Legendary Hockey Heroes team is coming to Powell River for an Oldtimers’ Hockey Challenge.
The game starts at 7 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011 at Hap Parker Arena in Powell River Recreation Complex. Hockey Heroes will take on Vancouver Island Law Enforcement hockey team.
Hall of Fame member Bryan Trottier will join Cliff Ronning, Doug Bodger, Gary Leeman, Bernie Nicholls, goalie Warren Skorodenski and Jimmy Mann. Referee Jack Valiquette will add to the competitive spirit, fun and antics of the game.
Known as a modern-day players with old-fashioned attributes, Trottier’s achievements included winning the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, the Art Ross Trophy as top scorer, and the Hart Trophy as most valuable player. At his retirement, Trottier was the league’s sixth-highest all-time scorer. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997.
Valiquette was an outstanding junior, but gained a reputation for falling down when playing for Toronto Maple Leafs. Moving to Colorado Rockies, coach Don Cherry suggested he change his skates, and Valiquette started scoring again. He retired from play at 25, but continues to be involved with the game as hockey instructor. Readers can find more information below about the former National Hockey League players who are coming to Powell River.
The Oldtimers’ Hockey Challenge is designed to give fans and players alike an opportunity to celebrate a common joy of the game while, at the same time, giving much needed funds to worthy organizations. A portion of the proceeds from each ticket sold will go to the Cops for Cancer program.
Tickets are available at Sportzone in Town Centre Mall on Alberni Street. Singles are $20 and a family pack of four is $60, including taxes.
The Oldtimers’ Hockey Challenge tour is family fun entertainment which appears in over 60 cities from coast to coast in Canada. It is the most successful tour of its kind in North America and raises money for charity in each city it visits.
ROSTER
Bryan Trottier (Inducted 1997)
Bryan Trottier was a modern-day player with old-fashioned attributes. At a time when specialists were beginning to take over from the all-round player, Trottier was a throwback. He was a defensively sound centreman with the vision and instincts of a pure scorer. Over an 18-year National Hockey League career, he led his teams to the Stanley Cup six times, including four consecutive titles with New York Islanders in the early 1980s. And his achievements went beyond team success. He was the winner of the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie, the Art Ross Trophy as top scorer and the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player. Trottier, at his retirement, was the league's sixth-highest all-time scorer.
In 1974, however, the NHL was reacting to the threat of the World Hockey Association. The elder league held a semi-secret draft with an emphasis on underaged players--teenagers who were 17 and 18 years old. Trottier was chosen 22nd overall in the second round, and he was the ninth underaged player taken that year. He was a promising forward, but hardly anyone pegged him as a dominating player. The Islanders, the team that selected him, even suggested he spend another year in junior, making him the only secret underaged player to wait to turn pro following that draft.
Trottier spent six more seasons in New York following the Canada Cup and saw his numbers steadily fall. He was still a dedicated and effective defensive player, however, and in 1990 Pittsburgh Penguins signed the veteran to bolster their playoff chances. Trottier was an important part of the Penguin team that won two straight titles after he joined the squad. Stars such as Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr attributed much of the team's success to the aging star's leadership, his drive and desire. Trottier retired following the Penguins' second Cup victory and spent one year in the Islanders' front office.
But he was soon bored with his desk job and returned to the league as a player in 1993 to 1994 at the age of 37. He played 41 games with the Penguins while acting as an assistant coach, a job he continued after finally hanging up his skates at the end of that season. Trottier remained with the Penguins until 1997, at which time he took the coaching reigns of Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League (AHL). He returned to the NHL within a year, this time as an assistant coach with Colorado Avalanche. Bryan helped the Avs claim their second Stanley Cup championship in 2001, adding yet another ring to his already impressive haul. Bryan Trottier was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997.
Warren Skorodenski (GOALIE)
After two seasons with the Western Hockey League's (WHL) Calgary Wranglers, Warren Skorodenski signed with the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent in 1979. He spent one more season in Calgary before moving up to the AHL and International Hockey League (IHL). Skorodenski made his NHL debut in the 1981-to-1982 season playing one game for the Hawks while spending the rest of the season in the AHL with New Brunswick Hawks. That season, he shared the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award with Bob Janecyk for the fewest goals against.
The next few years saw Skorodenski play in the AHL and Central Hockey League (CHL) with several teams before playing the entire season in Chicago in 1984 to 1985. He saw limited time in his first Stanley Cup playoffs that year and headed back East for the next season in the AHL. He played six more games in the NHL, three in Chicago and three with the Oilers, after signing as a free agent in 1987. Skorodenski finished his playing days with the Canadian National Team, finally hanging up his pads in the 1990-to-1991 season.
Doug Bodger
Doug Bodger was a mobile defenceman with excellent offensive instincts who spent 16 years in the NHL. He was an asset on the powerplay and transition game, later adding veteran composure to his team's blueline corps. A native of Chemainus, BC Bodger was a key offensive player on the WHL's Kamloops Blazers for two seasons. He accumulated 190 points in junior and was named to the league's second all-star team in 1983. After choosing Mario Lemieux first overall, Pittsburgh Penguins made Bodger the ninth player taken in the 1984 entry draft.
The young blueliner scored 31 points as a rookie and saw plenty of action on the powerplay. He continued to mature over the next four seasons and represented Canada when it finished fourth at the 1987 World Championships. Early in the 1988-to-1989 season, Bodger was part of the package sent to Buffalo Sabres for star goalie Tom Barrasso. Bodger spent parts of eight seasons in Buffalo where he topped the 40-assist mark twice and played on both specialty teams. He became a workhorse at both ends of the ice and was a leader in the dressing room. When the Sabres retooled in 1995 to 1996, the veteran backliner was sent to San Jose Sharks where he added mobility and experience to the young defence. When the club missed the playoffs, Bodger joined Team Canada at the World Championships where it won a silver medal. Partway through the 1997 to 1998 season, the close-checking New Jersey Devils sought Bodger's talent for their relatively pedestrian blueline. In the off-season, he returned to California as a member of the improving Los Angeles Kings. Bodger moved up the "left coast" as a free agent to add savvy to Vancouver Canucks defence in 1999 to 2000 but retired after dressing for only 13 games.
