Post Gazette · Mar 8, 2018
How Patric Hornqvist illustrates the NHL's evolution
Inge Hammarstrom was a skilled winger who put up 239 points in 427 games during a six-year career with Toronto and St. Louis during the 1970s.
He also was the subject of one of the most scalding public putdowns in NHL history.
Hammarstrom’s career was built on a foundation of excellent skating and stickhandling, and he was a reliable 20-goal man for much of his time in North America.
There was, however, little physicality in his game — Hammarstrom never was assessed more than 23 penalty minutes in a season — and that placed him squarely in the crosshairs of Harold Ballard, whose tenure as majority owner of the Maple Leafs spawned mostly chaos and controversy.