90 Years of Pats Hockey

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Pats have storied past (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/patshockey/story.html?id=6ceb11ce-50e4-4d95-9625-fd04f9895d86&k=32968)


Pats have storied past

Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

The Regina Pats were 17 years old in 1934 when they folded, disappearing completely from the Queen City's sports community for 13 hockey seasons.

According to Leader-Post archives, an exhibition tour of eastern U.S. cities had been scheduled for one of Canada's pre-eminent junior hockey teams in 1934. When funding for the trip disappeared, so did the Pats, whose roster included such well-known players as future NHLers Murray Armstrong and Don Metz. Armstrong would later coach the Pats from 1948-56, a span that included a Memorial Cup appearance in 1950, when the Pats (featuring Ed Litzenberger, Lorne Davis and Paul Masnick) lost 4-1 to the Montreal Jr. Canadiens in a best-of-seven series that was played in Montreal and Toronto.

Despite efforts to revive the franchise in the mid-1930s, nothing happened until 1946, when a committee that included the team's former head coach and general manager, Al Ritchie, amalgamated Regina's two junior teams, the Abbotts and Commandos, re-naming them the Pats.

The name had historic connections to the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry, a First World War military regiment. When local businessmen established a junior hockey franchise in 1917, they named it to honour the regiment.

In its second season of existence, the Regina Patricia advanced to the 1919 Memorial Cup in Toronto. Regina lost the inaugural Canadian junior hockey championship to the University of Toronto, 29-8 in a two-game, total-goal series.

Playing mainly in small, local leagues, the Patricia played its early seasons at the Arena rink on Robinson Street. In 1919 the team moved into a brand-new building on Regina's exhibition grounds that would eventually be called Exhibition Stadium, its home until 1977.

The Patricia's early roster included Laudas "Duke" Dukowski (his family name was initially spelled Dutkowski, but he apparently asked to have the 't' removed before his death in 1976). NHL records show him to be the first Regina junior product to play in the National Hockey League when he joined the Chicago Blackhawks in 1926.

The Patricia advanced to the Memorial Cup again in 1922. It was the first time the championship was played outside Toronto, having been moved to the only artificial ice surface between there and Vancouver -- Winnipeg's Shea Amphitheatre. Regina lost the two-game, total-goal series 8-7 to the Fort William War Veterans.

Ritchie, a veteran of the First World War who came to Regina as a football coach, joined the hockey team in 1923 as its head coach. (Ritchie would play football and later, as coach, lead the Regina Roughriders to four successive Grey Cup appearances between 1929-32.)

Ritchie shortened the team's nickname to Pats and led them to a Memorial Cup victory in 1925, when one of his premier players was future NHLer Ken Doraty.

Playing in Toronto against Aura Lee, a home-town squad comprising players who all shot left, Regina won the 1925 championship with back-to-back victories of 2-1 (in overtime on Frank Ingram's deflected goal) and 5-2, reportedly sparking thousands of fans to meet the team when it returned to Regina by train.

Regina returned to the Memorial Cup in 1928, but the team was called the Monarchs after an amalgamation of the Regina Pats and Falcons. Ritchie's biography upon his induction into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame indicates he was the team's coach, but Memorial Cup records show that Howie Milne was the Monarchs' coach/GM. Regina recorded a 7-1 victory in the third game of a best-of-three series played in Toronto against the Ottawa Gunners.

Ritchie was back in charge in 1930, when the re-named Pats relied on the great goaltending of Ken Campbell to sweep, in Winnipeg, the West Toronto Nationals 3-1 and 3-2.

Ritchie remained as the Pats' boss until their temporary demise in 1934. The Pats appeared in the national junior hockey championship five times in the Memorial Cup's first 15 years of existence. In 1933, playing in Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, the Newmarket Redmen beat the Pats 2-1 and 1-0 (on a triple-overtime goal by Don Willson) to win the Memorial Cup, a trophy that was also named, appropriately enough, to honour Canadians who fought in the First World War.

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

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Dale Derkatch (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/patshockey/story.html?id=55ac955b-874b-4f3f-b6a4-1585886b5eb9&k=46734)


Dale Derkatch: All-time leading scorer

Tim Switzer, The Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

Dale Derkatch's name still tops the lists of the Regina Pats' career scoring records. His marks for goals (222), assists (269) and points (491) may never be broken.

The only surprising total among Derkatch's career accomplishments is number of games played in the NHL -- zero.

But don't expect to hear a bitter Derkatch talk about what kind of an NHL player he could have been.

"I don't really look back at it very much," said Derkatch. "I was lucky to be able to play hockey for a career and I am where I am. I'm very lucky and happy. I don't know if things might be different or would have been different but that's my own fault because I didn't try."

Derkatch was named the WHL rookie-of-the-year in 1982 after putting 62 goals and 80 assists on the board. He followed that up by winning the league scoring race in the 1982-83 season when he had 84 goals and 95 assists for 179 points.

Don't try to ask Derkatch to recall his highlight moments, however. You'd have a better chance to learn more about his greatest moments in hockey by checking the archives. Aside from his prowess with the Pats, Derkatch also won a midget AAA championship with the Notre Dame Hounds in 1980 and played in two world junior championship tournaments, winning a bronze medal in 1983.

"Goals or assists or points or wins, I don't remember very much of it at all," Derkatch said with a chuckle. "You're young and you're just playing. I was very lucky to play on very good teams and I had very good coaching, but I do not remember anything specifically of actually playing. You just remember the people you played with and against."

After dominating the scoresheets for two seasons with the Pats, Derkatch entered the NHL entry draft, but wasn't selected until the seventh round (140th overall) by the Edmonton Oilers.

His diminished draft status was expected, simply because of a couple other Derkatch stats -- 5-foot-5 and 145 pounds.

After his third season with the Pats (in which he tallied 72 goals and 87 assists for 159 points), Derkatch was offered his first contract by the Oilers. But as he had spent much of the spring and summer training with the Canadian Olympic team, Derkatch couldn't make Edmonton's training camp and never signed.

Instead, he began a career in Europe. After a successful start there, he returned as an overage player and played four games with the Pats to close out the 1984-85 season and add to his impressive totals.

"I'm pretty proud of being a smaller player because I was always told I'd have trouble at the next level," said Derkatch. "Bob Strumm (the Pats GM when Derkatch played) thought I could play and I guess he was right."

The next season, rather than chasing the NHL dream, Derkatch returned to Europe and scored 41 goals and had 59 assists in just 28 games with Asiago HC in Italy. After a few more high-scoring seasons in Europe -- this time in Finland -- Derkatch was offered a second contract by the Oilers.

Only this time, the team offered him a two-way contract that would see him make different salaries depending on whether he was playing in the NHL or with an affiliate club. Most players made the same money no matter where they were.

And as such, Derkatch refused to sign and never played a single NHL game. But while some hockey players still babble on about the NHL player they could have been, Derkatch has rarely thought twice about it.

"Maybe in those first few years (I thought about it) up until I had that last offer," said Derkatch. ""But once I had that offer I was about 24 years old and I thought, 'OK this is probably the time where I'm not going to go back.' There's been a lot of expansion since then. So when I was playing there were a lot fewer teams (a fewer opportunities).

"I think other people think about it more than me. Maybe my parents, maybe friends who knew me as a player. I made my decisions and that's the way it is."

Believe it or not, Derkatch understands why he wasn't drafted higher and never got the contracts some may have thought he deserved. And he understands why 22 players he skated with on the Pats played in at least one NHL game, though none of them ever scored as many WHL points.

He learned that very quickly after taking a job as the head of scouting in Western Canada for the Washington Capitals after his playing career ended in 1999.

"It's a projection," said Derkatch. "It's not where you are as a 17-year-old kid. Teams are looking ahead to what kind of player you'll be as a 24- or 25-year-old man."

Ross Mahoney gets it too. He is in his 11th season as the director of amateur scouting for the Capitals and hired Derkatch to work with the team, but has known him much longer than that. Mahoney remembers watching Derkatch play with the Pats and, going back now, can see why the little forward wasn't more highly coveted.

"At the time, the timing wasn't right for a player like him," said Mahoney. "He was a tremendous junior. He averaged almost two-and-a-half points a game, which is phenomenal. At that time, with his size, even though he had good strength and his hockey sense was tremendous and his hands were unbelievable and the desire was great, it was probably hard."

But put Derkatch in his prime into today's game, added Mahoney, and it's a whole different story.

"Some of the smallest players, like Dale, are successful today," said Mahoney. "They can attack with that speed. Back then, Dale wasn't allowed to do that, because you could do a lot more in the neutral zone. Now you can't hold anybody up. In today's rules, I think Dale Derkatch would have played in the NHL for sure."

As far as Derkatch's career has taken him, it has led him back to where it all started. Derkatch, now 42, was born in Preeceville, but his family moved to Winnipeg when he was a year old.

