The NHL Alumni Association and the Toronto Maple Leafs mourn the passing of former forward Paul Gagne, who sadly passed away at the age of 63.

The hockey world is mourning the passing of former NHL player Paul Gagne, who has unfortunately passed away this week. We send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

Gagne was a first round selection of the Colorado Rockies during the 1980 NHL Entry Draft when he was taken 19th overall. He was a part of a very loaded draft class that included the likes of Dave Babych, Denis Savard, Larry Murphy, Paul Coffey, and Brent Sutter, who were all drafted in the first round.

Gagne’s career spanned 8 seasons with the Rockies, New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the New York Islanders, where he played 390 games, scored 110 goals, and finished with 211 points. His best season came in 1984-85 as a member of the Devils with 24 goals and 43 points.

The Iroquois Falls native took a hiatus between 1985-86 to 1988-89, whereupon he returned to the North American ranks and played for the Maple Leafs and 56 games for the Newmarket Saints in the AHL. It was a brief stint but Gagne finished his Leafs tenure with 3 goals and 5 points in 16 games, while adding 33 goals and 74 points for the Saints in the same year.

He played for one more season, where it was split between the AHL’s Saints and the Springfield Indians and the NHL’s Islanders. Gagne combined for 31 goals and 74 points in 64 games in the AHL and 1 goal in 9 games with the Islanders before calling it quits in North America.

Gagne then spent several years in Germany and Switzerland between 1990-91 to 1998-99 playing in various leagues including the Eishockey-Bundesliga and the National League ranks.

He then became a coach in the National League B in Switzerland before returning home and standing behind the bench for the Timmins Golden Bears, who moved to Iroquois Falls in the NOJHL (Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League).

He led the Abitibi Eskimos to a NOJHL championship in 2009-10 after posting a scintillating 50-11-5-1 record. Gagne also ran his own hockey development camp in Timmins, Ontario.

His lengthy career will be remembered by his family, friends, fans, teammates and the teams he represented, including the Maple Leafs organization.

Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily