Former Toronto Maple Leafs Forward Milan Marcetta Passes Away

The Victoria Times Colonist obituary section included a former Toronto Maple Leafs player this weekend. Milan Marcetta has passed away at age 78.

Milan Marcetta was popular player on Vancouver Island back in the mid-1960s. He, along with the likes of Bob Barlow and Andy Hebenton, starred with the Victoria Maple Leafs of the Western Hockey League. Marcetta recorded 102 goals and 237 points in 201 regular-season games with Victoria. He led Victoria to the Lester Patrick Cup championship in 1966.

At the end of the 1966-67 season he and teammate Aut Erickson were called up to the Leafs for playoff reinforcements. Marcetta ended up playing in three games all in the Stanley Cup final - his first three games in the National Hockey League! Of course the Leafs won the Cup that year, and he and Erickson got their names inscribed on it.

When the NHL finally expanded the following year Marcetta became property of the Minnesota North Stars. He ended up playing in 54 games with the North Stars over the next two seasons, but never really stuck in the NHL. He ended up back in the minor leagues, bouncing around from Rochester to Memphis to Phoenix and to Denver (winning another Lester Patrick Cup in 1972).

But this Alberta prairie boy's heart was always back on Vancouver Island. After he retired he moved back to Victoria. He became a property manager while operating a large hockey school.