Lubomir Vaic

I remember going to a pre season game in September of 1997 between the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers. I remember because it the first time I had ever seen an NHL game.

It was also memorable because it was the first time that Mark Messier faced-off against the Rangers since bolting them for bigger money on the West Coast. It was also memorable because Wayne Gretzky didn't dress for that preseason game. The game was a 4-3 win for the Rangers. Pierre Sevigny scored the winning goal with about 4 minutes left. Pavel Bure played and was far and away the most exciting player on the ice.

But I also remember Lubomir Vaic. This tiny rookie was second only to Bure in terms of exciting the fans on that  night. Although you could tell he was the smallest guy on the ice, you could see he was among the most talented. He was a wizardrous puck handler and showed some good heart and desire. He impressed many Canucks fans in that training camp. He reminded many of another small center that had starred in Vancouver for years - Cliff Ronning.

Vaic didn't make the team, nor should have he. He was a 20 year old rookie who was in North America for the first time, leaving his native Slovakia. Vaic was sent to the AHL's Syracuse Crunch to learn the North American game and lifestyle.

But Vaic did make a good impression on the Canucks braintrust. Only a month after he was demoted, he was recalled by the Canucks when LW Gino Odjick had to leave the team for family reasons.

"Lubie" started his first NHL game on the 4th line, but soon was moved up to the second line with Trevor Linden and Alexander Mogilny. Playing against the Penguins on November 1st, 1997. Vaic scored his first NHL goal on an assist from Scotty Walker at the 8:07 mark of the first period. Two minutes and 33 seconds later, he assisted on a Trevor Linden goal. Despite Vaic's two point effort, the Canucks lost the game 7-6 in over time.

Despite an impressive 1st game, Vaic was pretty quiet for the rest of his stay, which lasted a total of only 5 games. Vaic was sent back to Syracuse to continue his training when Gino Odjick returned to the team soon after.

Vaic had a less than impressive season in the AHL however. He failed to consistently show any of the signs of brilliance he displayed in the NHL. He only had 12 goals and 27 points. Part of the reason was he was homesick.

Vaic left North America after that one season. The Canucks also let his contract expire and no other team was interested in picking him up. Why? Good question, because he looked like a good prospect. Obvioiusly his size was his biggest drawback - he was too small and too easy to knock off the puck and neutralize. He also lacked speed, which for a small player is necessary to have in order to survive.

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Bobby Lalonde

Standing just  five-foot-five inches tall and  weighing in at a puny 155 pounds, Bobby Lalonde was constantly questioned about his size. That's bound to happen when you are the smallest player in the league for his entire 11 year NHL career. But with his speed, his natural hockey instincts and most importantly the size of his heart

Lalonde enjoyed a very successful 11-year NHL career with the Vancouver Canucks, Atlanta Flames, Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames.

Bobby played his junior hockey with the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey Association. He played three seasons with the Baby Habs, scoring 59 goals and 127 points in his final year of junior. This great season drew great comments from NHL scouts, but most shyed away because of his lack of size.

However the Vancouver Canucks were all to happy to select him 17th overall in the 1971 Amateur Draft. Any time an expansion team can add a speedy sniper with lots of heart its a great move.

Lalonde made his NHL debut with Vancouver in 1971-72, picking up six points in 27 games, while spending the rest of the year apprenticing in the American Hockey League.

Bobby made the NHL on a full time basis by 1972-73. He spent the next 5 years with the Canucks, scoring 20 goals in 72-73, and reaching 47 or more points in 3 of those 5 years. Bobby loved playing in Vancouver, and the Canucks' fans really appreciated watching him for 5 years, even though he was never able to produce offensively like the Canucks brass had originally hoped. His speed electrified the Pacific Coliseum countless times, while his constant hustle earned him much respect.

Bobby and the Canucks parted ways in the summer of 1978. Bobby signed with another expansion team, the Atlanta Flames. He played two seasons in Georgia. He experienced his best individual season in a Flames jersey. In 1978-79 Bobby set career-highs with 24 goals and 56 points.

Just 3 games into his third season with Atlanta, Bobby found himself traded to Boston in exchange for future considerations. The Flames felt had improved their depth in the offseason and felt that Lalonde was expendable because of his size. Meanwhile in Boston Dwight Foster went down with an injury and they were in the market for a defensive forward. Bobby played two solid years in Boston, mostly in a penalty killing role.

