Kirk Maltby

Kirk Maltby was born in Guelph and moved to Cambridge (Hespeler) in 1976. Maltby played minor hockey in Hespeler, including one year with the Cambridge Winterhawks. He then played in the Ontario Hockey League with the Owen Sound Platers.

Maltby was drafted in the third round of the 1992 Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League. In 1992-93, he played for the Cape Breton Oilers and then advanced to the National Hockey League playing three seasons (1993-96) with Edmonton before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings. In Detroit, he became a key player with the Red Wings winning Stanley Cup championships in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2009. Maltby was also a member of Canada’s World Championship hockey team in 2003 and 2005.

Maltby has been acknowledged as one of the top defensive specialists in the National Hockey League. He retired in 2010 and became a scout for the Detroit Red Wings. His NHL statistics over 17 seasons were 1,072 games played, scoring 128 goals and 132 assists for 260 points and 867 penalty minutes. He also appeared in 169 playoff games, scoring 16 goals, 15 assists and 31 points while accumulating 149 penalty minutes. Maltby was inducted into the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

Photo courtesy of the Kitchener-Waterloo Record Photographic Negative Collection, University of Waterloo Library.