After playing minor hockey in the Manitoba capital, Derkatch went to Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox to play midget AAA hockey. After two years there he went on to the Pats and his hockey journey began.

Now it has brought him back to Wilcox where he has just started his fourth year as the director of hockey development at Notre Dame.

"I have a young family and with scouting you're away a lot," Derkatch said when asked about his reasons for taking the job. "A couple weeks of every month you're flying away.

"It's crazy if you think about it. I came here as a student, the I played with the Pats, then I worked with Washington, now I'm coming back. Life goes around and you never know where I'm going in the future. It's like a cycle. I could never have imagined being back here."

It was his old job that helped bring Derkatch's family together. He met his wife, Maria, while with the Capitals. She was working as the executive assistant to the team's general manager and the couple started dating at the 2000 NHL entry draft in Calgary. They were married five years ago and now live in Wilcox with their children -- 11-year-old Madison (Dale's daughter from a previous marriage), three-year-old Dale Jr. and four-month-old Dayce.

In his position, Derkatch oversees all 12 of the school's boys and girls Hounds and Argos hockey programs from bantam to junior A.

He has also taken the reins of his old team, the midget AAA Hounds, and received the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League coach-of-the-year award last season.

"I've had coaches from all over the world -- Swedish coaches, Finnish coaches, Czech coaches, Canadian coaches, Americans," said Derkatch. "What I guess I'm doing is taking pieces from all those people and trying to do my own thing with the part I like. I'm doing things that Dave King told me to do with the world junior team."

That's something Mahoney can see easily. The scout watched the Hounds play in the SMAAAHL final against the Prince Albert Mintos and noted someone who has a future in that career too if he wishes.

"Coaching is in Dale's future for sure," said Mahoney. "His knowledge of the game and his ability to communicate . . . there's something about him. He's got this energy where people are kind of attracted to him and the provides a lot as a coach. He'd be a terrific coach. Well, he is right now."

And Derkatch wouldat rule out the chance of the cycle continuing around the same course even further and taking him back to the Pats or another WHL team.

"I'm not looking for things, but as time goes, things may change," said Derkatch. "It's the hockey world and we know hockey changes very quickly. I'm not actively pursuing anything, but I'm always listening because who knows how long I'll be here or how long anyone will be anywhere?"




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

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Mike Sillinger (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/patshockey/story.html?id=0dc85d5f-a94c-4cf9-a559-8ac9ef0377d5&k=24119)


Mike Sillinger: Well-travelled NHLer

Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

Mike Sillinger is the face of the NHL in Regina, but don't expect to find him looking in a mirror.

The 15-year veteran is the epitome of an unassuming superstar, a regular Joe who embraces his status as a role model but won't be seduced into admiring his own reflection.

Make no mistake, he has every reason to boast

The 36-year-old is just 10 games shy of joining one of the NHL's most exclusive clubs -- 1,000 games -- the thought of which leaves Sillinger shaking his head in disbelief.

"I never thought I would play in the National Hockey League and here I am still playing and approaching 1,000 games," marvels the New York Islanders' centre, who hasn't made any definite plans for his moment in the sun other than to say he wants to be surrounded by family and friends.

"It's funny," he adds with a laugh, "everyone is asking me who is coming down for that. Whoever wants to come down is more than welcome."

Barring a setback, Sillinger is on pace to record the milestone on Nov. 1 when his Islanders play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Mark it on the calendar.

Long-time friend Jamie Heward already has.

"I'm going to enjoy the day Mike plays his 1,000th game," offers the eight-year NHLer, who now plays in Russia. "Mike is not the kind of guy to gloat about playing 1,000 games. I know there are lots of guys out there who by the time they get there their heads are so swollen that you can't even talk to them. Mike is pretty down to earth about it.

"It's a milestone that's absolutely incredible. With the hard work he has put in and all the times he has been traded and all that stuff he has gone through, there's nobody in the league right now who deserves it more."

Sillinger's accomplishment is somewhat ironic in the sense that his career has never been characterized by numbers, although some choose to spin it that way. He's constantly reminded of the fact he holds an NHL record by playing for 12 teams, a label which will likely follow him for the rest of his career.

"When people say it, it's almost like they want to say it like a little jab," laments Sillinger. "I just think there's a business side of it that the outside world doesn't really understand. There's nothing at all to be ashamed of. When I look back at it, I think it's kinda neat. Here's a kid from Regina who has the record for most teams."

n n n

Over the years, Sillinger has become conditioned to handling the snide remarks. In fact, he's quick to enjoy a chuckle at his own expense, although he's quick to point out that it's no laughing matter for his wife Karla and their three sons: Owen, 10, Lukas, 7, and Cole, 4.

"I have a strong wife and a very, very supportive family," he says. "Without them, who knows how miserable it would be?"

One of Sillinger's greatest pleasures is watching his boys at the rink. He headed south a week early this summer so Owen could participate in a tournament in Boston, one of the rare times Mike is able to participate in that side of his family's life due to his work schedule.

"I enjoy watching him improve and watching him with a smile on his face," says Sillinger. "I do not push him by any means. I'm going to provide him with everything (he needs) and if he wants to do it he can do it. At the same time if he doesn't want to do it, I don't care. Go play lacrosse or soccer. Parents always ask me, 'What's the best advice I can give my kid?' I joke with them but I'm serious when I say, 'Let your kid be a kid.' You can't push him to go to this skating school or be on the ice at this time and do this and do that. He has to want to do it. They're still kids."

Sillinger comes by his values honestly. It's the same belief system which was enforced by his parents, Bob and Anna Sillinger.

"I give a lot of credit to my parents because they just let me be a kid," he says. "I was a throw-in a lot of times with other parents to go to hockey tournaments because they were both working. Obviously it was expensive when I was young. Now it's probably three or four times more expensive. They let me do it because they saw how much fun I had."

In that sense, nothing has changed.

Sillinger is still having fun, occasionally pinching himself to make sure he's actually paid -- and paid handsomely -- to play a game he loves.

"As far as visualizing or thinking I was going to play in the NHL, I think it just found me," he says. "I guess it wasn't really until I was drafted that it hit me. I'm sure I dreamt it but I never really imagined playing in the NHL."

Sillinger says he isn't concerned with Owen having to cope with the pressures of being an NHLer's son. He's too young to worry about that, says the proud father.

His advice: Just have fun.

"He loves the game and loves being with his buddies," continues Sillinger. "It took his teammates half the year to figure out I was really an Islander. They watch me on TV and doing interviews and skating around but it took them a while to figure it out. They couldn't believe that Owen's dad played in the National Hockey League. They kept saying, 'You're like a real dad.' "

n n n

Once upon a time, Sillinger was one of those 10-year-old boys, honing his skills on the community rinks of northwest Regina. That's when he first encountered Heward, who quickly became a cross-town rival.

"I just remember how competitive the games were," recalls Sillinger. "The parents got right into it, the coaches, everyone. Both sides had fantastic teams. All the other teams were good as well but for whatever reason I always remember those rivalries."

He's not the only one.

"From the time I was probably eight years old he was a thorn in my side," Heward says with a laugh. "He was dominant at a young age. That's why we were rivals, because he was the best kid to come out of there and we had a good team in our area. Those teams butted heads pretty much every single time, in every league final and every provincial final."

A friendship was forged in the heat of battle, culminating when Heward and Sillinger became teammates for the first time in 1987-88. They shared four stellar years with the Pats, including three 50-goal seasons for Sillinger.

In 1989, Sillinger was drafted 11th overall by the Detroit Red Wings, his first of 12 NHL teams. Little did he know he would go on to make 11 more stops: The Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators and Islanders.

A jersey for each of those teams hangs from a wall in his basement.

"I look at my NHL career, I've moved every couple years," notes Sillinger. "What I remember most (about his junior days), I got to spend four years here in Regina where I was born and raised. That's special to me. You look back and reflect and you don't realize at 16 years old I could have been somewhere else with a whole new set of results. Who knows what could have happened? You don't realize how lucky you are. Yes, it has some ups and downs and you have additional pressure, but I have no regrets whatsoever. I loved my time here in Regina."

Still does.

"Home is home," Sillinger says when asked why he returns to Regina each summer. "It's important for kids to be around their grandpas and grandmas and cousins. As far as an environment to grow up in, Regina is a great place. I was very fortunate to marry a girl from my hometown. That's a big discussion (for NHL players and their wives): Where are we going to end up living? For us, it's easy. Karla's parents are here and her family is here. My parents are here and all my family is here. It's just the right decision."

n n n

Sillinger would love to have found a stable home in hockey, but he's not one to complain. After all, being the most-travelled player in NHL history also makes you one of the most-wanted players in NHL history.

A respected dressing-room leader and one of the best faceoff men in the business, there always seems to be a demand for Sillinger's services.

