Syl Apps

Charles Joseph Sylvanus Apps, CM (January 18, 1915 – December 24, 1998) of Paris, Ontario, was a Canadian pole vaulter and professional hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1936 to 1948 and a Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario. Apps died of a heart attack on Christmas Eve of 1998.

Athletic career

Apps was a strong athlete, six feet tall, weighing 185 pounds, and won the gold medal at the 1934 British Empire Games in the pole vault competition. Two years later he represented Canada at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he placed sixth in the pole vault event. After watching him play football at McMaster University, Conn Smythe signed Apps to play hockey with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Apps played centre position with the Toronto Maple Leafs for his entire professional hockey career. His jersey number was 10. He was the winner of the first Calder Trophy in 1937, and the 1942 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Apps served as the Maple Leafs captain during the first National Hockey League All-Star Game October 13, 1947, at Maple Leaf Gardens. He also played for an all-star team competing in Montreal on October 29, 1939, to raise money for Babe Siebert's family.

Syl Apps, Jr.

Sylvanus Marshall Apps, Jr. (born August 1, 1947) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins. Apps was born in Toronto, Ontario, but grew up in Kingston, Ontario. He was the son of Hockey Hall of Fame member Syl Apps.

Playing career

He was originally drafted by the New York Rangers in 1964 but did not play his first big league season until 1970. That season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team with which he made his mark, becoming one of the franchise's first stars. Between 1973 and 1976, Apps centered the Century Line with left wing Lowell MacDonald and right wing Jean Pronovost. He led the team in scoring three times and was named to play in the 1975 All-Star Game. Apps set a team record with 59 points in 1971–72, broke his own record in 1972–73 with 85 points, and tied that in 1973–74. Apps' best season was 1975–76, when he scored 32 goals and 67 assists for 99 points, although this was not a team record, as during this season Pierre Larouche scored 111 points and Jean Pronovost tallied 104.