In the sunset years of his illustrious career, Toni Tanti has re-discovered the joys of hockey. Not in the Nation Hockey League though where Tanti had spent 11 years seasons starring with the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres.

     At 32 years of age, true genuine product of the Mississauga Minor Hockey breading system wound up his professional career in the German Bundesliga starring for the Berlin Preussen (Berlin Devils) after deciding there was more to life than the NHL’s pressure cooker and said farewell to the Sabres.

“It was time for a change,” said Tanti. At the time of his induction into Mississauga’s Sports Hall of Fame he stood alone as the only winner of both Mississauga’s Amateur Athlete (1981) and Professional Athlete of the Year (1987) awards.

     For the Mississauga native, winning Bundesliga honours with the Berlin Preussen was a far cry from his pro days on the North American side of the Atlantic ice pond.

”I enjoyed playing in the NHL, but I enjoyed this too, in a different way,” he said calling his days in Germany “an experience you couldn’t otherwise get.”

     Tanti never forgot his Mississauga roots – particularly “good old” Dixie Arena where he had learned his craft. “I remember growing up at Dixie Arena. Every Saturday for five years, this was my life,” he recalls. “The Mississauga (rep) organization made me grow to what I wanted to be, and that was an NHL player. “There are so many fond memories about playing in Mississauga but the best memory is the (Mississauga) Reps where I played while growing up. I am very excited about being inducted into the Mississauga Hall of Fame.”

     Scouts who make their living spotting outstanding hockey talent for professional clubs predicted a bright future for Tanti when he was playing minor hockey with the Mississauga Reps and nothing got lost in the transition when the 5-foot-9, 190-pound right winger graduated to top junior level with the Oshawa Generals. He promptly re-wrote Wayne Gretzky’s OHL single season rookie point record with 150 (87 goals and 69 assists) in 1981.

     The Chicago Blackhawks made him their first choice (he went 12^th overall) in the 1981 entry draft and he made his NHL call-up for two games with Chicago during that season.

     He got traded to Vancouver the next season after helping Canada win a bronze medal in 1983 World Junior Hockey Championships in Leningrad. “That was a shocker,” he recalls. “I learned about the trade on the plane when we were on our way home (from the world championships).”

     In 11 NHL seasons – eight with the Canucks, the rest split between Pittsburgh and Buffalo – he played 698 regular season games, netted 187 goals and assisted on 273 others for a total of 560 points. He scored 40 goals or more three times, the most notable in his second year with Vancouver in 1983-’84 when he found the target 45 times in a 68-point season.

     That helped pave the way to the ‘86 NHL All-Star game, playing (and scoring an unassisted goal) on the Campbell Conference team alongside such stars as Wayne Gretzky, Grant Fuhr, Wendle Clark and fellow Mississaugan Paul Coffee.

Tanti still looks back on his All-Star date with fond memories. That and the bronze medal at the World Junior Championships. “These two really stand out,” he says. “Representing Canada (internationally) was an experience you never forget.”

     After hanging up his skates, Tanti and his family settled in Vancouver, B.C.