height_ft played_for weight_lb shoots birth_place draft_year career_end position draft_team height_in birth_date article_title draft career_start
6 toronto maple leafs atlanta thrashers 185 left williamsville , ny , usa 1997 2003 center toronto maple leafs 0 24 january 1978 jeff farkas
 57th overall 2000
jeff farkas

jeffrey thomas farkas -lrb- born january 24 , 1978 in williamsville , new york -rrb- is a retired american professional ice hockey center .
he was drafted in the third round , 57th overall , by the toronto maple leafs in the 1997 nhl entry draft .
after playing four seasons of college hockey for boston college , farkas joined the maple leafs ' roster for the 2000 stanley cup playoffs .
he appeared in three games during that postseason , recording one goal .
despite his playoff success , farkas appeared in only eight games for the maple leafs over the next two seasons , and three more for the atlanta thrashers during the 2002 -- 03 season .
while playing for the american hockey league 's chicago wolves in 2003 , farkas fell headfirst into the boards during a game against the rochester americans .
he suffered a fractured fifth cervical vertebra and , according to medical reports , came within millimeters of being rendered quadriplegic .
the injury forced farkas ' early retirement from the sport .