The Bruins released Lalonde after the 1981 season. Bobby thought he had caught back on with his old team the Flames, who had since relocated to Calgary Alberta. However Lalonde only played in one game for the Calgary Flames. It proved to be Bobby's last NHL game. He appeared in 19 games in the minor leagues that season before heading overseas where he played in Switzerland.

Lalonde's career stats consist of 124 goals, 210 assists and 334 points in 641 games.

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Sergio Momesso

Every team wants a big, tough left winger who can hit, fight and score, not necessarily in that order. Big Sergio Momesso filled that description very well - at times.

Sergio's inconsistency at the finesse aspect was frustrating. After scoring 98 goals and 276 points in his final 132 junior games at the QMJHL level, Sergio never really strung together a great offensive season despite having all the tools. A strong straight-ahead skater, Sergio was good at handling the puck while on the fly. He also had great balance which made him hard to knock off of the puck. However he ran into trouble when he had to turn quickly. Like many big men, he turned much like an airplane on the runway. He had an extremely heavy shot, but seemed to take too long to get it off. He also developed into a two way player, at least to the point where he wasn't a defensive liability when he was on the ice.

Sergio's best year was in 1989-90 with St. Louis, his 5th year in the league. He scored 24 goals and 56 points and appeared to finally find his groove in the NHL, but too a step back the following year. He returned to the 20 goal level only one other time in the NHL.

While finesse inconsistency was frustrating, his physical inconsistency was maddening. Sometimes it seemed like he didn't want to play as big as he really was. If he had shown more consistency physically he would have really dominated. When he was hitting people he was really into the game, and his team usually did well that night. But too often it seemed like he was a sleeping giant out there, often unnoticeable. Sergio was huge at 6'3" and 215 lbs, and his good straightaway speed made for thunderous body checks. He was also immoveable in front of the net if he decided he was willing to pay the price that night. To his credit, when their was a big game or a playoff game, Sergio almost always brought his "A" physical game to the rink.

Sergio had a mean and down right nasty streak and the word around the league was not to anger him and he'd play the role of sleeping, and thus ineffective giant. If you awoke him he'd make you pay physically and his whole team seemed to respond favorably. Momesso would stick up for his teammates at any time, but often just placed a big bear hug on the guy as opposed to punishing that player. But if he did decide to punish you, my gosh look out! Just ask Dave "Charlie" Manson, one of the toughest though also physically inconsistent players of the day. Sergio landed a punch directly on a Manson's throat during a melee. Manson's voice was never the same as he was reduced to a raspy whisper from that day forward.

Drafted by his hometown Habs, Sergio was run out of Montreal as he floundered under intense media expectations. Despite one good year in St. Louis, it wasn't until he arrived in Vancouver that Sergio contributed solidly at the NHL level. Often playing as a bookend to fellow giant Trevor Linden with diminutive scoring star Cliffy Ronning in the middle, the line played really solidly for several years. The two giants on Ronning's wings enabled Cliff to emerge as a top center.

Sergio was traded to Toronto in 1995-96 in exchange for injured center Mike Ridley. However Sergio never found his niche in Toronto or in New York where he played with Rangers by season's end. Early in the 1996-97 season he was traded back to St. Louis where he finished the year quietly, scoring 1 goal in 31 games.

An unrestricted free agent after 1997, Sergio opted to leave the NHL and go over to Germany where he was one of the top players in Germany's top league which consisted of many former minor leaguers and fringe NHLers.

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John McIntyre

Arguably the most cherished season in Vancouver Canucks history was the 1994 season when they came within one win - one goal - of winning the Stanley Cup.

There were some great players on that team. Trevor Linden carried the team on his back. Pavel Bure wowed the crowds with incredible goals. Kirk McLean was literally the team's saving grace. Greg Adams scored big goals. Geoff Courtnall, Martin Gelinas, Cliff Ronning . . .

Do you know who was recognized as the team's unsung hero that special season?

