Ronald Patrick "Chico" Maki (August 17, 1939 – August 24, 2015) was a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. Maki played his entire

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) career with the

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, starting in the

1960–61 NHL season The 1960–61 NHL season was the 44th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams played 70 games each. The Chicago Black Hawks defeated the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals four games to two to win the Stanley Cup. It was the fir ...

, and retiring after the 1975–76 season.

Playing career

Maki played

junior hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from t ...

with the St. Catharines Teepees, and was team captain when they won the

1960 Memorial Cup The 1960 Memorial Cup final was the 42nd junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Canada comp ...

. He won the

Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award The Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award is given each year to the player in the American Hockey League (AHL) determined to be the most outstanding rookie. The award is based on voting by the media and the players. It was named after Dudley "Red" G ...

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) rookie of the year while playing for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

in 1961. Maki then dressed for games 1 and 2 of the

1961 Stanley Cup Finals The 1961 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1960–61 season, and the culmination of the 1961 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks. ...

, but did not play; Chicago still included his name on the Stanley Cup when they won it that year. Maki became known as a skilled two-way forward, perennially in the league leaders in shorthanded goals, and played in three All-Star Games: in 1961, 1971 and 1972.

Personal life

He was the older brother of former NHL player

Wayne Maki Wayne Maki (November 10, 1944 – May 12, 1974) was a professional ice hockey player and an early star of the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League (NHL). Maki was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and he was of Finnish descent. He b ...

, who died of brain cancer in 1974. Maki also bought the Hillcrest Restaurant and Motel, which he later called Chico Maki's Inn. He was of Finnish descent.

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Picture of Chico Maki's Name on the 1961 Stanley Cup Plaque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maki, Chico 1939 births 2015 deaths Canadian ice hockey forwards Chicago Blackhawks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Ice hockey people from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Stanley Cup champions Canadian people of Finnish descent 20th-century Canadian sportsmen