The Estevan Bruins lost one of the most celebrated members of their alumni on March 18, as Greg Polis passed away at the age of 67 after a battle with cancer.


Polis spent four years with the Estevan Bruins in the days pre-dating the SJHL from 1966 to 1970. He amassed 328 points in 233 games as a Bruin before being drafted seventh overall and moving on to a twelve-year professional career that included ten years in the NHL.


"Mr. Polis is one of the Bruins greats," said current Bruins head coach and GM Chris Lewgood. "Through sixty years of rich history, he was one of the players who stands out as far as his accomplishments with the Estevan Bruins as well as his bigger picture accomplishments."


Those accomplishments included a career-high 30 goals and 49 points in his second season in 1971-72 as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. A year later he represented the Penguins at the NHL All-Star Game and was named the game's MVP.


"To play in the National Hockey League is a very rare feat," Lewgood said. "Then to be an all-star, it's simply amazing to experience and for him to score two goals and be an All-Star Game MVP is a heck of an accomplishment. At our level we don't have a lot of guys who we can tie those sorts of accmplishments to so it's something that makes the program really proud."


Polis retired from professional hockey in 1981 after putting up 343 points in 615 career games in the NHL. After his NHL career, Polis settled in Prince George and became heavily involved in the automotive industry.


"He died as a young man, so it's sad to hear," said Lewgood. "We obviously send our regards to his family. It's always a tragedy to lose someone at a young age, and when you see a man live a full life and accomplish as much as he did, you look back on it and you think of it as a life well lived."


Polis is survived by his three children.