Position Goaltender Role Ice hockey player Career end 1985 Name Steve Rexe Career start 1967 | Playing career Weight 84 kg National team Canada Height 1.78 m Current team Binghamton Dusters | |
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Born February 26, 1947
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada ( 1947-02-26 ) Played for Peterborough Petes
Canadian National Team
Ottawa Nationals
Belleville Mohawks
Belleville Quintes
Greensboro Generals
Springfield Kings
Springfield Indians
Napanee Comets
Binghamton Dusters
Lindsay Lancers NHL Draft 2nd overall, 1967
Pittsburgh Penguins Died November 12, 2013, Belleville, Canada | ||
Stephen Glen Rexe (February 26, 1947 – November 12, 2013) was a former hockey goaltender, the first ever draft pick of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins and second overall pick in the 1967 NHL Amateur Draft.
Biography
Rexe played junior hockey with the famed Ontario Major Junior A, Peterborough Petes. In 1967, Rexe was offered an NHL services contract by Penguins GM, Jack Riley at $7,500 for one season with a $7,500 signing bonus. Rather than sign with Pittsburgh, Rexe chose to join the Canadian national hockey team as an amateur where he competed internationally for Canada. At the 1968 Winter Olympics Rexe backed up Wayne Stephenson on the way to a Canadian Bronze Medal. Canada withdrew from official IIHF events in 1970 and the national team programme was suspended after they were refused permission to use semi-professional players at the world championship. Rexe would spend the rest of his hockey career playing in minor hockey leagues without ever appearing in an NHL game.
Steve Rexe played for the Canadian national team, primarily as a second and third string goaletnder. He would go on to play with the Ottawa Nationals, Belleville Mohawks, Belleville Quintes of the OHA Senior League, Greensboro Generals of the EHL, the AHL, Springfield Kings where he back-stopped the Kings to a Calder Cup title in 1975, the Springfield Indians also of the AHL, Napanee Comets and Lindsay Lancers of the OHA Sr. League, Binghamton Dusters of the NAHL. He owned and coached the QJHL Whitby Lawmen in the 1984–1985 season.
Rexe resided in Belleville, Ontario with his wife Maureen and their four children. After hockey, Rexe worked in the import / export automobile industry. He died peacefully at his home in Belleville on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. He was 66.
In an interview with an Ottawa Sun reporter in April 2008, Rexe stated that he considered it an honour to have been the first ever pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins and would have been delighted if the Pens would have invited him to Pittsburgh to drop the first puck when they open their new arena.