"I'm very proud of that," he says. "I'm not getting any younger. I think that's what keeps me going is having that success and knowing that the teams I've gone to, you find your niche and you're wanted on that team."

In fact, Sillinger seems to get better with age, posting the best statistics of his NHL career over the past two seasons -- 32 goals and 63 points in 2005-06; 26 goals and 59 points in 2006-07.

Those numbers, however, haven't added up to the ultimate reward, a Stanley Cup.

As he reflects back on his career, winning championships once seemed easy. In his final WHL season with the Pats, Sillinger helped lead Canada to a gold medal at the 1991 world junior tournament in Saskatoon.

He was the only Saskatchewan-born player on that team.

The next year, his first at the pro level, Sillinger won a Calder Cup title with the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings.

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Sillinger cont...
"I had success at 19 and 20 and then, a lot of success but no championships," he recalls. "You don't realize how lucky you are. If you don't get a chance to win a Stanley Cup or compete for a Stanley Cup you always feel like there's something missing but as far as longevity I'm very, very thankful to play as long as I have. I've had an excellent career and nothing to be ashamed of. I'm 10 games away from 1,000. I've had an excellent NHL career. Who wouldn't want to be in my shoes?"

It remains to be seen how much longer they'll continue to fit. Asked about retirement, even Sillinger can't put a timetable on it, but he does know one thing for certain: The end will come on his terms.

"More and more guys I talk to say, 'Keep playing as long as you can,' " adds Sillinger. "I'm going to play as long as I can and as long as I can compete at a high level. Once I can't do that anymore, it won't just be myself telling me that it'll be coaches telling me that as well. That day is going to come and it's going to be a tough day but I'm definitely going to take that advice and try to play as long as I can."




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

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Dennis Sobchuk (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/patshockey/story.html?id=b93ef2f5-8fe0-476d-80a1-3f5696d9d7b4&k=7982)


Dennis Sobchuk: Staying true to character

Murray McCormick, Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

Dennis Sobchuk has grown older, more mature and wiser since patrolling the ice for the Regina Pats.

But he hasn't changed. Sobchuk, 53, remains funny, gregarious, outgoing and one of the nicest men in sports.

"Sobby is Sobby,'' said former Regina Pats defenceman Kim MacDougall, who shared in the 1974 Memorial Cup win with Sobchuk. "We have our reunions and it's amazing over the years that when you talk to the guys you find out they haven't changed a whole lot. They are the same guys that you played with. The same is for Sobby.''

It has been over 30 years since Sobchuk posted one of the best three-year runs with the Western Canada Hockey League team. He played 200 games from 1971 to 1974, registering 191 goals and 225 assists. He was named the most valuable player of the 1974 Memorial Cup.

"He has to rank among the top or three so among the all-time Pats,'' said Lorne Davis, a long-time scout with the NHL's Edmonton Oilers and a former head coach of the Pats. "He played with a lot of energy. He could stickhandle and he could really shoot. He played with Clark Gillies (a Hockey Hall of Famer) at the time, people thought that Dennis would be the next great player. That didn't really happen but he had a great junior career.''

Sobchuk was always cheerful and friendly with the Pats. He was open, approachable and charmed just about every person he met.

"You could talk to Dennis any time that you wanted,'' said Mal Isaac, a veteran sports writer who covered hockey for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and The Leader-Post. "He was a great about that. He could also light it up when he was motivated.''

Sobchuk, a native of Lang, wasn't leery about rocking hockey's traditions. He was the first player to sign with a professional hockey team before leaving major-junior hockey. He signed a 10-year, $1-million contract with the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers in 1973. He played the 1973-74 season with the Pats and was loaned to the Phoenix Roadrunners for the 1974-75 season because the Stingers didn't have an arena in which to play.

It was a controversial move because of the money and it was apparent that Sobchuk may have been the first player selected in the 1975 NHL draft.

"Ego-wise, it would have been great to have been No. 1 because every kid dreams about that,'' Sobchuk said. "I remember looking back and wondering what was I thinking. The (Washington) Capitals were around me all summer that year. They told me that I didn't have to go to Cincinnati and that they would break my contract. I felt that life was too short. My brother signed with the Stingers. My dad was a scout. It was a good time and a nice family package.''

Sobchuk appreciates his role in an historical signing.

"Now, I look at the draft being 17- and-18-year-olds,'' Sobchuk said. "The NHL was losing players to the WHA and they had to wake up. They had to change their rules and the draft. I feel part of a lot of history. Maybe there is a thread to it -- a fairly thick thread anyway.''

Sobchuk felt that the NHL may have helped him mature as a player. The early days of the WHA were a great deal wilder than the already-established NHL.

"Discipline-wise it may have helped me to go to the NHL,'' said Sobchuk, who played 35 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings and Quebec Nordiques. "They were more structured in their foundation. In the WHA, we were just happy to have 18 guys on a team. One game we were supposed to play the Minnesota Fighting Saints and the Houston Areos came out because Minnesota folded that day. It was hard for a 20-year-old to be as serious in hockey as I would have been in the NHL.''

Sobchuk enjoyed Cincinnati, where he met his wife Julia. The two have been married for 28 years. They have two children -- Justin (27) and Ashley (24). He also got to know Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds, quarterback Ken Anderson of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals and once met baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan.

"The Reds were the World Series champion then,'' Sobchuk said. "Joe Morgan and I were in the same doctor's office! At the time, they were just normal guys and not any different than I was. I didn't know Joe Morgan was a two-time MVP. Looking back, they were all legends.''

Sobchuk played for the Roadrunners, Stingers and the Edmonton Oilers in 348 WHA games from 1974 through to 1979. He scored 145 goals and recorded 186 assists. His best offensive season was with the Stingers in 1976-77 when he had 44 goals and 51.

The merger of the NHL and WHA in 1979 created an opportunity for Sobchuk to play in the NHL. He was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers, the same team that drafted him after junior. Sobchuk was then traded to the Red Wings. He registered an assist in his first NHL game but was hampered by a severe shoulder injury suffered during the 1977-78 season. He had four goals and three assists in 33 games with Detroit.

"I had three shoulder separations and the third time they removed about six inches of my clavicle,'' Sobchuk said. "They told me at the time that when I turned 50 that I would have arthritis. It's hard to believe that I ever got to 50. It doesn't bother me now.

"My therapy was baseball. When I would go home to Lang during the summer I would play baseball. Third base was the hardest throw to first because you had to wheel and fire it. There are times when I think my right arm, where I had my shoulder surgery, is stronger than my left arm.''

The timing of the injury may have also hampered Sobchuk's NHL performance.

"It happened during the middle of my career when I was rolling,'' Sobchuk said. "The injuries happened one, two, three and it took the burning desire out. It seemed like every year I was battling to get back in shape. The guys were bigger. It wasn't as easy to get back in the stirrups. It wasn't fun again. It was work.''

Sobchuk played in the Central and American leagues before wrapping up his professional career with two games with the Nordiques in 1982-83.

"I'm still gung-ho about the way it happened,'' Sobchuk said. "The friends and the people I met are what measures how successful you were, not the goals and assists. I attribute all of it to the Pats.''

Sobchuk recalls his first meetings with a member of the Pats' front-office. His brother, Gene, had signed with the Pats and Sobchuk met Bob Turner and Del Wilson. The two asked if Sobchuk, then 16, played hockey.

"I found some clippings from back then that the next year that Pats traded five players to the (SJHL's) Estevan Bruins for me,'' Sobchuk said with a laugh. "If you think how they scout now, they are watching kids when they are 10. They look at their grandparents to see how big they might get.''

Sobchuk was a territorial protection of the Bruins. The Pats were only allowed to protect players within Regina's city limits.

Still, Sobchuk grew up dreaming of playing for the Pats, He also felt that Exhibition Stadium, the ancient facility at IPSCO Place, was the best place in the world to play hockey.

"It may sound like an oxymoron but I have good memories of Exhibition Stadium,'' Sobchuk said. "I remember the chicken wire and the people and the horse smells. I was a product of the Regina Pats because I grew up 40 miles away.

"The Regina Pats were the team. If you tuned in to TV or radio or read the paper, it was all Pats. You thought it was the epitome of junior hockey. Bill Hicke was the star and he was the Regina Pats. You would go into Exhibition Stadium and your eyes would be wide open. It was like going to the old Montreal Forum. I played my minor hockey with Weyburn and if you ever got to play at Exhibition Stadium, you thought you had made it.''

Sobchuk resumed his career with the Pats in 1986 when he joined the squad as an assistant coach for two seasons. He was the team's head coach for the first half of the 1988-89 season, in which the Pats posted a 23-43-6 record, and also served as general manager. Sobchuk is among the few players to suit up as a head coach for the junior team.

"I was fortunate that I had my thrill in hockey,'' Sobchuk said. "I told my wife that when the desire was gone, it was time to move on. I had spent my last two years playing in Europe and it wasn't fun. Coaching brought the fun back.

