Carl Brewer; Hockey Player Led Legal Fight Over Pension Funds

Carl Brewer, 62, a former defenseman in the National Hockey League who made a lasting impact off the ice by spearheading a successful effort by retired players to reclaim their pension money from the league, died in his sleep Aug. 25 at his Toronto home.

Brewer’s career spanned 22 years and three retirements. He played on the Toronto Maple Leaf teams that won three consecutive Stanley Cups from 1961 to 1963. He also played with the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and the Toronto Toros of the World Hockey Assn. He played briefly in Finland following his first retirement.

Off the ice, it was Brewer who organized retired players to put forth a legal challenge for pension funds. In the lawsuit brought in Canada naming each NHL club, the league’s president and pension fund, Brewer and other top players, including Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, claimed the owners had misallocated surplus pension money.

A judge ruled in the players’ favor in 1992, ordering the clubs to reimburse the surplus money that the league had improperly used since 1982. The league finally reached a settlement with the players to pay $40 million for surplus pension funds.