The first Newfoundland-born player to compete in an NHL game has died.
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced the passing of Bishop Falls' Alex Faulkner on Tuesday.
He was 88.
We mourn the passing of Alex Faulkner. Alex played one game with the Maple Leafs in 1961 and was the first player born in Newfoundland to appear in an NHL game. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/SezjY5I2Jw
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 8, 2025
Faulkner became the first Newfoundlander to play in an NHL contest when he dressed in the Leafs' Dec. 7, 1961 game against the Montreal Canadiens. The Leafs were 4-1 losers. It would be the only game that Faulkner would play for the Leafs.
He would go on to appear in 100 games over the next two seasons for the Detroit Red Wings, scoring 15 goals and adding 17 assists. Faulkner was the Red Wings' leading scorer in the 1963 playoffs, notching five goals, when the team fell in five games to the Leafs in the Stanley Cup Finals.
After his stint in the NHL was over, Faulkner continued his professional career with stops in the American Hockey League, Central Professional Hockey League and the Western (Professional) Hockey League.
Faulkner was inducted into the Newfoundland Hockey Hall of Fame in 1994.
