Toppazzini was born in Copper Cliff, Ontario. He played his junior league hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association, most notably with the Barrie Flyers. In his final season with Barrie - 1951-52 - he led the team with 40 goals and 90 points in 54 games, going on to add another 34 points in 23 playoff games to spearhead the Flyers to its first Memorial Cup championship.\n', '

Signing with the Boston Bruins, he spent the following season with their American Hockey League farm team, the Hershey Bears, playing with his younger brother Teddy and helping the Bears to a division title with 20 goals and 45 points in 54 games.\n', '

In the subsequent 1953 season, Toppazzini made his NHL debut with the Bruins, scoring 23 points in 69 games. The following season, splitting time between Hershey and the major league club, he was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks for center Gus Bodnar, and was subsequently dealt to the Detroit Red Wings in an eight-man multiplayer deal - at the time, the largest transaction in league history. He was traded back to the Bruins in 1956 for center Murray Costello and left wing Lorne Ferguson. Toppazzini made an immediate impact, as the Bruins - in last place at the time - made a run for the playoffs, missing at the end by a single win.\n', '

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