"At those times I coached Mike Sillinger. That's so long ago that Mike is starting to retire.''

Sobchuk found himself at the helm of a rebuilding squad. It was a challenge considering players like Joe Sakic and Trevor Linden were dominating the WHL when Sobchuk joined the Pats' coaching staff.

"Try rebuilding when those guys are in the league,'' Sobchuk said. "It was tough, but it was fun. I had a chance to rekindle the friendships again. It's hard when I go back home because there are so many people that I have to visit. Hopefully, when I retire I can get back more.''

[nivek_wahs]

Sobchuk cont...

Sobchuk lives in Bellingham, Wash., where he builds and sells high-end homes. He was involved in the building of a new arena in Bellingham and the home-building position was an extension of that interest.

"I thought if I could build an arena, why couldn't I build a house?'' Sobchuk said.

He doesn't spend a great deal of time reflecting on his hockey career. When he does, the memories of playing for the Pats come flooding back.

"The Pats are the top,'' said Sobchuk, whose No. 14 is retired by the team. "You always hear that you had better remember these as being the best years of your life. There are a lot of factors. If we had lost the Memorial Cup, I might be as gung-ho. We had such a successful run that it would be hard to look back anyway else. Part of my makeup is the cup is always half-full, never half-empty.

"I think of the people I got to meet and the players I played against. I was also proud of that. The Pats gave me an opportunity. Kids now are asking, 'What can you do for me?' I was blessed and thankful for what happened. We had to prove ourselves every day. Turner benched me as much as anyone else. He was just trying to get the most out of me, just like all of the others.''





© Leader-Post 2007

[nivek_wahs]

Josh Harding (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/patshockey/story.html?id=0cb69116-f97d-4165-86be-8102baa37daf&k=78156)


Josh Harding: Getting his chance now

Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007
Leader-Post

One of Josh Harding's first lessons as a young goaltender was self-taught.

It was an education in positioning.

"I was a centre, then I moved to defence," Harding explains, recalling his early minor hockey days in Regina. "I was pretty well all over the place. But when the (physical) contact started, I'm not the biggest guy, so I thought I'd hide in the net for a little bit."

It was the right decision.

Harding has made a lot of them en route to landing his dream job with the Minnesota Wild. His first baby step towards the NHL was taken at 12 years old -- a mere infant by goalie standards -- when he ignored a pee wee coach's advice to shed the mask and stick to defence.

Think about that for a moment: Josh Harding on the blueline.

At the time, the Hall of Fame wasn't exactly calling to reserve his plaque space beside Bobby Orr. Then again, he didn't remind anyone of Patrick Roy in that first season between the pipes, either.

"The first year that he decided to play goal he got cut from the tier I team," offers Tim Harding, Josh's father. "The coach told him if he wanted to be a defenceman he would guarantee him a spot. He thought about it for a day or two and said, 'No, I want to give (goaltending) a try.' "

Needless to say, it's another decision Harding doesn't regret.

"If I would have stuck to defence I think I'd be back in Regina trying to find a job somewhere," he says with a laugh. "I wasn't the best player. I don't think you would have even heard my name."

n n n

Harding's first exposure to goaltending came in the community leagues, where players rotated at the position. Harding took an immediate shining to the crease, but he didn't get a chance to play there on a full-time basis until he was 12.

After being cut from Hockey Regina's top pee wee division, he dropped down to the tier II level.

Even then, nothing came easily.

"I think we tied a game that year," Tim recalls with a chuckle. "He was on some pretty challenging teams in the first couple of years. You kind of wondered why he would continue on."

It must have been that now-famous Harding stubborn streak.

"He didn't do bad to begin with," continues Tim. "As the season went on he got better and better. In the playoffs, we played one of the strongest teams from the north end, got outshot 70-2 or something like that. The coach of the summer team watched him play and invited him to play AAA hockey that summer."

Harding continued to shoot up the minor hockey ranks, culminating in him being selected by the hometown Regina Pats in the third round of the 1999 WHL bantam draft. Two years later, he was a standout performer with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians and with Team Western at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

But Harding was just getting warmed up. He cracked the Pats' lineup in 2001-02 as a 17-year-old backup, supplanting No. 1 man Chad Davidson before the season was two months old. He went on to set a club record with a 2.39 goals-against average, catching the attention of NHL scouts in the process.

Later that summer, Harding was selected in the second round of the 2002 NHL entry draft, making him the first-ever goalie drafted by the Wild.

"That was about six years ago," marvels Harding, now 23. "It's a rollercoaster but it's a fun rollercoaster. It has flown by. At 17, my mom and dad were trying to get me to do really good in school because nobody expected me to be where I'm at."

Harding's meteoric rise continued the next year when he accepted a rare dual honour as the WHL's top goalie and league MVP. The laurels kept coming in 2003-04, when he singlehandedly won a handful of games for the rebuilding Pats before heading overseas with Team Canada, winning a silver medal at the world junior championship as a backup to Marc-Andre Fleury.

When Harding returned, he was greeted by his first taste of adversity, learning his beloved Pats had traded him to the rival Brandon Wheat Kings. That day still stands out as one of the most difficult -- and certainly the most emotional -- in his career.

"Growing up in Regina, playing for the Pats, it was really tough to deal with," he says. "But as bad as the day was when I got traded, you look back and look at the positives. I got to Brandon and Kelly McCrimmon and all the guys there took great care of me and treated me top notch just like the Regina Pats did. It was definitely a learning experience, moving away from home. I think it kind of got me prepared for the professional life."

n n n

Next stop, Houston.

Harding would spent three outstanding seasons with the AHL's Houston Aeros, the top farm team of the Wild. Each year, Harding's dominance became more apparent, eventually putting him in contention for the backup job with Minnesota in 2006-07.

Harding was expected to launch his NHL career that fall when he suffered an ill-timed groin injury during training camp and was sent back to Houston. Meanwhile, European veteran Niklas Backstrom stepped into the backup role and took full advantage. He was later elevated to the starter's job when No. 1 man Manny Fernandez suffered a knee injury.

"I like looking at the positives of things," says Harding. "First and foremost I got to meet a guy like Nik. I don't think I've met a more professional, nicer guy. Second of all, it also showed me that when you get your opportunity, if you try to run with it people will give you the chance. Maybe one day I'll get my shot and I can run with it."

Harding did indeed run with his opportunity late last season when he was called up by Minnesota to work behind Backstrom. The rookie posted an eye-popping 1.16 goals-against average, a .960 save percentage and one shutout in seven games.

Fast forward to this summer, when the Wild traded Fernandez to the Boston Bruins, then signed Backstrom and Harding to new contracts. The goaltending tandem now appears to be set in Minnesota, although Harding refuses to take anything for granted.

"I just turned 23 and I have a lot to learn," he insists. "I'm one of the youngest goalies in the league. I have to be a little bit patient. On the other hand, I still want to be that No. 1 guy."

Some things never change.

"No matter what I'm doing I want to be the best," Harding continues, attempting to explain the chip he has carried on his shoulder throughout his career. "I don't like other people beating me and I think that works in a positive way for trying to be a goaltender. I like the pressure. I like being in the spotlight. That's when I perform my best."

Harding's best, it seems, is yet to come. That said, as he reflects upon the journey to this point, Harding can't ignore the contributions of the man he refers to as his hero.

That person is his father.

"He has been there from Day 1," says Harding, his voice cracking with emotion. "Even if he wasn't my dad he would still be my best friend. Just like if I had decided to be a defenceman I wouldn't be talking to you. If I didn't have my dad I wouldn't be talking to you either. He was always there as a coach. It was kind of a bond we shared. There were a couple times, I think everybody on my team would agree, that he was a little harder on me and expected a lot out of me. But it made me the competitor I am now."

n n n

Harding is regarded by many as the greatest goalie in Pats history, a distinction which is supported by the fact that he's the franchise record-holder for best career goals-against average (2.56) and most shutouts (nine).

Still, Harding isn't convinced he's worthy of such praise.

"It's like a dream, truthfully," he says. "When you look at how many great, great goaltenders there are in the team's history, you can't comprehend the thought of somebody even saying that. It's not even believable."

To this day, Harding often speaks of his cherished time with the Pats. In fact, his affection for the franchise is such that he's convinced he wouldn't be where he is today without his time with the club.

"Being a part of that organization is something I'll never ever forget," he says. "The way they treated me, the way the fans treated me, it was one of the best times of my life. Every time I put on that Pats sweater, even right now, just looking at the jersey, you kind of get that little chill. I was a fan back when I was younger and I'm still a fan right now. I dreamed all my life of playing for the Pats. That dream happened and then the ultimate dream was to play in the NHL. Now that's happening. I wouldn't trade my time with the Pats for the world."

[nivek_wahs]

Harding cont...


