2008 BCHHF Inductees

The BC Hockey Hall of Fame welcomes four new inductees for 2008.

Steve Gregory Yzerman

At the age of 16, Yzerman moved to Peterborough to play with the OHL’s Petes. He had 91 points in 56 games with Peterborough in his second year, but his numbers weren’t the usual stratospheric kind registered by young phenomena in the OHL because of the team concept ingrained in the Petes by Dick Todd, the team’s no-nonsense coach. Along with Pat LaFontaine and Sylvain Turgeon, Yzerman was still considered one of the top prospects a his draft year approached. He enriched that reputation with as strong performance on Canada’s bronze medal team in the World Junior Championship in 1983.

The year before the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, the Detroit Red Wings were bought by Mike Llitch, who entrusted general manager Jim Devellano with the job of rebuilding the failing franchise. The Red Wings had the fourth overall pick, and Devellano’s first choice was Lafontaine, a hometown boy who would surely revive the interest of the Detroit fans. But LaFontaine was picked third and Devellano selected Yzerman to be the cornerstone of the new Wings.

Still only 18, Yzerman immediately established himself as an impact player with the Red Wings. In his first year, 1983-84, he set Detroit records for goals by a rookie with 39 and for points with 87. He finished second behind goalie Tom Barrasso in the Calder Trophy voting and also made the NHL’s All-Rookie team. He played in the All-star Game after half a season in the league, making him the youngest player ever to don an all-star sweater. His success carried over into training camp for the 1984 Canada Cup. Yzerman played so well in the camp that he couldn’t be left off the team. Canada won the tournament, though Yzerman missed most of the action due to recurring tonsillitis.

Yzerman continued to record impressive numbers. He had a knack for the pretty goal and began to draw fans back to the beleaguered team. He was named Red wings captain as a 21 year old in 1986, the youngest player ever to earn that honor.

Between 1987-95 and 1993, he never failed to top 100 points; and five times he scored 50 goals or more while winning the Lester B. Pearson Trophy in 1988-89. He set all time marks for Detroit when he had 65 goals, 90 assists and 155 points in 1988-89, placing third in the league scoring race behind Gretzky and Lemieux, just as he would in voting for the Hart Trophy that season.

In 1994-95, the Wings ended the lockout-shortened season atop the standings, winning the Presidents Trophy. The team coasted through the first three rounds of the playoffs undefeated on home ice. For the first time in his 11th year in the league, Yzerman was in the Stanley Cup Finals. The joy didn’t last long. New Jersey’s stifling defense shut down Yzerman and the Wings and he had to watch Devils captain Scott Stevens hoist the Stanley Cup after a four-game sweep. Still, after so many seasons for struggling even to make the playoffs, Yzerman was being talked about as the quiet but effective leader of a surging team.

Yzerman’s high status was evident when his name began to surface in trade rumors in 1995. The Red Wings were a contending team, four games away from the cup the previous season, and enviable position for which Yzerman had worked hard and sacrificed years of his career.

In the spring of 1996 the center exacted a measure of revenge on Mike Keenan, the coach who’d left him off those international teams. Yzerman scored a 60-foot goal to eliminate Keenan’s St. Louis Blues from the playoffs.

 

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Cliff John Ronning

In 1985, Cliff Ronning was showered with accolades as he wrapped up his two-year career with the New Westminster Bruins of the WHL winning the league scoring, voted the WHL’s MVP and selected as a First-Team All-Star.

Picked by St.Louis Blues in the 6th round, Cliff’s flashy style, mobility, and scoring touch were well suited to the international style of hockey. So, he skated for Team Canada for the bulk of the 1985-86 campaign, joining the Blues for the playoffs of that year picking up his first NHL points.

The following season, he split his campaign between Team Canada and the Blues, which seemed indicative of an absence of a defined role with the Blues. He did have one strong season in 1988-89 when he netted 59 points in 79 games. Nonetheless, a year later, he left the NHL to play for Italy for a year. Upon his return in 1990-91, he rejoined the Blues for a short time but was traded to the Vancouver Canucks. Once the season was completed, Ronning joined Canada’s National Team at the 1991 World Championships.

Ronning’s big-league career finally began to take shape as being home in Vancouver. In his first three seasons with the club, he was able to flourish in an offensive mode. His numbers became predictably solid each year and he always kept his defensive game reigned in on a fairly tight string.

In 1996, at age 31, Cliff became an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Phoenix Coyotes. Lasting just over two seasons in the desert before being traded to the fledgling Nashville Predators. Ronning’s veteran presence and consistent scoring punch helped prevent the Predators from being an expansion doormat.

After parts of four seasons in Nashville, Ronning was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings in the final months of the 2001-02 season playing only in 14 games. The Kings dealt him in the summer of 2002 to the Minnesota Wild and during the 2002-03 season he surpassed the 800 point plateau and was a key player in Minnesota’s run in the 2003 post season.

In 2003-04, Cliff signed as a free agent with the New York Islanders appearing in 40 games with the club putting up decent numbers. The following year 2004-05 was the lock out year, and Cliff Ronning announced his retirement from the NHL on February 15, 2006.

Awards:
  • BCJHL…. Coastal Division First All-Star Team (1983)
  • WHL…. Rookie of the Year (1984)
  • WHL…. First All-Star Team, Player of the Year (1985)

1983-84 New Westminster Bruins

Inducted: July 25, 2008

Category: Player

 

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Don Hay

Don Hay (born February 13, 1954 in Kamloops, British Columbia) and played minor hockey for the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association.

