Greg Hotham

Greg Hotham was born in London, Ontario but grew up in the Aurora/Newmarket area. As a kid in the early 1970s he starred in the Aurora Minor Hockey Association while cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs, though his favorite player was Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings.

He was cut by the OHL's Toronto Marlboros two years in a row but never gave up on hockey as a teen. Eventually he made the Kingston Canadians junior hockey team and was noticed by NHL scouts. The Leafs ended up taking the defenseman in the fifth round, 84th overall, in the 1976 NHL Amateur draft.

Hotham then spent part of three seasons with the Maple Leafs, acquiring fifteen points over sixty games before moving to the Pittsburgh Penguins where he played more than two solid seasons.

It's funny how life has a way of making sure you never forget where home is. Hotham ended his professional career where it all began –  with the Newmarket Saints of the AHL.

“There were some other opportunities, but at the time I had a young family. My wife was a school teacher, and she was trying to get back into teaching full-time. There didn’t seem to be any reason to go anywhere else really, to have to restart a lot of new things and with the boys just going into school. So it was nice to stay at home and still play at a pretty high level.”

After he hung up the skates competitively Hotham coached the Newmarket Saints from 1986 to 1990, and founded the Hotham Sports Centre.

In 230 NHL games Greg Hotham scored 15 goals and 74 assists for 89 points.