Looking back, Tim Harding can only marvel at how far his son has come.

"He has been in the right place at the right time and he has had great opportunities on the teams he has been with," says the proud father. "It's kind of funny, josh played community hockey until he was in second-year atom. The key is having fun. I think sometimes parents forget that when kids are younger. We live right across the street from an outdoor rink. He'd walk across the street and spend hours out there and just have fun. Then he gets lucky and gets paid to do it."

To his credit, Harding is sharing his good fortune.

In November of last year, upon learning that his sister Stephanie had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Harding took it upon himself to raise awareness for the disease. He adorned his helmet with pink ribbons and started a Web site, fundthefight.com, on which he auctioned off memorabilia.

Among the benefactors were some of the biggest names in the game.

"I'll never forget the phone call after the game when Wayne Gretzky handed him a stick (after a game against the Phoenix Coyotes)," recalls Stephanie. "Wayne Gretzky was his hero when he was growing up. Here's Wayne Gretzky knowing what he was doing and he's signing a stick and handing it to Josh for the auction. It was overwhelming."

Harding's work culminated this summer in him presenting a cheque for $23,412 to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Naturally, his sister was by his side.

"Family is the most important thing in my life," says Harding, who wears the initials on his helmet to prove it.

"Becky (another sister), Steph, my mom and my dad, that's my family, they're more important than hockey, they're more important than anything. When something happens to any one of them, it doesn't matter what -- if they cut their finger -- you feel the pain. I thought it was a great thing to do to raise awareness and to show her that she's No. 1 in my life too."

Message received.

"The first time he called with his idea, it was an emotional conversation for both of us," adds Stephanie, who is currently cancer-free. "I guess I'm just glad that everyone got to see the kind of person he is. We see that every day and we know that from growing up with him, but it's nice for the people to see he is more than just a hockey player. He'll never forget where he came from."




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

[nivek_wahs]

Doug Wickenheiser (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/patshockey/story.html?id=0c3b3916-b27d-4123-ada4-1a260c2896a7&k=76557)


Doug Wickenheiser: 'To me, there was no one like him. He was just the best in every way.'

Rob Vanstone, Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

Carly Wickenheiser does not remember her father. But she still calls him Daddy.

Doug Wickenheiser's youngest of three daughters was 11/2 years old in 1999 when the Regina Pats legend died of cancer.

Now 10, Carly wants to know all about her dad. Her older sisters -- 13-year-old twins Rachel and Kaitlyn -- are equally curious. With that in mind, Dianne Wickenheiser ensures that her three children visit Regina each year.

"He was part of Carly's life for about one-10th of her life,'' says Dianne, who resides in suburban St. Louis with Carly, Kaitlyn and Rachel. "That's why it's so important for the girls to come home and be connected with his family and his environment and the people he knew and the streets he walked on and the rinks he skated on and the fields he might have played on.

"Every year, they're longing to go to his home and reconnect with that part of their lives.''

With each visit, the girls learn a little more about their father. They are well-acquainted with the details of his hockey career -- including his 89-goal, 170-point season with the 1979-80 Pats, and the Montreal Canadiens' decision to select him first overall in the 1980 NHL entry draft.

But the girls' questions generally pertain to other details -- aspects of Wickenheiser's life which are not well-known to the general public but crucial to his daughters.

"It's limitless,'' Dianne says. "They just want to know what he was like. He comes to life that much more. They want to hear the anecdotal stuff. It's a real gift that their dad is remembered. In such an unfortunate circumstance, they're able to hear about their dad and that's what they really long for -- the anecdotal, personal stories.

"They like to hear how he played with them in the backyard or what he did when they were little or how he held them in his arms or what he did on their first birthday or how he held their hands when they were walking down the street. Those things bring him to life that much more.''

n n n

Wickenheiser routinely brought the crowds to life -- especially in the spring of 1980 when he captained Regina to its most-recent WHL title.

"Doug was an exceptional player, as everyone is aware,'' says Bob Strumm, whose first season as the Pats' general manager was Wickenheiser's 89-goal campaign. "He had it all . . . the size, the skill, and an exceptional sense for the game around him that all the great players have. He had three or four speeds and used them all effectively when he had the puck.

"He was much more competitive than people gave him credit for, and he was truly a man among boys at the time.''

Strumm noticed that even before joining the Pats. For example, there was one game in 1978-79, when Strumm was GM of the now-defunct Billings Bighorns.

"The Pats were in town,'' Strumm recalls. "It was the first time I had seen the kid everyone was talking about. He scored three times -- one using his quick wrist shot which accelerated into the net, one using his monster reach, and the other with a backhand move in front. I thought, 'Underage . . . Hmmmm, this kid is going to be great,' with some adjectives thrown in, of course.''

Strumm was able to enjoy Wickenheiser's presence to a greater degree the following winter, when Regina advanced to the Memorial Cup. That year, the CHL's championship tournament began in Brandon before moving to Regina.

"In his last game as a Pat, we clobbered the eventual champion -- Cornwall,'' Strumm says. "He was outstanding. He did it all. It was a fitting farewell.''

Wickenheiser was an easy fit with the Pats. Despite his star status, he did not consider himself to be above anyone.

"As a person, he was pleasantly shy around management, but he had a unique sense of humour that was fun to jostle with occasionally,'' Strumm says. "He was intelligent -- a good student -- and very honest in his approach to everything in life. It was a pleasure and an honour to have him in a Pats uniform.

"He had an edge to him on game days, though, and that was part of the pressure of being the best . . . being Number 1. I thought he handled it beautifully and deserved all the accolades that were bestowed upon him.''

n n n

One such accolade was Canadian major-junior player-of-the-year honours, which he received in the spring of 1980. Shortly thereafter, Montreal drafted Wickenheiser first overall.

Wickenheiser's first two NHL seasons were frustrating experiences. He often watched games from the press box, dressing for only 41 of Montreal's 80 games as a rookie.

"It's said that it took Guy Lafleur three years to develop, but it seems they always forget that he played all the games for those three years,'' Wickenheiser said in a 1981 interview with the Leader-Post.

After being used sparingly as a sophomore, Wickenheiser emerged with the 1982-83 Canadiens, registering 25 goals and 30 assists in 78 games. However, his fortunes waned the following season, and he was traded to the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 21, 1983.

Wickenheiser made quite an impression the season after being traded to St. Louis. He scored 23 goals in 68 games with the 1984-85 Blues before his season was abruptly ended by a freak accident.

During a team outing -- a rookie initiation rite known as a snipe hunt -- Wickenheiser stepped off a truck and into the path of a car, sustaining a serious knee injury.

As a player, Wickenheiser was never the same, but the aftermath of the injury typified his determination.

A relentless rehabilitation regimen enabled Wickenheiser to return to the lineup four months ahead of schedule.

Four months into his comeback, Wickenheiser scored one of the most memorable goals in Blues history -- the Monday Night Miracle -- to give St. Louis a playoff victory over the Calgary Flames.

The Blues' rally from a three-goal, third-period deficit on May 12, 1986 was capped when Wickenheiser scored in overtime to force a seventh and deciding game in the Campbell Conference final. Calgary went on to win Game 7, 2-1.

That goal was the most memorable of Wickenheiser's NHL career, which also included stints with the Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. He retired with NHL regular-season totals of 111 goals and 165 assists in 556 games.

Wickenheiser settled in St. Louis, where he established two businesses -- Blue Line Nursery and Wick's Frozen Custard.

He also established a relationship. On Sept. 2, 1989, Wickenheiser and Dianne Pepple had their first date.

n n n

The day after that date, Wickenheiser flew to Sweden for the Capitals' training camp.

"We always joked about the fact that he left the country the day after our first date,'' Dianne said in a 1999 interview.

"My dad loved the fact that I accepted a collect call from Doug right after our first date. My dad said, 'You must have really liked this guy to accept a collect call.' Dad loved it. He thought the world of Doug. He saved the phone bill and highlighted the call. It was a lot of money! I couldn't get off the phone. I was so happy to talk to him.''

Wickenheiser was happy to talk to everyone -- a trait that was quickly noted and appreciated by Dianne when the Capitals visited St. Louis to play the Blues in October of 1989.

"Doug knew all the people,'' Dianne marvelled. "Doug stopped and talked to everyone. He talked to the ushers. He was friends with everyone.

"That's what I liked about him so much. Everyone was important to him. He always had friends from all different areas. It was always very important for him to find out about everybody.

"It's hard to pinpoint just one quality that I liked about him, except that he was just so nice. He was nice to everyone. He was just a gentleman. I always liked that. He had a gracious way about him.

"Not only that, he was funny. Doug was so funny. He had the most clever sense of humour. He was bright and very smart. He had the whole package. I loved his humour, but his most outstanding quality was his kindness. For such a big, strong guy, he was so kind.''

