Wayne Maki: Vancouver Canucks Pioneer Stolen In His Prime

Wayne Maki had found his hockey niche. After toiling for half a decade, mostly in the minors, the Vancouver Canucks were born and Maki was one of the team’s top players. That is, until brain cancer stole him on May 12, 1974 at just 29 years old.

His time in Vancouver followed consecutive championship seasons. Maki won a CHL title with the Dallas Blackhawks in 1968-69 and a Calder Cup championship in the AHL with the Buffalo Bisons in 1969-70.

Junior and Minor Pro

Hockey Card Collection

NHL Career

Rookie Card

Career Stats

Wayne Maki – Junior and Minor Pro

Maki played a single season of major junior hockey in the OHA. In 1964-65, he played for the St. Catherines Blackhawks. Alongside leading scorer and Eddie Powers Trophy winner Ken Hodge, the Blackhawks finished a dismal seventh in the eight team league.

That year, Wayne also saw his first pro hockey action. Maki played three games in the CPHL for the St. Louis Braves. It would be an initiation into the league he would spend a lot of time in over the next few years.

Wayne Maki Collection

In 1966-67 with the Braves, Maki tied for seventh in the CPHL with 31 goals. He equaled the total of Terry Crisp. Crisp was a member of Boston Bruins affiliate Oklahoma City Blazers.

Two years later, playing for the Dallas Black Hawks, Maki won his first pro championship. Dallas won the CHL title, taking out the powerful Oklahoma City Blazers in the finals.

1969-70 would be the last time Wayne would spend in the minors. He played for the Fred Shero coached Buffalo Bisons. It would also be the last year for the Bisons. The team exited the AHL when the Buffalo Sabres were granted a franchise for the 1970-71 National Hockey League season.

With Gilles Villemure in net, Buffalo eliminated the Springfield Kings in the finals for the Calder Cup championship. It was an interesting playoff for Maki. Over the regular season, he sat a modest 72 penalty minutes in 39 games. However, in 14 playoff games, Wayne sat a whopping 61 minutes.

Wayne Maki – NHL

Between 1967-68 and 1972-73, Wayne Maki played 246 regular season games, scoring 57 and assisting on 79 for 136 points. Over that time, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks. His only two Stanley Cup playoff games came while a member of the Blackhawks.

Wayne was property of the Blackhawks right from his time in St. Catherines. He played sparingly with the club until the St. Louis Blues selected him in the 1969 Intra League draft. He would play just 16 games in a Blues jersey.

At the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft, serving to stock the Sabres and Canucks, Maki went 24th overall. Interestingly, after starring with the AHL Bisons the year before, the NHL Sabres still had no interest in Wayne.

Maki saw regular action with the Hal Laycoe coached Canucks in 1970-71 and 1971-72. In Vancouver’s inaugural season, he scored 25 goals. That total tied him with Andre Boudrias for second on the team, nine behind leader Rosaire Paiement.

The following year, his numbers dropped slightly with Maki scoring 22 goals. He finished third on the team behind just Boudrias and Orland Kurtenbach. The team did not finish well, losing 50 of their games.

26 games into 1972-73, Maki was forced to call it a career. In December, 1972, Wayne was diagnosed with brain cancer. On May 12, 1974, he succumbed to the disease at the age of 29.

Wayne Maki – Rookie Card

The Wayne Maki rookie card appears as number 55 in the 1967-68 Topps NHL hockey card set. He is shown as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks and had not played an NHL game previous to the start of that season.

Maki would not appear on cardboard again until 1970-71 when he joined the Canucks. That would also be his first time on an O-Pee-Chee card. His last card appears in both the Topps and O-Pee-Chee 1972-73 sets.

Wayne Maki Career Stats

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1964-65	St. Catharines Black Hawks	OHA	56	29	48	77	43
1964-65	St. Louis Braves	CPHL	3	0	0	0	4
1965-66	St. Louis Braves	CPHL	69	25	26	51	46
1966-67	St. Louis Braves	CPHL	67	31	28	59	69
1967-68	Dallas Black Hawks	CPHL	12	5	7	12	14
1967-68	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	49	5	5	10	32
1968-69	Dallas Black Hawks	CHL	50	25	24	49	74
1968-69	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	1	0	0	0	0
1969-70	Buffalo Bisons	AHL	39	13	20	33	72
1969-70	St. Louis Blues	NHL	16	2	1	3	4
1970-71	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	78	25	38	63	99
1971-72	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	76	22	25	47	43
1972-73	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	26	3	10	13	6
	NHL Totals		246	57	79	136	184