Ron Delorme

Ron Delorme was a honest, unrelenting mucker and grinder with the Colorado Rockies and the Vancouver Canucks.

A popular player with his teammates and the fans, Delorme was a hero to Native Canadians. A proud Cree Indian from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Delorme became a role model for aspiring native hockey players and athletes. "Chief," his obvious nickname, spent a lot of his spare time visiting reservations and native banquets encouraging Native youths to aspire for great things like he did.

Delorme was drafted by the Kansas City Scouts 56th overall in the 1975 Entry Draft. He split the next season playing with his junior club in Lethbridge, the WHA in Denver and the CHL in Tucson. The following season he made his NHL debut in 1976 with the relocated Scouts, now known as the the Colorado Rockies.

Delorme would play 4 full seasons with the Rockies, becoming one of Don Cherry's favorite players. The 6'2" 185lb right winger scored a career high 20 goals in 1978-79 and a career high 43 points the year later.

Delorme was left exposed in the pre-season waiver draft in 1981 and the Canucks quickly picked up the big winger. Delorme was a tireless worker but failed to produce offensively like he did in Colorado. His best statistical season was his first on the West Coast as he scored 17 points and accumulated a career high 177 penalty minutes. He also was a regular player in the Canucks Cinderella Stanley Cup playoff run of 1982.

Delorme's career came to an end 31 games into the 1984-85 season. Delorme sustained extensive damage to his left knee following a collision with Calgary defenseman Jamie Macoun. Delorme missed the rest of the season and when he still wasn't fully recovered by the time the 1985-86 season started, Delorme decided he obviously couldn't play anymore.

Delorme went on to become a scout for the Vancouver Canucks. Among the players he discovered was another Native Canadian who would achieve even bigger cult-status in Vancouver - Gino Odjick.