John McIntyre, the team's 4th line center. Right from the on-set McIntyre made a career as a perfect 4th line center. In Vancouver that season he often played with Tim Hunter and either Gino Odjick or Shawn Antoski. He only scored 3 goals and 9 points that season, and picked up just 1 assist in the 24 game playoff run. But he was a great glue guy on that team, sacrificing offense for defensive assignments, penalty kills, faceoffs and energy shifts. He was a sturdy, physical presence, seemingly much bigger than his listed stats.

John McIntyre was born in Ravenswood, Ontario on March 9th 1969. He played his minor hockey in Forest and Thedford, dreaming of one day playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Lo and behold, McIntyre was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round, 49th overall, in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. A member of the OHL's Guelph Platers, he likely would have been a high draft pick if it were not for a broken leg. He was a big part of the Platers Memorial Cup championship the season prior. Scouts still liked something about McIntyre, despite his thin frame, injury history and little offensive production.

John joined the Maple Leafs for the 1989-1990 season, basically stepping directly into the NHL straight from junior. He earned quiet praise for his strong play, but with just 5 goals the Leafs shipped "Johnny Mac" to the Los Angeles Kings early in the following season. They landed veteran Mike Krushelnyski in the trade.

McIntyre put together two and a half solid seasons as the Kings' 4th line center before a late season trade to the NY Rangers for former King defender Mark Hardy.

Mac's career in New York was short lived. After ending the 1993 season with 11 games played, he started the 1993-94 campaign on waivers. The Canucks claimed him, but McIntyre would be back in Manhattan in June of '94, trying to win the Stanley Cup with his new team at the expense of his former team. Unfortunately McIntyre and the Canucks came up one goal short in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

McIntyre more or less disappeared after that. He played in just 28 games in the lock-out shortened 1994-95 season, scoring 0 goals. He was demoted to the minor leagues in 1995-96, playing with Syracuse. But rather than toil away on the busses of the minor leagues, McIntyre opted to retire from the game.

Last I heard McIntyre was living in Plympton Township with his wife and daughter. He had returned to what his family had always done - farming.

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Rob Murphy

The mid 1980s were real bad times for the Vancouver Canucks. Wins were few and far between, and until the arrival of Pat Quinn as general manager, there was little hope.

Quinn set out to change the fortunes of the Vancouver Canucks franchise through the draft. Everyone remembers Quinn selecting Trevor Linden second overall in the 1988 NHL draft, but not every seems to remember that draft was actually Quinn's second with the Canucks.

Quinn's first draft was in 1987. Due to previous management trading away the team's 1st round draft choice, third overall, in the infamous Cam Neely/Barry Pederson swap, Quinn's first draft pick never got the same attention that Linden got.

Quinn finally got a chance to make his first draft choice with the 24th overall pick, early in the second round. Quinn called out the name Rob Murphy, a big workhorse out of the Laval Titans of the QMJHL.

Murphy was not so different from Trevor Linden. He was a big strapping center whose game was defined by hard work. He was a two way center who had blossomed in the second half of the season in his draft year. He was sold to patient Canucks fans as an answer to Calgary's behemoth Joel Otto, who for years ate up Vancouver's tiny centers.

Ultimately, however, Murphy would never make much of an impact in the NHL. His strong finish in his draft year proved to be a high point of his promise. Once he turned pro his plodding skating held him back. He also lacked creativity to be an offensive presence.

Regardless, Murphy did spend 8 seasons in the minor leagues. Over 3 seasons he got into 60 games with the Canucks, but was left exposed in the 1992 Expansion draft. The Ottawa Senators claimed Murphy and used him for 44 games. He the signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Kings organization but he spent all but 8 games in the next three years in the minor leagues.

Murphy moved to Germany in 1997 where he played for 6 seasons. He returned to Canada after he hung up his blades, and started doing some TV and radio work for the Ottawa Senators. He later worked for the team as a scout before scouting for the Phoenix Coyotes.

Murphy appeared in 125 NHL games, recording 9 goals and 12 assists for 21 points, along with 152 penalty minutes.

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Dan Hodgson

Dangerous Danny Hodgson was never able to come close to duplicating his junior exploits at the National Hockey League level. But maybe that was unrealistic, as Hodgson had one of the greatest junior hockey careers in history!

