1973-74 O-Pee-Chee 48 Mike Corrigan Hockey Card (Front)
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee 48 Mike Corrigan Hockey Card (Back)
Card Notes
An original draft choice of the Kings in 1967, Mike rejoined Los Angeles in 1971 after a season and a half with Vancouver. Originally a product of the Toronto system.
En Français
Repêché par les Kings en 1967, Mike est revenu à Los Angeles cette saison après une saison et demie à Vancouver. Il joua d’abord dans le réseau de filiales de Toronto.
Details
Just to be clear, Mike Corrigan was a selection by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, not the Amateur Draft. He was the 14th player picked by L.A. and the 79th overall. He did come from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Corrigan played junior in the Leafs system with the Toronto Marlboros before spending time with the Rochester Americans in the AHL and the Tulsa Oilers in the CPHL. He never appeared in an NHL game with the Buds.
In his first tour of duty with the Kings, Mike was limited to just five games in 1967-68 and 36 more in 1969-70. The rest of his time was spent with their AHL affiliate in Springfield. He helped the Johnny Wilson coached AHL Kings to the Calder Cup final in 1969-70 before falling to the Buffalo Bisons.
An expansion draft veteran, Corrigan was again selected in the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. The left winger was the eleventh player taken by the team. With the Canucks, Mike finally put in a full NHL season, playing 76 of the team’s 78 games and contributing 21 goals.
However, his time in British Columbia was short. 19 games into the 1971-72 season, he was put on waivers by Vancouver and reclaimed by Los Angeles. He finished up the campaign appearing in 56 games for the Kings.
The season noted on the back of the card, 1972-73, was by far his career year in the NHL. Corrigan put up 37 goals and 67 points in 78 games for the Kings. He led the team in goals, one more than second place Bob Berry. From there, it was a downhill journey, never getting past 22 goals for the rest of his career.
Between 1967-68 and 1977-78, Corrigan played in 594 regular season and 17 playoff games in the National Hockey League. Along with the Kings and Canucks, he also played with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Later, he would spend three seasons as assistant coach of those Penguins.