Doug Wickenheiser
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Position | Centre |
| Shot | Left |
| Nickname(s) | Wick |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 196 lb (89 kg/14 st 0 lb) |
| Pro clubs | Washington Capitals New York Rangers Vancouver Canucks St. Louis Blues Montreal Canadiens |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | March 30, 1961, Regina, SK, CAN |
| Died | January 12, 1999 (aged 37), St. Louis, MO, USA |
| NHL Draft | 1st overall, 1980 Montreal Canadiens |
| Pro career | 1980 – 1994 |
Doug Wickenheiser (March 30, 1961 – January 12, 1999) was a Canadian ice hockey player. He was drafted first overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft.
Wickenheiser was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. A superstar in Major Junior hockey with the Regina Pats, during the 1979–80 WHL season he led the Western Hockey League in goal scoring (89), captained the Pats to a berth in the Memorial Cup and was the CHL Player of the Year. Wickenheiser was rated by the Hockey News as the top draft prospect in 1980 and was drafted first overall by the Montreal Canadiens. Many Canadiens fans (Especially French Canadian fans, who mostly wanted Denis Savard because he was from Quebec) resented him[citation needed], and media attention soon turned negative. Not helping his status was that Savard (drafted third), would become a superstar with the Chicago Blackhawks.
He was later traded to the St. Louis Blues. Probably his most famous moment with the Blues was during the 1985–86 playoffs in a game dubbed the "Monday Night Miracle" on May 12, 1986, when after St. Louis made a large comeback against the Calgary Flames, Wickenheiser scored the overtime winner to force a Game 7 in the Campbell Conference Finals. The Blues would lose the deciding game 2–1, however.
During his NHL career, Wickenheiser also played for the Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals. In 556 games, he scored 111 goals and 165 assists.
In August of 1994, Wickenheiser had a malignant cyst removed from his wrist - which he had first noticed four years earlier in 1990. Three years later, in October of 1997, he was diagnosed with an inoperable form of cancer in his lung. Wickenheiser was only 37 when he died from lung and brain cancer on January 12, 1999 in St. Louis, Missouri. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. His life story was memorialized in the book "The Last Face Off: The Doug Wickenheiser Story" written in March 2000 by Ted Pepple, Wickenheiser's father-in-law. The Mid-States Club Hockey Association, the governing body for high school hockey in St. Louis, named their championship trophy for small school/second division teams in his honor. He is interred at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Valley Park, Missouri.
His fourth cousin, Hayley Wickenheiser, is a Canadian Olympic athlete, known for her ice hockey excellence with Gold Medals from both 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics, and competed in women's Softball in the 2000 Summer games.
An arena in his hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan has been named Doug Wickenheiser Arena in his honor. The arena is located at the corner of Arnason St. & Rochdale Blvd. in the city's northwest corner.
While the St. Louis Blues did not retire his number 14, Blues players wore a special helmet decal with the wick of a candle and the number 14 during parts of the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons, and in 1999 a banner with that logo, which became the symbol of The Fourteen Fund, the official Blues charity established in his memory, was permanently placed in the rafters at the Blues home rink. The sticker was worn by all NHLers in the 1999 All-Star Game, and was also sold to the public for a small donation and became a popular trend among youth hockey players in St. Louis.[original research?]
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| Preceded by Pierre Lacroix |
CHL Player of the Year 1980 |
Succeeded by Dale Hawerchuk |
| Preceded by Rob Ramage |
NHL First Overall Draft Pick 1980 |
Succeeded by Dale Hawerchuk |
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