Thomas Lewis Colley (August 21, 1953 – November 17, 2021) was a Canadian professional

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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He played one game in the

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 ...

, with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

on March 12, 1975. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1973 to 1986, was spent in the minor leagues. Colley's son,

Kevin Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...

, also played in the NHL.

Playing career

As a youth, Colley played in the 1966

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

with the Toronto Weston

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team. Born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Colley played junior hockey for the

Niagara Falls Flyers The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982. B ...

and the

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...

, scoring 117 points, including 81 assists. Colley was drafted 57th overall by the

in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft and 38th overall by the

New England Whalers New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

in the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft. Like most WHA draftees, Colley chose to report to the NHL and signed with the North Stars, playing one game for the North Stars during the 1974-75 NHL season. He was assigned to the

New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the New York Islanders (1972–1973), Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Rangers (19 ...

of the

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 ...

and spent a total of seven seasons with the team, helping them to two division titles in 1979 and 1980 as well as the regular season title in 1980. He also made the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

finals three times with the Nighthawks, in 1975, losing to the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were two separate minor professional ice hockey franchises, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The original Indians were founding members of the American Hockey Leagu ...

, and in 1978 and 1979, losing to the Maine Mariners on both occasions. He is the Nighthawks' all-time leader in goals (204), assists (281), points (485), and games (534). In 1980, Colley spent a season with the

Binghamton Whalers The Binghamton Whalers were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, playing in Binghamton, New York, USA, at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. History The Whalers were generally a successful team, making the playoffs seven ti ...

before spending the next five seasons playing senior hockey for the Collingwood Royals. He retired as a player in 1986. Colley died on November 17, 2021.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colley, Tom 1953 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Binghamton Whalers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey centres Ice hockey people from Toronto Minnesota North Stars draft picks Minnesota North Stars players New England Whalers draft picks New Haven Nighthawks players Niagara Falls Flyers players Sudbury Wolves players

Playing career

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

See also

References

External links