
Turk Broda was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967.  
 
He died on October 17th 1972 in Toronto, Ontario at the age of 58 from a heart attack, and is buried at the Glendale Memorial Gardens Rexdale, Ontario, Canada.  
 
Notes: In 1998 Turk was ranked number 60 on the Hockey News List of the 100 greatest hockey players.  
 
His Brothers Lou Broda was Forman at the Gardens, and Stan Broda was the icemaker.  
 
Source: Daly House Museum’s current exhibit, “100 Years of Brandon Hockey”.  
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P196701#photo