Sandy MacGregor

I recently learned that Sandy "Sam" McGregor passed away in November 2023.

MacGregor was a Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatter junior star who went on to play many seasons with the AHL Baltimore Clippers in the 1960s. He got into 2 games with the New York Rangers in the 1963-64 season. But beyond his two game appearance he refused to report to the Rangers farm team, and arrangements were made for him to return to Baltimore.

I always found it interesting that McGregor retired when he seemed to really be hitting his stride. Sure he was 30 when he retired, old for a hockey player in the 1960s, especially for one toiling on the uncomfortable busses in the minor leagues. But he had just come off a 44 goal season, by far his best as a pro. It was also a record for the Clippers, and he was the last original Clippers player to leave.

But times were different back then. Minor league hockey players didn't get paid much money and he had a second job with the Eastern Stainless Steel company for several years. When the opportunity arose for McGregor to become a division sales manager. With a young family in mind, he took the steady paycheck and moved to Columbus, Ohio.

After that it's hard to find out too much about the life of McGregor. He died at the age of 84, and his obituary suggests he was living near Chicago at the time.