1973-74 O-Pee-Chee 38 Don Luce Hockey Card (Front)
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee 38 Don Luce Hockey Card (Back)
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
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Card Notes
Buffalo is the third NHL stop for Don, but he seems to have found a permanent home. He’s a digging type of forward who prefers to set up his linemates rather than score himself.
En Français
Les Sabres dont la troisième équipe de Don dans la LNH, mais il semble s’être créé une place permanente. Il préfère préparer le jeu pour ses co-équipiers plutôt que de compteur lui-même.
Details
Drafted by the New York Rangers in 1966, Don Luce excelled with the Kitchener Rangers in the OHA Junior A for three seasons. In 1967-68, his final year of junior, Don led the league with 70 assists and was third in the race for the Eddie Powers Trophy with 94 points, 20 behind leader Tom Webster.
Over two years, 1969-70 and 1970-71, Luce appeared in a total of just 21 games in the NHL with the Blue Shirts. On November 2, 1970, he was shipped to the Detroit Red Wings where he finished out the campaign as a regular, appearing in 58 games.
Time in the Motor City was short. on May 25, 1971, he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres with Mike Robitaille for goaltender Joe Daley. It was the trade that made Don Luce’s career as he excelled with Buffalo for the next decade.
1973-74 would begin a string of six consecutive seasons scoring at least 20 goals. He topped out in 1974-75 with 33 goals and 78 points while helping the Sabres reach the Stanley Cup final before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers. He was the recipient of the Bill Masterton Trophy that year.
Between 1969-70 and 1981-82, Don Luce appeared in 894 regular season and 91 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Rangers, Red Wings, Sabres, Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1986, he was inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame.