Laurie Boschman

Laurie was the 1st round draft choice of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1979 and scored 48 points in his rookie season. Around that time, Laurie became a Christian and spoke out about his faith, much to the chagrin of Harold Ballard. Ballard publicly ridiculed Laurie for his beliefs largely destroying Boschman’s confidence. Laurie welcomed a trade to the Edmonton Oilers and from there he went on to several excellent seasons with the Winnipeg Jets where he had 4 seasons of over 25 goals. Laurie then spent two season with the New Jersey Devils followed by playing the inaugural season with the Ottawa Senators.
Laurie stayed strong in his faith during his career and ended up playing over 1,000 NHL games with over 300 goals and over 2,200 penalty minutes – proof that his faith didn’t make him the soft player that Ballard had claimed him to be