Anthony Francis Huck (born December 4, 1945 in Regina

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

) is a retired ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 player. While Fran Huck played professionally in both the NHL and WHA his greatest contributions may have been representing Canada with the National Team program during years before NHL professionals were allowed to compete internationally. His tenure culminated at the 1968 Winter Olympics

1968 Winter Olympics

The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated...

 where he helped the team with the Bronze. As a professional he played with the Montreal Canadiens (NHL)

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

, St. Louis Blues (NHL), Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Fighting Saints

Minnesota Fighting Saints

The Minnesota Fighting Saints was the name of two professional ice hockey teams based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that played in the World Hockey Association. The first team was one of the WHA's original twelve franchises, playing from 1972–76. The second team was relocated from Cleveland, Ohio, and...

, and Denver Spurs

Denver Spurs

The Denver Spurs were a professional ice hockey team based out of Denver, Colorado. The Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League in 1968, and played at the Denver Coliseum. The Spurs became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a championship in 1971–72...

. In 1999, Huck was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.

Amateur career

Fran Huck had a spectacular junior career with the Regina Pats. His achievements included winning the scoring title, making the Allstar team and being named league MVP. After junior hockey, Huck made the decision, shocking to many hockey people, to join the Canadian National team instead of the NHL. At the time the national team program, run by Father David Bauer, afforded hockey players the alternative of playing hockey while also pursuing higher education and Fran wished to study law. He was with the national team from 1965 to 1969 winning a bronze medal for the 1968 Olympics

Ice hockey at the 1968 Winter Olympics

At the 1968 Winter Olympics held in Grenoble, France, one ice hockey event was held: men's ice hockey. This tournament also counted as IIHF World Championship and IIHF European Championship...

 and also bronze for the IIHF World Championships

Ice Hockey World Championships

The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation . First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual international tournament. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European...

 in 1966 and 1967.

Professional career

Huck began his professional hockey career briefly with the Montreal Canadiens before playing two seasons with the NHL St. Louis Blues and with Denver of the WHL. He then moved over to the WHA and played with the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Fighting Saints. He retired after the 1977-78 season. Today he is a practicing lawyer in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Honours and awards

Named to First Allstar Team 1966 and 1968 IIHF World Championships.

Inducted International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame

IIHF Hall of Fame

The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which was established by the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1997, when 30 individuals were inducted at the world championships in Helsinki...

 in 1999.

Most valuable player award 1971-72 WHL

Inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of fame in 2006.

External links

• Biography in the Regina Leader-Post
  Regina Leader-Post
  The Regina Leader-Post is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and now a member of the Postmedia Network.The newspaper was first published as The Leader in 1883, by Nicholas Flood Davin...
  
  
• Testimonial from the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fall