Drafted by the Washington Capitals in 1979, Tim Tookey was a gifted scorer and one of the top point producers in the history of the American Hockey League.
Tookey suited up for parts of seven seasons in the NHL but made his mark in the AHL, primarily with the storied Hershey Bears. He quickly earned a reputation as a dangerous offensive threat, racking up 58 points and 129 penalty minutes in just 47 games as a rookie in 1980-81. He moved on to the Fredericton Express and Baltimore Skipjacks before returning to Hershey, where he would have back-to-back breakthrough campaigns.
In 1985-86, Tookey led the AHL with 62 assists and finished tied for third with 97 points, then scored a league-high 11 goals during the postseason. The Bears lost to Adirondack in a six-game Finals series, but Tookey’s effort still earned him the Jack Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the 1986 Calder Cup Playoffs. He remains the only player to capture the award without playing on the Cup- winning team.
Tookey came back with a monster year in 1986-87, setting career benchmarks with 51 goals, 73 assists and 124 points, one point shy of the AHL record at the time. He was named a First Team AHL All-Star and captured the Les Cunningham Award as the league’s MVP. He also participated in 10 playoff games for the Philadelphia Flyers that spring, helping them reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
After a stint in New Haven, Tookey returned for his third tour of duty in Hershey. He kept up his scoring pace through two injury-shortened campaigns, then erupted to put up nearly identical totals in 1991-92 (36-69-105) and 1992-93 (38-70-108) while playing in all 80 games each season. Tookey became just the third player in league history with three 100-point seasons to his credit, and in 1993 was presented with the AHL’s Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award for sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey.
Tookey notched 32 goals and 89 points in 66 games for Hershey in 1993-94, then finished his career as a player/assistant coach with the Providence Bruins, contributing 44 points in 50 contests. When the AHL revived its All-Star Game in 1995 after a 35-year absence, Tookey was selected as one of the team captains for the contest, which was played in Providence.
The Edmonton native retired after the 1995 playoffs as the fourth-leading scorer in AHL history with 974 points, also ranking fourth in assists (621) and ninth in goals (353) over 824 games. And although he never won a Calder Cup, his AHL postseason numbers were exceptional as well, with 82 points in 78 playoff games.
With 693 points in just 529 games, Tookey ranks second all-time in scoring for the venerable Hershey Bears franchise, which retired his number 9 in 1997.