Edward Joseph (Spider) Mazur played 17 seasons as a professional hockey player. He won a Stanley Cup as a member of the 1953 Montreal Canadiens. Along the way he found time to help his home town Winnipeg Warriors win the Western Hockey League title and Edinburgh Cup in 1955-56.

He hung up the blades in 1966 but he never stopped working for sport. His special love was hockey, but all any sport had to do to enlist his help was simply to ask. “I felt like I’ve had three completely different careers in my life,” Mazur would say not long before he fell victim to the cancer that claimed his life. “I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed them all. Each one gave me a lot of satisfaction.” After his playing career was over, Mazur turned to a career in sales and promotion with Molson Breweries for the next 17 years. That was followed by a seven-year stretch as co-owner of the Brooklands Inn.

A knee injury that robbed him of his exceptional speed shortened Mazur’s NHL career - he played for the Canadiens and Blackhawks - but that injury had a silver lining for Winnipeg hockey fans. That’s because it brought him home to become a member of Jack Perrin’s brand new Warriors. The Warriors were really the beginning of the modern era of hockey in Winnipeg. In 1955, they had the honour of opening a brand new Winnipeg Arena. When the season ended, Alf Pike their coach, felt confident his team would have finished no worse than fourth or fifth in the NHL. Many hockey people felt he was right.

The big line on that team featured Billy Mosienko on right wing, Skippy Burchell at centre and Mazur on the left side. Their talents rekindled an interest in professional hockey in Winnipeg after an absence of 27 years. Eventually the flame that team created led to the birth of the WHA and NHL Jets.

Ed Mazur was also inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.