As a player, Hay was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in the 12th round in the 1974 NHL Entry Draft and by the Houston Aeros in the 18th round of the same year in the WHA Entry Draft. However, he never made it to either league as a player.

Hay became an assistant coach of his home town Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League in 1986-87. After six years as an assistant, Hay took over the reins as the blazers head coach in 1992-93.

Don has had tremendous success at the junior level, coaching the Kamloops Blazers and the Tri City Americans. He won back- to- back Memorial Cup Championships in Kamloops in 1993-94 and 1994-95 and was named WHL Coach of the Year and WHL Executive of the Year with the Americans in 1999. That same year, he was named the WHL’s Best All-Time Coach by the Canadian Hockey League.

Don had the opportunity to coach Canada to a Gold Medal at the 1995 World Junior Championships, leading his team to a perfect 7-0 record in the tournament.

He has head coaching experience at the NHL level with the Calgary Flames (2000-01) and he also served as the first coach in Phoenix Coyotes history (1996-97. His other NHL coaching experience includes as an assistant with Calgary and the Anaheim Ducks.

Prior to coming to Vancouver, Don spent three seasons coaching the Utah Grizzlies of the American Hockey League, the former affiliate to the Dallas Stars.

Don Hay has just entered his fourth season as the Head Coach of the Vancouver Giants, leading the team to back-to-back Western Hockey League Finals, their first ever WHL Championship ( 2005-06 ) and their first ever appearance in the MasterCard Memorial Cup, also he was named the Western Conference’s nominee for WHL Coach of the Year.

Last year, the Giants captured the Memorial Cup, the fourth time Hay has won the top prize, three as a Head Coach and one as an Assistant Coach in the Canadian Hockey League.

Into his 9th season as a Head Coach in the WHL, Hay’s overall record is 368-200-53

INDUCTED: July 25, 2008

CATEGORY: COACH

 

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Allan Matthews

International Ice Hockey Federation:

  • Hockey Canada Delegate to IIHF, 2003-05
  • Member IIHF Insurance Committee, 2004-Present
  • Member IIHF In-Line Hockey Committee, 1999-2004

Hockey Canada:

  • Past Chair of the Board, 2005-Present
  • Chair of the Board, 2003-2005
  • Executive Vice-Chair, 2001-2003
  • Officer at Large, 1995-2001
  • Under 18 World Championship Team, Education Consultant, 2003
  • HC Representative World Junior Champions1996, World Female Champions 1999, World Men’s Champions 2004, World Cup of Hockey Champions 2004

British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association:

  • President, 1991-1993
  • Vice-President, 1985-1991
  • Junior B Director, 1976-1980
  • HC Volunteer of the Year Award, 1995
  • HC Minor Hockey Week Award, 1995
  • Team BC (Male U17 & Female U18) Canada Winter Games, Management Committee, 1990
  • Team BC (Junior B) Canadian Winter Games Champions, Management Committee, 1979

Peace Cariboo Junior A Hockey League:

  • President, 1983-1985
  • PCJHL All-Star Manager, 1982-1983

Cariboo Minor Hockey League:

  • President, 1980-1982

Williams Lake Minor Hockey Association:

  • Executive Director, 1977-1985
  • Honorary Life Member, 1988

Kootenay International Junior B Hockey League:

  • Executive Member, 1974-1976
  • Kimberley Knights, Executive Member, 1973-1976

Inducted: July 25, 2008 Category: Builder

 

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Larry Lund

Larry Lund, the 67-year old Penticton native born September 9, 1940 who grew up and played his entire minor hockey in Penticton, during a time when everyone ate, drank and breathed hockey. He was a teenager when the Penticton V’s won the world championships in 1955. One of Lund’s favorable memory moments was playing for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the 1960-61 Memorial Cup finals playing in the Maple Leaf Gardens losing in the finals to St. Catharines. He would go on to have a successful career in the WHL, CPHL, IHL, AHL and the World Hockey Association for 459 games. In six season’s with the Houston Aeros Larry had the opportunity to play with the legendary Gordie Howe, winning two Avco Cups, Larry finishing his WHA career with 149 goals and 277 assists retiring in 1977-78.

The World Hockey Association’s preliminary 1972 General Player Draft started with each team selecting 4 players each with Larry Lund being drafted 3rd by Dayton Aeros, later to be named the Houston Areos started playing on October 11, 1972 with 12 teams to rival the NHL and operating for 6 years before amalgamating with the NHL. Lund was named 23rd of the Top 50 World Hockey Association players of all time.

Lund became one of the founder’s (1963) of one of the largest, longest and successful running hockey schools (Okanagan Hockey School) in the world and under Larry’s direction, developed thousands of young players during the summer months in Penticton. The Okanagan Hockey School, which at the start had about 30 hockey players who were looking to stay in shape for the upcoming hockey season. Now over 1500 hockey players annually attend the school here in Penticton and their satellite camps in Kelowna, Calgary. Edmonton and throughout Europe. Larry operated OHS for more than 40 years until selling to a group headed by Andy Oakes and former NHLers Allan Kerr and Jeff Finlay in 2004.

Larry Lund has always been a driving force behind hockey in Penticton. He was the majority owner of the Penticton Knights in the1980s, winning the 1986 national junior A championship, and is presently involved in the partnership owners group with the Penticton Vees.

INDUCTED: JULY 25, 2008

CATEGORY: BUILDERS

 

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Further Information:

Bruce Judd-Executive Director
BCHHF 250-492-0509
 
Scott Carter-Director
BCHHF 250-490-0711