Hodgson was an incredible center for the Prince Albert Raiders for three seasons from 1982 through 1985. In his rookie junior season he scored 56 goals and 74 assists, unheard of numbers for a newcomer. He easily won the WHL rookie of the year award. But those numbers were dwarfed by back to back 180 point seasons in the following two years. Both years Dan led the WHL in assists with well over 100, and this despite missing time in both seasons to represent Canada in the World Junior Championships. He also was a key performer in the Raiders 1985 Memorial Cup win, leading all playoff scorers with a 3 point per game average in 13 playoff games! For his efforts he was named as the Memorial Cup MVP and he also won the grand daddy of all junior awards in 1985 - the Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year award.

Hodgson was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 4th round of the 1983 draft, 85th overall. He never fulfilled his promise, largely because of his size, or more so his lack of it. At just 5'10" and 175 pounds, he was always behind the 8 ball and didn't get the breaks a bigger, less talented player often gets.

After being sent to the minor leagues in 1986, the Leafs traded Hodgson to Vancouver .Hodgson finished the year in Vancouver, though did not make a big splash.

Dan got his big break in 1987-88, literally. He got off to a flying start, scoring 3 goals and 10 points in the first 4 games. He was near the top of the league in the early scoring race, thanks to a 5 point game against Pittsburgh, but his success and season came to a sudden end when he broke his leg after colliding with the Calgary Flames aggressive blueliner Brad McCrimmon.

He only played in 23 games after recovering from the injury, though was never able to show what he had early in 87-88. He spent more time in the minor leagues, where he put up some outstanding numbers.

Dan left pro hockey in North America as the 1980s came to a close. He went on to star in Switzerland and Germany throughout the 1990s.

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Curt Fraser

When you think of the best fighters of the 1980s you automatically think of Bob Probert, Dave Semenko, Dave Brown, and Tiger Williams.

One of the most underrated would have to be Curt Fraser. He did not fight as much and was a valuable player more so than a goon, but pound for pound he may have been as good a fighter as there was in his era.

Fraser was born in Cincinnati, Ohio where his dad played some minor pro hockey. As a baby the family relocated to Winnipeg and when Curt was 9 they moved to Vancouver.

Fraser would become a junior hockey legend in British Columbia, for his combined physical play and scoring prowess. He started out with the Kelowna Buckaroos of the BCJHL in 1973 and then moving to Victoria where he starred with the WHL Cougars.

His NHL dreams would come true in BC, too. The Vancouver Canucks drafted him 22nd overall in 1978. Soon he would be starring on the Canucks top line with Thomas Gradin and Stan Smyl and was a solid contributor to the Canucks run to the Stanley Cup finals in 1982.

Fraser showed solid improvement in each of his first four seasons in Vancouver, even scoring 28 goals in 1981-82. Injuries hampered severely in year 5, leading to his famous trade to Chicago. One has to wonder if his 1983 diagnosis of diabetes scared off the Canucks.

At first many Canucks fans lamented the departure of their home town crowd favorite. Those thoughts were quickly forgotten when the player the Canucks received, Tony Tanti, became their best goal scorer in team history. Tanti would register 5 straight seasons of 39 or more goals.

Fraser would recover from injuries and continue to be an underrated power forward in Chicago and later Minnesota. His fists came in handy in the old "Chuck" Norris division, as Fraser had classic battles with the likes of Bob Probert and Willi Plett.

Fraser played 12 seasons of professional hockey as a left wing who combined toughness with the ability to score. He played in a total of 704 NHL contests, collecting 193 goals and 240 assists for 433 points along with 1,306 penalty minutes with Vancouver (1978-83), Chicago (1983-88) and Minnesota (1988-90). He also skated in 65 career playoff outings, registering 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points along with 198 penalty minutes.

He later went on to become a long time pro coach, including with the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers. He has also continued to be very active in fundraising and awareness in the fight against diabetes.

Here's a couple of my favorite Curt Fraser fights on YouTube:

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Patrik Sundstrom

NHL brother combinations are rich throughout NHL history. Twins brothers are obviously pretty rare. Long before anyone had even heard of the Sedin Twins, Swedish twins Peter and Patrik Sundstrom were starring in the NHL.

