Montreal-born Hy Buller was a professional hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers.
After getting his start in the amateur leagues, Buller played five seasons with the NHL for first the Detroit Red Wings and later the New York Rangers. He also played in the 1952 All-Star Game. Buller played defense and was nicknamed the “Blueline Blaster” because he would hit opposing players on the lower leg, between the skate and the pads. He was admired by others for his sportsmanship.
Born to an immigrant father from Vizhnitz, Bukovina,, and a local Jewish woman, Buller’s family originally lived in Montreal. In 1929, a tragic explosion at their cleaning and pressing business sent the family to Saskatoon, where Buller played ice hockey. Despite being Jewish, which eliminated him from serious consideration by scouts because all players had to go to church on a weekly basis, his abilities were so obvious that he was offered a place at the New York Rangers’ Winnipeg training camp.
In 1951, when he was traded to the New York Rangers, his faith was used to attract larger audiences in New York when banners with the Star of David hung in Madison Square Garden. In 1954, Buller was traded to the Montreal Canadiens, but before the season began, Buller announced his retirement. He and his wife moved to Vancouver, but after Buller’s diagnosis with cancer, they returned to Cleveland, where he died at age 42.