Doug and Dianne were married on Aug. 8, 1992. Almost two years later, Kaitlin and Rachel were born. Four days later, Doug underwent surgery to remove a cyst on his left wrist.

The cyst was diagnosed as malignant, forcing Doug to be treated for bone cancer. He would be cancer-free for three years.

The cancer returned in October of 1997, when a lemon-sized tumour was found in his right lung. The news worsened in July of 1998, when cancerous lesions were found in his brain.

"The support you get from people makes it a lot easier,'' Wickenheiser told the Leader-Post in August of 1998. "When people take time to write letters and say prayers, it picks up our spirits.''

Wickenheiser's spirit never waned. He was certain that he would beat cancer.

"I really believe that it will,'' he stated. "Right now, we've had a bit of a setback, but it'll work its way out. I really believe that. The only way we can get through this is by believing and praying that the miracle is going to happen.''

[nivek_wahs]

Wick cont...


n n n

Doug Wickenheiser slipped away on Jan. 12, 1999.

Tributes poured in. The Pats retired Wickenheiser's No. 12 jersey. He was also honoured by the Blues, who established the WICK 14 Fund to assist cancer patients.

"I'm heartbroken, but I'd say that I'm doing OK,'' Dianne said on the eve of a June 5, 1999 memorial in Regina. "Life goes on with these little girls because it has to, but I'm just heartbroken. I feel like a big part of me went with him.

"It's not that we won't be happy. We'll be happy. But we'll never be 100-per-cent happy in the same way. I have a wonderful life with these little girls. My family is in St. Louis and we have wonderful friends, but I'm absolutely broken-hearted.

"To me, there was no one like him. He was just the best in every way.''

Those sentiments have been reinforced over the past eight years.

The girls are all involved in sports, although Kaitlyn and Rachel retired from hockey after a brief experiment with their father's favourite sport.

The twins are most passionate about soccer. They play on the same team and wear their dad's numbers. Kaitlyn wears No. 14, which Doug donned with the Blues, and Rachel is No. 12 (Doug's number with the Pats).

"They were going to switch every year,'' Dianne says with a chuckle, "but now each of them has that one number.''

The resemblance extends far beyond the numbers.

"With Kaitlyn, it's almost the way she straightens up and walks away, like Doug did,'' Dianne notes. "They're such subtle things and they almost take your breath away. Now Carly has the same thing going. Or, they'll tilt their head when they're writing something.

"The girls look so much like him. Marcia (Doug's sister) will stop and say, 'Oh my gosh, look at Kaitlyn! She looks so much like Doug!' It can be the way they run. Kaitlyn, Rachel and Carly have got his stride -- his effortless way of running. They're really light on their feet and quick.''

Dianne's face lights up as she talks about the parallels.

"It's a special influence he still has on them, even though he's not here,'' she concludes. "His family is so involved in their lives, along with his friends. That is of immeasureable value.

"Not having him around, with every nugget you get, it's amazing how long you hang on to it.''




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

[nivek_wahs]

Clark Gillies (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/patshockey/story.html?id=bf8cd5f0-5554-4a2b-a725-e1743a4097d7&k=90616)



Clark Gillies: Former Pat a big winner at every level

Tim Switzer, Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

Clark Gillies never envisioned himself as a big-time hockey player. After winning four Stanley Cups, a Memorial Cup championship and being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, it's hard to imagine him as anything else.

And if he never thought he'd make it as a hockey player, the Moose Jaw product certainly never expected to begin his career in Regina.

"Growing up, we always had great rivalries," Gillies said with a laugh from his New York office. "We didn't really know the word 'Rivalry.' At that time it was just, 'We want to beat those guys from Regina because they're always trying to pick on the young kids from Moose Jaw.' "

Growing up in the Friendly City, Gillies played hockey all the time, but never thought of it as a possible career. But one day, then Regina Pats general manager Del Wilson and head coach Earl Ingarfield called Gillies up and offered him the chance to play in the Western Canada Hockey League.

"At that point I wasn't so sure I was ready to go to a major-junior hockey league," said Gillies, who was also drawing interest from the Houston Astros as a power hitter. "Up to that point I was just a big farm kid from Moose Jaw who played hockey. I didn't pay much attention to any of the other stuff."

For Wilson and Ingarfield, there was never any doubt about Gillies' skill.

"We only met with him the one evening and I guess we impressed the kid," Ingarfield said from his Lethbridge home. "We liked his enthusiasm and his size. I'd seen him play a game previously and he obviously had the skating ability, the hockey sense and he could shoot the puck. He was big and strong, but the biggest thing to me was that he really wanted to play the game."

"My dad and I went and watched a game and I said to him, 'That doesn't look like anything I can't handle,' " Gillies recalled.

Could he ever handle it.

"I came down and played the next game against Swift Current and I remember getting in three fights my first shift of the game and got thrown out," Gillies chuckled. "My jersey was torn off and my dad came into the dressing room and said, 'What do you think?' I said 'This is fun.' And I guess the rest is history."

A storied history at that.

In his first season with the Pats, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound power forward scored 31 goals and assisted on 48 more. Still, Gillies said it took several chats with Ingarfield over that 1971-72 season to convince the player that he could move on to the next level.

"He likes to say that," said Ingarfield. "I encouraged him without a doubt, but he was unbelievable, really."

More important than the pep talks that first season was the fact that Gillies was teamed with a number of other rookies -- including Dennis Sobchuk, Ed Staniowski and Mike Wanchuk -- who would go on to lead Regina to the Memorial Cup title in 1974.

"We did things a little differently (in the 1973-74 season)," said Gillies. "Most teams take two weeks off at Christmas but we went to Sweden and played some teams there. We came back in better shape than before we left from playing in the big, Olympic-size arenas. We just breezed through the second half of the season. Not to say that the Memorial Cup is easy, but other than a bit of a scare against Quebec in the final game, we didn't have too many problems."

"They were young kids and they just wanted to play . . . the end result was there," said Ingarfield, who left the Pats after the 1971-72 season and was replaced by Bob Turner, who led the team to the national title.

Looking back on the accomplishment more than 33 years later, Gillies cannot understand why the '74 squad was the last Pats team to win the Canadian major junior hockey championship.

"It just goes to show it's not an easy feat," said Gillies. "It really is a source for bragging rights when you sit in an NHL locker room. When it gets around Memorial Cup time someone always asks, 'Did anyone in here actually win one of those?' "

By the time Regina beat the Quebec Remparts 7-4 in the Memorial Cup final, Gillies, who had been named a WCHL first-team all-star that season, no longer had doubts he could make a career out of professional hockey.

He knew he was going to the Atlanta Flames with the third overall pick of the NHL entry draft or the New York Islanders at No. 4.

"I wasn't totally disappointed I didn't go to Atlanta because I really liked the makeup of the Islanders," said Gillies. "Being only in their third year in existence, they had a rag-tag group of guys they had got through interleague drafts and things like that."

Quickly after Gillies went to the pro game, Ingarfield, who had a 27-year scouting career with the Islanders saw an even better player than the one he coached in junior, particularly during a playoff series with the Philadelphia Flyers in his rookie year.

"Philadelphia had Dave Schultz and a couple other guys like that and they tried to rough it up with the Islanders and found out it wasn't gong to work," said Ingarfield, who retired from scouting five years ago. "Gillies decked Schultz and (Bob) Nystrom hit someone else and it was all over. That was the real turning point of the series and the turning point of the Islanders."

The Isles took some time, but by adding players like Bryan Trottier (in the second round of the 1974 draft) and Mike Bossy (in the 1977 draft), they would build one of the greatest teams in NHL history. Led by Gillies, Bossy and Trottier (known collectively as the Trio Grande) the Islanders won the Stanley Cup every year from 1980 to 1983.

"The first one was by far the greatest," said Gillies. "If you look back at all four of them, we went through more in the way of blood, sweat and tears in the first one than we did in the other three. When you have to beat Boston and Philly to win the Stanley Cup, that's pretty tough. But when you're sitting in the locker room so tired you can barely drink a beer to celebrate, you know you've really accomplished something."

The Isles fell to the Edmonton Oilers in their attempt to make it five in a row in 1984.

"As much fun as winning was, losing was the absolute bottom," said Gillies. "It just ripped my heart out and I was saying, 'I don't know what I've got left now.' We had played so hard and had so much success that to lose was like, 'What am I going to do? I don't know if I can play anymore.' It was a terrible way to look at it, but it was like it sapped all the energy out of you."

A couple years later, some of the energy had been sapped out of the Islanders organization as the team went 39-29-12 and management decided it was time to make some changes.

Gillies was taken off waivers by Buffalo after a deal by Isles GM Bill Torrey and Sabres head coach Scotty Bowman, who had coached Gillies with Team Canada in previous years.

After accumulating just 34 points over 86 games in two seasons with the Sabres, Gillies walked away from the game for good. His NHL totals included 319 goals, 378 assists and 1,023 penalty minutes in 958 games.

