Dale Hawerchuk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Nickname(s)	Ducky
Height Weight	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 185 lb (84 kg/13 st 3 lb)
Pro clubs	Winnipeg Jets Buffalo Sabres St. Louis Blues Philadelphia Flyers
Nationality	Canada
Born	April 4, 1963 (1963-04-04) (age 45), Toronto, ON, CAN
NHL Draft	1st overall, 1981 Winnipeg Jets
Pro career	1981 – 1997
Hall of Fame, 2001

Dale Hawerchuk (born April 4, 1963 in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey player.

[edit] Playing career

In 1979, Hawerchuk was selected 6th overall by the Cornwall Royals of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He recorded 103 points and was named Rookie-of-the-Year. Hawerchuk was the playoff MVP and led the Royals to the Memorial Cup championship. In his second junior, he scored 81 goals and 183 points and led the Royals to their second consecutive Memorial Cup title. He was named a QMJHL First Team All-Star, the Canadian Major Junior Player-of-the-Year, and Memorial Cup MVP.

The Winnipeg Jets selected Hawerchuk first overall in the 1981 Entry Draft. Hawerchuk led the Jets to what was at the time the largest single season turn-around in NHL history, a 48-point improvement. He became the youngest NHL player in history to reach 100-points (record broken by Sidney Crosby in 2006), finishing with 103, was named Rookie-of-the-Year, and played in the All-Star Game. Hawerchuk recorded 91 points in his second season, then 100-plus points for five consecutive years, including a career-high 53 goals and 130 points in 1984–85.

During the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, Hawerchuk was traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Over the next five years he recorded no fewer than 86 points (except during an injury plagued and lockout shortened 1994–95 season). In 1995, he signed with the St. Louis Blues, recording 41 points in 66 games before a trade to the Philadelphia Flyers in March, 1996. He finished the season strongly, scoring 20 points in the season's final 16 games and adding 12 points in the playoffs. The next season, he was plagued by injuries but managed 34 points and played in his fifth All-Star Game. Hawerchuk announced his retirement from the game following the 1996–97 season at age 34. His appearance with the Flyers in the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals marked the only time any of his teams advanced past the second round of the playoffs.

He played for Team Canada in the 1987 Canada Cup tournament, and had a goal and two assists in the decisive third game of the Finals against the Soviets. Late in the third period, he won the face-off that led to Canada's second-most famous goal and tied up with the Russian player who tried to check Mario Lemieux at centre ice, allowing Lemieux to take Gretzky's pass in the slot for the series winner. He was named Canada's MVP for that decisive game. Commentators remarked on his ability in the series to switch from being a goal scorer to a mucker and grinder. Hawerchuk was also key to Canada's 1991 Canada Cup victory.

In a poll of NHL general managers during the mid-1980s asking them to select the player they would start a franchise with, Hawerchuk was voted third behind only Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey. He retired with 518 goals, 891 assists and 1,409 points, placing him 17th on the career NHL points list. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

There is a rock band in Quebec of the same name as Hawerchuk called Les Dales Hawerchuk, as a tribute to the hockey player, and released an album in 2005 of the same name, with the image of Hawerchuk in a retro Winnipeg Jets jersey as the cover art.

Hawerchuk is the president, director of hockey operations, and primary owner of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League's Orangeville Crushers. [1]

On April 5, 2007 Hawerchuk was inducted into the Phoenix Coyotes Ring of Honor[2] joining Bobby Hull and Thomas Steen. The Coyotes however did not retire his #10.

[edit] Awards & Achievements

• Rookie-of-the-Year (QMJHL) Winner (1980)
• Playoff MVP (QMJHL) (1980)
• QMJHL Championships (1980 & 1981)
• Memorial Cup Championships (1980 & 1981)
• Memorial Cup All-Star First Team (1980 & 1981)
• QMJHL Scoring Champion (1981)
• QMJHL First Team All-Star (1981)
• QMJHL Player of Year (1981)
• QMJHL MVP (1981)
• Memorial Cup MVP (1981)
• Canadian Major-Junior Player of Year (1981)
• Played in NHL All-Star game 5 Times
• Calder Memorial Trophy Winner (1982)
• World Championships Bronze Medalists (1982 & 1986)
• World Championships Silver Medalist (1989)
• NHL Second Team All-Star Centre (1985)
• Canada Cup Championships (1987 & 1991)
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001
• “Honoured Member” of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame

[edit] Career Statistics

[edit] See also

• Captain (hockey)
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 500 goals

[edit] External links

• Dale Hawerchuk's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Dale Hawerchuk's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Dale Hawerchuk's biography at Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
• Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com