Gary Leeman
A speedy right-winger with soft hands, Gary Leeman played nearly 700 NHL games for five different clubs. He was best known as a gritty scoring machine on the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 50-goal season to his credit.
The Toronto native attended Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Saskatchewan and was a standout defenceman for two seasons with the WHL's Regina Pats. He was chosen 24th overall by Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1982 entry draft and then returned to junior where he scored 86 points in 63 games. Leeman also represented Canada at the World Junior Championships in 1983 and joined the Maple Leafs for two playoff games that spring. Following the season the gifted youngster was placed on the WHL first all-star team.
Leeman scored 12 points as a rookie in 1983 to 1984 and was loaned by Toronto to Team Canada for the World Junior Championships. By the 1985-to-1986 season, Leeman started to use his speed and shot more effectively. He formed the "Hound Line" with Wendel Clark and Russ Courtnall while helping the Leafs come within a game of the semifinals.
Beginning in 1986 to 1987, Leeman was a top goal scorer for the club with four-straight 20-goal seasons. In 1988 to 1989, he scored 32 goals and was picked to play in the NHL All-Star Game. In 1989 to 1990, he formed the potent "GEM Line" with Ed Olczyk and Mark Osborne and became the second Toronto player after Rick Vaive to register a 50-goal season. He dropped to 17 goals the next season when his effectiveness was reduced by a shoulder separation.
By the 1991-to-1992 season, Leeman needed a change of scenery and was the key player sent to Calgary in the blockbuster trade that brought Doug Gilmour to Toronto. Leeman never discovered his scoring touch in Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, or St. Louis in the ensuing years. He spent the 1997-to-1998 season with Hanover Scorpions of the German League then spent time in Germany and Switzerland before retiring in 1999.
Bernie Nicholls
Centre Bernie Nicholls was an explosive scorer who accumulated over 1,200 career points while playing for six NHL teams. During his prime the talented pivot was one of the more dangerous scorers in the league and, as he aged, his savvy and natural talent allowed him to remain a multi-faceted contributor to his team.
Born in Haliburton, Ontario, Nicholls grew up in the nearby hamlet of West Guilford. He scored 79 points as an Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) rookie with the Kingston Canadians in 1979 to 1980. That summer Los Angeles Kings at the NHL entry draft chose him 73rd overall. After attending his first pro camp, Nicholls tore up the OHA with 152 points in 1980 to 1981. By the start of the next season, Edmonton was rebuilding and traded Nicholls to New Jersey Devils. He adapted his game to the tight-checking system of Jacques Lemaire and helped the club come within one game of reaching the finals, in 1994. A few weeks later he signed with Chicago Blackhawks and averaged over a point per game for the first time since 1990 to 1991. He was at his best once again in the post-season when the Hawks reached the semi-finals. Nicholls played one more year in the Windy City before signing with the up-and-coming San Jose Sharks in August 1996. The veteran forward added experience and playmaking ability to the young team before retiring at the end of the 1998 to 1999 season.
Cliff Ronning
In 1985, Cliff Ronning was showered with accolades as he wrapped up his two-year career with New Westminster Bruins of the WHL. He won the league's scoring race and was voted the WHL's most valued player (MVP) and selected as a First-Team All-Star. But when the NHL draft was held, the diminutive centreman didn't stand tall enough to rate very highly in the minds of the NHL's brass. Instead, it would be up to Ronning to prove himself all over again, this time, at the NHL level.
St. Louis Blues eventually picked him up in the sixth round. But Ronning had a strong relationship with Canada's Olympic program. His flashy style, mobility, and scoring touch were well-suited to an international style of hockey. So, he skated for Team Canada for the bulk of the 1985 to 1986 campaign. He then joined the Blues for the playoffs of that year and picked up his first two NHL points. The following season, he split his campaign between Team Canada and the Blues. Time spent in both camps seemed indicative of an absence of a defined role for Ronning with the Blues. He did have one strong season in 1988 to 1989 when he netted 59 points in 79 games. Nonetheless, a year later, he left the NHL to play in Italy for a year.
Upon his return in 1990 to 1991, he rejoined the Blues for a short time but was then traded to Vancouver Canucks. Once his NHL season came to an end, Ronning joined Canada's National Team at the 1991 World Championships. Closer to home in Vancouver, Ronning's big-league career finally began to take shape. In his first three seasons with the club, he was able to wheel in an offensive mode. His numbers became predictably solid each year and he always kept his defensive game reigned in on a fairly tight string. In 1996, at age 31, Ronning became an unrestricted free agent and signed with Phoenix Coyotes. He lasted for just over two seasons in the desert before being sent to the fledgling Nashville Predators. There, Ronning's veteran presence and consistent scoring punch helped prevent the Predators from becoming an expansion doormat.
After parts of four seasons in Nashville, Ronning was dealt to Los Angeles Kings in the latter stages of the 2001-to-2002 seasons. Ronning would play only 14 games with the Kings before he was traded to Minnesota Wild in the summer of 2002. During the 2002-to-2003 season Ronning surpassed the 800-point plateau and was a key player in Minnesota's run to the 2003 post season.
In 2003 to 2004, Ronning signed as a free agent with New York Islanders where he would appear in 40 games with the club. Following a lock out year, Ronning announced his retirement from NHL on February 15, 2006.