He had the opportunity to become an assistant under Islanders head coach Al Arbour the next season, but with a wife and three daughters at home, wasn't about to go back to that lifestyle.

"I didn't want to subject them to all that stuff," said Gillies. "And for me, personally, I was just done with travel."

After the NHL, Gillies found a new calling as a registered financial representative, a job he now performs within his own corporation under the Raymond James Financial umbrella. His office is just minutes from the Coliseum where he played as an Islander.

Nystrom works just around the corner and Bossy and Trottier are now employed by the Islanders' front office.

"From an alumni standpoint, we've got a pretty good presence around here," said Gillies.

While he decided to stay away from further employment in the hockey world, Gillies still pops up on the scene every now and again. He still does promotional appearances for the Islanders when the team needs his services and he gets to a few games a year, largely to entertain business clients.

One of his biggest joys in hockey nowadays, though, is getting to Toronto and Hockey Hall of Fame events.

Not that he ever expected he'd been invited. He had his No. 9 retired by the Islanders in 1986 and the Pats in 2000, but he was starting to think those were the biggest honours he might receive post-hockey.

"I had been nominated a couple times before that," said Gillies. "I just totally forgot about it. There was no reason getting your hopes up and having them dashed like that."

Then came a call on June 19, 2002. Gillies and his family were at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto on their way back to Moose Jaw to celebrate his mother's birthday when he called his New York office to check messages.

His secretary, Ellen, gave him a Toronto-area number to dial. He placed the call while his wife, Pam, and three daughters -- Jocelyn, Brooke and Brianna -- were in the washroom.

When the women in his life returned to the terminal, Gillies had tears in his eyes.

"My wife came back and saw me crying and said, 'Oh my God, did something happen to your mom?' " said Gillies. "I said, 'No, these are happy tears.'"

Despite his greatest hockey success coming with the Islanders, Gillies still considers himself a Regina Pat.

"There's a certain camaraderie that never leaves," said Gillies. "My heart is still in Moose Jaw, but there was lots of fun in Regina too."




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

[nivek_wahs]

Fran Huck (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/patshockey/story.html?id=c1985636-7fe5-4a4e-8eda-ba6a3f5f18dd&k=5507)


Fran Huck: Known as 'The Golden Hawk'

Murray McCormick, Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

Fran Huck has one of the coolest nicknames in sport. Huck was labelled "The Golden Hawk" during his first full season with the Regina Pats. The nickname was applied because Huck and linemates Andy Black and Barry Meissner donned gold helmets during the 1964-63 season with the Pats. Back then, players were allowed to wear their own helmets and they didn't have to match the team's uniforms.

"It was Andy's idea,'' Huck, 60, said from Kelowna, B.C., where he continues to practise as a lawyer. "I don't know why he thought about it but he had a flair for that type of thing. He showed up one day with our helmets and he had painted them gold. We didn't think anything about it. We just put them on. There wasn't any design behind it. I just put it on.''

Huck still has the helmet. It's kind of beat-up and has lost most of its golden shine but still maintains many of the memories during his playing time with the Pats.

"People don't call me that anymore,'' Huck said of his nickname. "There are some who might still meet me and say "You were the golden something.' '' That's if they remember me at all.''

The three stages of Huck's careers are all memorable. He was born and raised in Regina and played in the minor hockey system before joining the Pats for the 1962-63 season. He played half of the season in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, which preceded the Western Hockey League. Huck would go on to play 31 games with the Canadian national hockey team and share in a bronze medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics. The final stage was his professional career, which includes stints in the National Hockey League, American Hockey League and the World Hockey Association. Huck retired from hockey after the 1977-78 season.

Huck dreamed of playing for the Regina Pats while growing up in Regina. He made the Regina Pat Canadians as a 15-year-old before moving up to the Pats.

"The biggest thing in Regina, other than playing for the Roughriders, was to play for the Pats,'' said Huck. "Every kid dreamed about it. I wasn't any different. It was a tremendous organization.''

The seeds of the dream were nurtured by Saturday night hockey games at the Exhibition Stadium. Those were the only nights that the young hockey players could play indoors. The 30-minute skate was the highlight of the week for Huck.

"I remember it would be 45 minutes by bus from the east end of the city to the west end,'' Huck said. "I don't know what it's like now but in those days it was like the Montreal Forum. You looked forward to playing there every Saturday because that was where the big guys played.''

Huck joined the "big guys'' for part of the 1962-63 season where he recorded four goals and 11 assists in 28 games. He returned to the squad for the 1963-64 season.

Huck played in 62 regular-season games in which he recorded 86 goals and 67 assists. He added another 22 goals and 18 assists in 19 playoff games with the Pats. He was picked up by the Edmonton Oil Kings for the Memorial Cup in which he recorded three goals in five games. Huck was named the SJHL's most valuable player and a first-team all-star.

"That was a breakthrough year for me,'' Huck said. "The first year I bounced between junior B and the Pats and it took me five to six months to get used to them. I worked out all summer and then it happened.''

Huck continued his torrid scoring pace in the 1964-65 season with the Pats. He recorded 77 goals and 59 assists in 56 regular-season games. He also netted 20 goals and 13 assists in 12 playoff games before being picked up again by Edmonton for the Memorial Cup. Huck had 15 goals and 10 assists in 10 Memorial Cup games.

Huck obviously had a knack for the finding the net. He wasn't big but he was capable of scoring.

"He was a great junior,'' said Lorne Davis, a long-time scout with the NHL's Edmonton Oils and a roommate of Huck's on the Canadian national team. "He had a lot of the qualities of the smaller players of today. It was just getting to the stage where bigger hockey players were wanted. He played hard and he wanted to win.''

Mal Isaac, a former CBC sports reporter, covered the SJHL for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix when Huck burst onto the hockey scene. Isaac, would later join the Leader-Post's staff, marveled at the skating ability and goal-scoring attributes that Huck exhibited with the Pats.

"He was something to watch,'' Isaac said. "There were many times they would be down three or four goals going into the third period and he would start it. They would do everything they could do stop him. They would hack, take runs at him and slash him and he would keep on going. He was just unstoppable.''

Huck stunned the junior hockey world when he skated away from his final season with the Pats to join the national hockey team in Winnipeg.

"He wanted to go to school so he picked the national team over the NHL,'' said Isaac.

Huck devoted time to his studies while playing with the Pats. He also wanted to study law and playing with the national team afforded him the best opportunity. Huck was protected by the Montreal Canadiens before deciding to join the national team.

"I thought if I could go to school and play against some of the best players in the world, it was the best thing for me,'' Huck said. "At the time, there were a minority who considered the Europeans good hockey players. I found out in my first year that they were outstanding. I remember that they wouldn't give you the puck. You had to chase them all around. It was a revelation and precursor to the 1972 series when we learned they are good.''

Huck won bronze medals at the 1966 and 1967 world championships.

"I had my moments at all three areas but I put more passion into the national-team program than any other,'' Huck said. "I did play in Stanley Cup semifinals but there seemed to be more intensity and more passion playing in the Olympics and the world championships at the international level.''

Huck embarked on an extensive professional career after leaving the national team. He joined the Montreal Voyageurs of the AHL for the 1970-71 season. He played five games that season with Canadiens before being traded to the St. Louis Blues. He played another season with St. Louis before joining the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA. Huck played 105 games in the NHL recording 61 points.

"If Fran hadn't been drafted by Montreal, he might have had been better off,'' Davis said. "The way Montreal played, though, it certainly suited his style. He was very popular in Europe, though. Everyone knew who he was. He was the one the fans watched. He was fun to watch.''

Huck started his WHA careeer in 1973 with the Jets. He played in 351 games with the Jets and Minnesota Fighting Saints, recording 90 goals and 34 assists.

"One of the reason I went to the WHA was because I was used to Winnipeg,'' Huck said. "I had been there five years with the national team and I was comfortable there.''

Huck turned to the coaching ranks after retiring from hockey. He coached the St. Boniface Mohawks of the CSHL and the Winnipeg Warriors of the WHL in 1980-81.

Huck's international efforts were recognized in 1999 when he was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation's hall of fame as a player.

"That was a significant for me on a personal basis,'' Huck said.

Huck's effort was also recognized in 2006 when he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

"You appreciate that people recognize some of things that you've done,'' Huck said. "I didn't do it for recognition. I just love the fact that I was able to do what I did.''

Huck moved from Regina to Calgary in 2000 and eventually settled in Kelowna. Huck studied law while playing with the national team. He even took the bar admission course during the summer when he played professionally. He remembers he wasn't much of a student in his early days because he was always with hockey, football, baseball or basketball.

"School was pretty far down on the ladder,'' said Huck, who graduated from the University of Manitoba. "I stuck with it and when I played for the Pats I went to school. I had it drilled into me hard that school was important. It stayed with me.''

