Bobby Schmautz was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1945. He grew up playing minor hockey for the local team (Saskatoon Quakes). After two solid seasons, he was offered his first pro contract by the Los Angeles Blades of the WHL in 1964.
In 1967, after three seasons with the Blades, he was offered an NHL Contract by the Chicago Blackhawks. He only played 13-games accumulating 5-points in his first season. The majority of his season was spent in the CPHL (Central Pro Hockey League) with the Dallas Black Hawks where he was near a point per game.
The following year, he played 63-games with Chicago but only managed to register 16-points.
Schmautz was claimed by the St. Louis Blues in the 1969 Intraleague Draft. He never played for the blues as he was traded to Montreal three weeks later and then sold by Montreal to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the WHL. After 12 games, Salt Lake then sold his rights to the Seattle Totems where he finished out the year. His production took off with Seattle amassing 59-points in 66-games.
He was then a Free Agent and was signed by the Canucks in their 1970 inaugural season. He played for Vancouver for the better part of 4-seasons. His best season was in 1972-73 when he had 71-points in 77-games and led the team in scoring. He also made the All-Star game in two consecutive seasons.
Vancouver was not a great team in their early years and made the decision to trade Schmautz midway through the 1973-74 season. Schmautz had 26-goals and 45-points in 49-games before being dealt to Boston in exchange for Chris Oddleifson, Fred O’Donnel, and the rights to Mike Walton.
Schmautz ended up playing the majority of his career with Boston, but he did come back to Vancouver in his age 35 season as a free agent. At 35, Schmautz still managed to produce 61-points in 73-games.
After Scmautz retired in 1981, he moved to Oregon and started working in the roofing industry.
Fun Fact: Schmautz had the same number of playoff goals for Boston as Bobby Orr with 26. He was also known for having one of the best snapshots in the game.
Not fun fact: Schmautz passed away March 28th, 2021 which happened to be his 76th birthday.
RIP to Johnny Gaudreau
MooseMalloy
My first favourite Canuck. One of the few at the time who could push back both offensively and physically. I was heartbroken as a kid when we traded him away for Chris Oddleifson. Glad he got to come back to finish off his career here.
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41. Bobby Schmautz — 285GP | 108G | 104A | 212P | 1970-74 & 1980-81
Bobby Schmautz was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1945. He grew up playing minor hockey for the local team (Saskatoon Quakes). After two solid seasons, he was offered his first pro contract by the Los Angeles Blades of the WHL in 1964.
In 1967, after three seasons with the Blades, he was offered an NHL Contract by the Chicago Blackhawks. He only played 13-games accumulating 5-points in his first season. The majority of his season was spent in the CPHL (Central Pro Hockey League) with the Dallas Black Hawks where he was near a point per game.
The following year, he played 63-games with Chicago but only managed to register 16-points.
Schmautz was claimed by the St. Louis Blues in the 1969 Intraleague Draft. He never played for the blues as he was traded to Montreal three weeks later and then sold by Montreal to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the WHL. After 12 games, Salt Lake then sold his rights to the Seattle Totems where he finished out the year. His production took off with Seattle amassing 59-points in 66-games.
He was then a Free Agent and was signed by the Canucks in their 1970 inaugural season. He played for Vancouver for the better part of 4-seasons. His best season was in 1972-73 when he had 71-points in 77-games and led the team in scoring. He also made the All-Star game in two consecutive seasons.
Vancouver was not a great team in their early years and made the decision to trade Schmautz midway through the 1973-74 season. Schmautz had 26-goals and 45-points in 49-games before being dealt to Boston in exchange for Chris Oddleifson, Fred O’Donnel, and the rights to Mike Walton.
Schmautz ended up playing the majority of his career with Boston, but he did come back to Vancouver in his age 35 season as a free agent. At 35, Schmautz still managed to produce 61-points in 73-games.
After Scmautz retired in 1981, he moved to Oregon and started working in the roofing industry.
Fun Fact: Schmautz had the same number of playoff goals for Boston as Bobby Orr with 26. He was also known for having one of the best snapshots in the game.
Not fun fact: Schmautz passed away March 28th, 2021 which happened to be his 76th birthday.
RIP to Johnny Gaudreau
My first favourite Canuck. One of the few at the time who could push back both offensively and physically.
I was heartbroken as a kid when we traded him away for Chris Oddleifson.
Glad he got to come back to finish off his career here.