TORONTO -- Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Carl Brewer, credited with being the driving force behind retired NHL players reclaiming their pension money in a landmark lawsuit, died Saturday night. He was 62.

Brewer died in his sleep at his Toronto home, said his friend, former broadcaster Brian McFarlane.

"He seemed in good spirits and brought home a whole bunch of vegetables," McFarlane told the Toronto Sun. "He mentioned he had been having some trouble breathing at night and had a machine to help him with that."

The strong-willed Brewer started a drawn-out battle with the National Hockey League Pension Society by questioning the practices of then NHLPA head Alan Eagleson and organizing players to enter into a lawsuit against the NHL.

In April of 1991, Brewer was among seven former players, including Andy Bathgate, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Allan Stanley, Eddie Shack and Leo Reise, who filed a lawsuit in Canada against each NHL club, NHL president John Ziegler and the NHL Pension Society, claiming the owner had misallocated surplus pension money.

A judge ruled in favor of the players in October of 1992 and said the NHL clubs must reimburse pension surplus money the league had improperly used since 1982. The NHL appealed the decision all the way to the Supreme Court, which threw the appeal out in 1994.

The NHL eventually reached a settlement with the players to pay out $40 million from surplus pension funds.

That lawsuit ultimately led to criminal charges for Eagleson, who served six months in prison for fraud and theft.

Brewer's hockey career spanned 22 seasons during which he retired twice.

He was a stalwart on the Toronto blue line with Tim Horton, Allan Stanley and Bob Baun when the Maple Leafs won three straight Stanley Cups from 1962 to 1964. He was named to the All-Star team three times.

He played in Finland 1967-68 and returned to the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings in 1969-70 after his rights were traded in the deal that sent Frank Mahovlich to Detroit.

Brewer played a season in Detroit and two years with the St. Louis Blues before joining the World Hockey Association's Toronto Toros.

He retired again in 1974. Brewer hadn't played for six years when he made a comeback with the Leafs in 1980. Brewer played 20 games with the team that year before retiring for the third and final time.

Brewer played 604 career games and had 25 goals and 198 assists, but it was his ability to drive opposing players to distraction which made him famous. He led the league in penalty minutes in 1961-62 and 1964-65.