Flyers Fondly Remember John Miszuk

Original Flyers defenseman John Miszuk passed away on Sunday, July 27. He was 84 years of age. A member of the Flyers team during the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons, Miszuk played 237 games in the National Hockey League and 214 in the World Hockey Association.

The Flyers and the Flyers Alumni Association express their condolences to the Miszuk family and John's friends and surviving former teammates. He is survived by wife Cora, children Kathleen, Tom and Mary, as well as grandchildren Steven, Nicholas, Hailey, and Morgan. His family was by his side when he passed away.

Miszuk was technically the first European born player in Flyers history. He was born September 29, 1940 in Nelibaki, Poland. The town is now part of Belarus. During World War II, the Miszuk family was driven out of their home and sent to forced labor and refugee camps.

Fortunately, the family was eventually able to safely flee to Canada. John was raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He learned to play hockey in Hamilton and starred in junior hockey for the Hamilton Red Wings.

The 6-foot-2, 200 pound Miszuk was one of the bigger defensemen of his era. In his rookie professional season, he signed with the Western Hockey League's Edmonton Flyers. Miszuk quickly won the trust of savvy but temperamental Edmonton coach Bud Poile. The team won the 1961-62 championship.

Miszuk broke into the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings in 1963-64. He later had a stint with the Chicago Black Hawks (spelled as two words rather than one in that era). When the NHL expanded from six to 12 teams in 1967, inugural Flyers general manager Poile claimed his former Edmonton player from Chicago in the Expansion Draft.

Hockey Hall of Fame general manager Keith Allen told Hall of Fame writer Jay Greenberg in 1995 that Miszuk was one of his most reliable players during the Flyers' first season of existence. Allen served as the Flyerrs first coach before succeeding Poile as general manager two years later.

Following his stint with the Flyers, Miszuk spent a year with the Minnesota North Stars. Thereafter, he finished his career back in the minor leagues and in the rival World Hockey Association. Approaching his 39th birthday, he retired in 1979.

John and wife Cora were married for 63 year. In retirement, the couple owned several Tim Horton's franchises in Hamilton. For many year, John remained active in Hockey with the NHL Alumni Club Tour. He was also deeply involved in philanthropic causes in and around Hamilton.

Seventy-plus years after last laying eyes on his hometown, John Miszuk made a pilgrimage to return to Nelibaki. Miszuk also reunited with the surviving members of the Flyers inaugural team at the Flyers Golden Anniversary Weekend in 2016. The group received a standing ovation and gathered at center ice before the Flyers Alumni played the Pittsburgh Penguins Alumni at the Wells Fargo Center on January 14, 2016.