Born May 18 1963 - Hamilton, ONT
Height 6.01 - Weight 190 - Shoots Right
YouTube video clip: Marty McSorley VS Wendel
Clark, (1993 Stanley Cup playoffs).
The Player:
Marty McSorley was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of
ten children, he grew up on a family farm in nearby Cayuga.
He played his NHL hockey for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton
Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks,
and the Boston Bruins. He was a versatile player who played
in the league as both a defenceman and a right winger. His last
amateur hockey club was the Belleville Bulls of the OHL
in the 1982-83 season. He went undrafted after playing junior
hockey there. He was then signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh
Penguins in 1982.
McSorley arrived in Edmonton, after leaving the Penguins in 1985.
Oilers general manager and coach Glen Sather felt he could never
have too much protection for his speedy star players. The trade
to Edmonton sparked McSorley's hockey career, which saw him go
on to win two Stanley Cups with the Oilers in 1987 and 1988.
It was there in Edmonton that McSorley built his reputation
as an on-ice enforcer. He was the on-ice bodyguard for both Wayne
Gretzky and Jari Kurri.
He was part of the blockbuster trade on August 9, 1988,
which saw Wayne Gretzky dealt to the Los Angeles Kings. It was
a deal that finally put Los Angeles on the hockey map. Gretzky
insisted that McSorley be part of that deal. His best years
in the league were in Los Angeles, which saw McSorley capture
the Alka-Seltzer Plus Award in 1991 with a league leading +48,
an award he shared that season with Calgary's Theoren Fleury.
He was then invited to Team Canada's training camp in Hamilton
prior to the 1991 Canada Cup. He ended up being one of
the team's last cuts.
In 1993 the Kings reached the Stanley Cup Finals after knocking
the Toronto Maple Leafs from the league semi-finals. This event
included a memorable fight with Leafs enforcer Wendel Clark
after McSorley's open-ice hit on Leafs captain Doug Gilmour,
causing Clark to go straight after him. The Kings faced the Montreal
Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals, but in Game 2 McSorley was
caught with an illegal stick, contributing to the Kings' loss
in the game and ultimately the series. McSorley otherwise had
ten points in the playoffs and was the only King to score during
the final game.
In the latter stages of his hockey career played for a series
of clubs which include, the Rangers, Sharks, Oilers and Bruins
before calling it a hockey career with the Grand Rapids Griffins
of the IHL in 2000-01.
In 961 NHL career games, McSorley recorded 359 points and 3,381
penalty minutes. He ranks fourth all time in the National
Hockey League in penalty minutes. Only Tiger Williams, Dale Hunter
and Tie Domi rank higher.
Brashear Incident:
On February 21, 2000, McSorley was involved in a stick incident
against Vancouver forward Donald Brashear, in which McSorley
hit Brashear over the head with his stick in the final seconds
of game against Vancouver. The Bruins were losing 5-2 in the
game when Brashear was knocked unconscious. Brashear was then
carried off on a stretcher with blood flowing from his nose.
McSorley was then suspended by the league officially for 23 games
plus the playoffs, the harshest penalty handed out by the NHL
for an on ice incident to that point in history. The Vancouver
RCMP continued to look into assault charges for sometime afterwards.
During his suspension McSorley attempted to continue playing
hockey in the United Kingdom with the London Knights (UK) where
his elder brother Chris was coaching but this move was blocked
by the International Ice Hockey Federation out of respect tfor
the NHL. A similar intention to play in Germany for the Munich
Barons also failed.
The Coach:
McSorley coached the American Hockey League team the Springfield
Falcons between 2002 and 2004. The Phoenix Coyotes announced
on
June 16, 2002 that they hired McSorley to coach their American
Hockey League affiliate. At the time of that hiring the Coyotes
were partly-owned by Wayne Gretzky and the Coyotes' GM Michael
G. Barnett was McSorley's agent.
The Actor:
From 1995 to 1997, McSorley also appeared in four movies: Bad
Boys (1995), Forget Paris (1995), Con
Air (1997), and Trading
Favors (1997), though his appearances were typically brief. He
also appeared in one episode of CSI Miami in 2005 as Rink Manager.
On July 30, 2007 McSorley guest starred on ABC Family's
Greek as himself playing a hockey goaltender.
In February 2008, McSorley was featured as one the pros on Pros
vs Joes on Spike TV.
Honours:
* 1987 - Stanley Cup, Edmonton Oilers
* 1988 - Stanley Cup, Edmonton Oilers
* 1991 - Alka-Seltzer Plus Award winner with a +48, Los Angeles
Kings, (Shared with Calgary's Theoren Fleury)
* 1994 - Assisted on Wayne Gretzky's record-breaking 802nd NHL
career goal, L.A. Kings. (March 23, 1994)
Personal:
Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards referred to McSorley
in her song "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory",
with the lyric, "You're the Great
One, I'm Marty McSorley..., I make the dough, but you get the
glory." McSorley appears in the song's music
video.
This photo was taken at the Cayuga Speedway Driving School in the
1990s. McSorley is on the left in the red driving suit. Others
in the photo include NHL players Ron Duguay of the LA Kings, Dave
Semenko of the Edmonton Oilers, Driving School Instructor and racer
Randy McDonald, hockey great Bobby Hull, Brian Stemmle of the Canadian
Ski Team, Brendan Shanahan of the NJ Devils, and Kevin McClennand
of the Oilers.
