During his three year tenure with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Regina Pats, from 1962 through 1965, ice hockey forward Francis “Fran” Huck was loaned to both the Estevan Bruins and the Edmonton Oil Kings during the battle for the 1964 Memorial Cup, given annually to the Canadian junior men’s ice hockey champions, as he had been the league’s scoring champion and MVP that season. He suited up with the Oil Kings for the playoffs once more in 1965 prior to joining the Canadian men’s national ice hockey team later that year. His first World Championship appearance was in 1965, but the team failed to bring home a medal. He stuck with the national squad through 1969, winning bronze medals at the 1966 and 1967 World Championships, as well as the 1968 Winter Olympics. At the latter tournament he played in seven matches and scored four goals that, in addition to his five assists, made him the top Canadian scorer.
In 1970 Huck was signed by the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, although he split the remainer of the year with them and the Montreal Voyageurs of the American Hockey League. He was traded in 1971 to the NHL’s St. Louis Blues and skated with them for the remainder of the 1970-1971 season, in addition to suiting up for games with the Voyageurs. The following year was his only in the Western Hockey League, as he played with the Denver Spurs, but he nevertheless managed to capture the Leader Cup as league MVP. He spent the rest of his career in the World Hockey Association’s Winnipeg Jets (1973-1974, 1976-1978) and Minnesota Fighting Saints (1974-1976), although he was associated briefly with Zürcher SC of Switzerland in 1976. After his 1978 retirement he served some time as coach with the St. Boniface Mohawks and Winnipeg Warriors and now has a career as a lawyer in Kelowna, British Columbia. A graduate of the University of Manitoba, he was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
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