Huck still has fond memories of his year's with the Pats. even though he did leave a year early to join the national team. His career as a lawyer has reduced some of his contact with the organization.

"The Regina Pats were a big and proud name in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s,'' Huck said. "It was also a strong organization. I just hope that that tradition continues.''




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

[nivek_wahs]

Bill Hicke (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/patshockey/story.html?id=d9b584dd-b52c-4d2f-be86-151d0e919e58&k=80807)


Bill Hicke: Legendary Pat left his mark on team

Rob Vanstone, Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

Lisa Hicke-Ostertag looks up to her father -- literally.

Every time Bill Hicke's daughter visits the Brandt Centre, she appreciates the fact that his name and Regina Pats uniform number (17) are prominently displayed in the arena's upper extremities.

"It's overwhelming sometimes to think that he accomplished so much and was such a loved person and had so much fun and that his jersey number is up there,'' Hicke-Ostertag says. "You see his retired Number 17 and it always makes you cry and think about him.

"To him, it was his life and what he did. He just enjoyed life so much. The glass was always half-full with him. It was a tall glass, with lots of ice.''

Hicke saw plenty of ice over his 67 years.

He rose to prominence by helping the Pats reach the 1956, 1957 and 1958 Memorial Cups.

The 5-foot-8, 168-pound right winger had 33 goals in 36 games as a 17-year-old before scoring 52 times in 53 games (during the 1956-57 season) and 54 goals in 49 games (1957-58).

The Pats recognized Hicke's brilliance by retiring his Pats jersey during a 1959 ceremony at Exhibition Stadium.

Hicke's successful stint with the Pats prepared him for a long career in the pro ranks, including 14 seasons in the National Hockey League. He had NHL totals of 168 goals and 402 points in 729 regular-season games.

He also played for the Alberta (now Edmonton) Oilers in the World Hockey Association's inaugural 1972-73 season while moonlighting as the first president of the WHA Players' Association.

Upon retiring as a player, Hicke established himself in the business community as the owner of Kyle's Sporting Goods on Hamilton Street. Ties with the Pats were formally re-established in February of 1986, when Hicke was part of a group that purchased the Pats.

Along with being a part-owner, Hicke was the Pats' general manager from 1989 until the team was sold to Calgary-based entrepreneur Russ Parker in the spring of 1995 -- shortly before he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Hicke also coached the Pats with Al Dumba from November of 1992 through the 1993-94 season.

Hicke and Dumba guided the Pats to the WHL's East Division final in the spring of 1993, when the Swift Current Broncos engineered a sweep en route to the league title. The Pats have not reached the third round of the playoffs since that time.

But such details -- while fundamental to any portrayal of Hicke's life -- are only part of his story.

Hicke is also affectionately remembered as a character, and for his character.

The latter attribute was especially evident as Hicke battled cancer, which claimed him on July 18, 2005.

"He was a cool guy,'' his daughter recalls, "and I really miss him.

"My mom did say to him, 'This isn't fair. This isn't right.' My dad said, 'Don't ever feel sorry for me. I've had the most wonderful life. I've had the most wonderful experiences.'

"How do you ever handle that without three days of crying?''

Hicke also had a unique gift for making people laugh. As much as Hicke-Ostertag misses her father, she cannot help but break into laughter while reflecting upon him.

"Life was never dull,'' she says. "He loved an audience -- especially anybody who hadn't heard his stories before.''

Oh, how he could tell stories.

In 1990, for example, Hicke began spinning anecdotes as the Pats' bus left the exhibition grounds en route to Prince Albert. For the next 31/2 hours, Hicke had everybody rolling as he talked about, well, everything. The extended monologue stopped when the bus did -- in front of Prince Albert's Comuniplex (now the Art Hauser Centre).

Hicke regaled coaches, players and two reporters with yarns from his playing days, and about life in general.

And what a life it was.

In the Montreal Canadiens' dressing room, Hicke sat between two eventual Hockey Hall of Famers -- Maurice (Rocket) Richard and Dickie Moore. That team also included luminaries such as Toe Blake (who was the head coach), Jean Beliveau, Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion, Doug Harvey and Jacques Plante.

Hicke shared in the Canadiens' Stanley Cup triumphs of 1959 and 1960 before being dealt to the New York Rangers in 1964.

"Dad used to joke about the worst five words he ever said to Toe Blake: 'Play me or trade me,' '' Hicke-Ostertag recalls with a chuckle. "It was right before Christmas. The next day, he was on a train to New York.

"Ho ho ho.''

Before leaving Montreal, Hicke had to clear out his apartment on very short notice.

"He had this big Christmas tree,'' his daughter says. "He carried it downstairs and gave it to the superintendent -- who didn't have a lot of money -- with the lights on it and everything. That's how generous he was.''

While in New York, Hicke met the likes of Muhammad Ali, Dean Martin and Bill Cosby. During a visit to New York which preceded the trade to the Rangers, he shared an elevator at the Waldorf Astoria hotel with a senator named John F. Kennedy.

Hicke tended to travel in circles with prominent Americans. At a private party in Fort Worth, Texas, Hicke met Janis Joplin. He was also in the Baltimore Orioles' clubhouse when they celebrated a 1966 World Series victory. At the time, Hicke was playing for the AHL's Baltimore Clippers.

An avid golfer, Hicke once enjoyed a round with another colourful character, Chi-Chi Rodriguez.

"Dad loved to golf, and he was such a fantastic teacher,'' Hicke-Ostertag says. "He could analyse your golf game on the first hole and tell you on the second hole the things you had to do. He'd say, 'Move your hand here,' or, 'Move your foot here.'

"He'd never offer the advice unless people asked. Scotty McLellan said my dad took five or 10 strokes off his game because he was such a good golfer.''

Hicke also spent plenty of time on the links with Charles M. Schulz, who developed the Peanuts comic strip. The California-based Schulz, a hockey fan, befriended Hicke when he played for the NHL's Oakland Seals.

"They became really good friends and my dad was his favourite player,'' Hicke-Ostertag says. "Did you ever watch the cartoon when Snoopy is playing hockey? Snoopy is wearing Number 9. He gave Snoopy that number because my dad wore it.''

Hicke's wardrobe often reflected his ties to Regina.

"He used to wear his Pats jacket to Oakland practices,'' his daughter remembers. "That's how he got the nickname Patty on the Seals, and the jacket still fit after 10 years.

"That's how close he felt to the Pats and how ingrained they were in him. That's why he was so thrilled when he bought the Pats. He had come full circle.''

Hicke purchased the Pats along with Morley Gusway, Ted Knight, Jack Nicolle and Huddy Bell. Nicolle and Bell eventually sold their shares, making the ownership group a trio.

The team was put up for sale during the 1985-86 season after owner Herb Pinder Jr., found himself in an irresolvable dispute with the Regina Exhibition Association over the imposition of a $1 parking charge for Pats games.

Pinder initially sold the team to a Swift Current group, only to have the WHL intervene and purchase the club with the intent of keeping it in Regina. Hicke and his associates then bought the franchise from the league.

"I have never met a more generous guy than Billy,'' says Gusway, who was one of Hicke's closest friends. "When my daughter got married, Billy picked up my daughter and her husband in his big limo. I offered him a few bucks but he wouldn't take a dime.

"He was dressed up like a chauffeur.''

Gusway remembers when Hicke was dressed up in Pats garb at Exhibition Stadium in the 1950s.

"Billy could stickhandle like crazy and skate like the devil,'' Gusway recalls.

"I had a lot of good years with Billy. He was a great guy. He had no fear of anything. He just faced life the way it was.''

That was especially true when Hicke battled cancer.

"He used to come into my office every day,'' says Gusway, who owns the Regina Rent-It Centre. "He'd take his treatment at the cancer clinic and then come into my office and tell me about it.

"He always called me Mo. He said, 'Mo, if you have to go, you have to go. Nobody can stop it.' ''

Nothing could stop Hicke from making jokes -- not even a battle with cancer.

Hicke made light of having spent tens of thousands of dollars on treatments at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

"Every time I see a Cadillac Suburban, I say, 'I left one of those in the Mayo Clinic,' '' Hicke told the Leader-Post during an interview in January of 2005.

On Feb. 4 of that year, Hicke was among the inaugural four recipients of the WHL's Governors Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements and contributions to the league and to hockey.

Hicke spent his final months at home with his family -- including his wife, Lee Anne, and their two children (Lisa and Danny). The Regina hockey legend was also close to his two grandsons, Ryan and Dylan Ostertag.

"He loved you unconditionally,'' Lisa says. "He was always there to cuddle and hug and tell you he loved you.

"Even when I was 40, I'd jump on the couch and cuddle with him. We'd laugh and he'd tell stories.''

Like father, like daughter.

"It's just a flowing waterfall of memories,'' Lisa concludes. "So many memories ...''




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007