Steve Vickers (ice hockey)

Steve Vickers (born April 21, 1951 in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired Canadian ice hockey left winger.

Drafted 10th overall by the New York Rangers in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft after a junior career with the Toronto Marlboros of the OHL in which he was named a First Team league All-Star, Vickers spent a single season in the minor leagues with the Omaha Knights of the Central Hockey League before coming up to the Rangers in 1972.

Teamed on a line with centre Walt Tkaczuk and winger Bill Fairbairn that would be one of the 1970s' best two-way forward trios, Vickers finished with 30 goals and 23 assists for a total of 53 points and was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. He played the whole of his ten year career for the Rangers, scoring thirty or more goals on four occasions and just missing on a fifth. Vickers' best season was 1975, when he scored 41 goals and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team. He remained effective until his final season, in which his effectiveness dropped sharply and finished the year in the minor leagues with the Springfield Indians, after which he retired.

Vickers finished his career with 246 goals and 340 assists for 586 points in 698 games, adding 330 penalty minutes. He was named to play in the All-Star Game in 1975 and 1976. He made NHL history in 1972 when he became the first player ever to record hat tricks in consecutive games (November 12 versus the Los Angeles Kings and November 15 versus the Philadelphia Flyers).

External links

*legendsofhockey|14612|Steve Vickers
* [http://rangers.nhl.com/team/app?page=HistoricalPlayerDetail&pkey=8452232&service=page Steve Vickers - alumni profile (nyrangers.com)]