Like Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Patrik and Peter Sundstrom were different players. Like Peter, Patrik was an excellent skater, combining deadly speed with excellent balance. Also like Peter, he was a tremendous puckhandler who preferred to pass than shoot, almost to a fault. Also like Peter, Patrik was a strong two way player who worked hard without the puck as well as with it.

Patrik was better than Peter in a number of areas which resulted in the general consensus that Patrik was the better of the two. Patrik was 20lbs heavier than Peter, much of it muscle. While neither player initiated much contact, Patrik's increased size made him harder to knock the puck off of. Combined with his excellent balance, this made Patrik a threat in traffic. Patrik was also more willing to sacrifice his body. A good shot blocker, Patrik regularly took a big hit to make a play, something that Peter generally shied away from. Another major difference between the two was Patrik's shot. While Peter's shot was below average at best, Patrik owned a lazer like wrist shot which he used with great accuracy. However like many Swedish stars of the 1980s, Sundstrom didn't shoot anywhere near enough despite the opportunities he got.

Patrik was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks 175th overall in 1980. It wasn't until the the 1982-83 season that Patrik came to Vancouver, as Patrik remained in Sweden where he starred in the Swedish Elit League. He was also part of two World Junior Championships squads, two World Championships squads, and the 1981 Swedish Canada Cup squad.

Patrik's elite international experience helped ease his transition to the Canucks lineup in 1982. Fresh off of the surprising Stanley Cup Finals run, the Canucks hoped Sundstrom could upgrade their talent level that was necessary to keep competing against Smythe Division rivals like Edmonton and Calgary. While Sundstrom did do just that and became arguably the Canucks best player for much of the 1980s, the Canucks failed to achieve much success in his tenure.

Sundstrom scored 23 goals and 46 points in his rookie season, and backed that up with a 38 goal, 91 point campaign in 1983-84. The 91 points set a Canucks club record for most points in a season that stood until Pavel Bure's spectacular seasons in nearly a decade later.

Sundstrom may have over achieved a bit that season, as he levelled off to the 70 point level for most of the rest of his career. He spent the next three seasons in Vancouver before the arrival of Pat Quinn in the summer of 1987. Though Quinn liked what Sundstrom brought to the table, he liked what the New Jersey Devils brought to the table even more. The Devils were very interested in the two way slick Swede and offered young goal scorer Greg Adams, who was from BC, and promising young goalie Kirk McLean in exchange. Quinn jumped at the deal.

Adams went on to score some huge goals in Canucks franchise history while McLean went on to become one of the top goalies in the NHL for a few seasons in the early 1990s. However it was a deal that benefitted both teams as the Devils were very happy with Sundstrom's effect on their organization as well. Sundstrom played 4 full seasons in New Jersey before retiring in an injury plauged 5th season.

Though he had a disappointing regular season in year one with the Devils, Sundstrom was a big part of the Devil's surprise run into the playoffs. Sundstrom paced the Devils with 20 points in 18 playoff games. Eight of those points came in one game! On April 22, 1988 "Sunny" scored 3 goals and 4 assists in a memorable game against the Washington Capitals!

Sundstrom was a consistent scoring threat, particularly in 1988-89 when he scored 28 goals and 69 points, and in 1989-90 when he scored 27 goals and 76 points. However perhaps his biggest effect was on his linemates Brendan Shanahan and John MacLean. Those two rugged wingers were blessed with a nose for the net and were expected to blossom into power forwards. However it wasn't until the arrival that the two finally achieved their status as stars. To me that is a huge testament of Patrik Sundstrom's ability and importance to the team.

Its too bad that Patrik played with weak teams in Vancouver and New Jersey. Had he had better players to play with, who knows what dizzying heights Patrik could have attained. Much like Thomas Steen in Winnipeg, Patrik helped to dispell the myth that Europeans were soft.

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Gary Bromley

No one could ever accuse Gary Bromley of spinning his wheels or staying in one place too long. From the time this netminder turned pro in the Buffalo Sabres organization in 1972, until the year he retired (1981), he saw action in four different pro leagues and seven North American cities.

After playing three years in the minors, Gary finally got his chance to play with the emerging powerful Sabres in 1974-75. He played really well that year too, with a 26-11-11 record in 50 games. He also posted 4 shutouts and a 3.10 GAA

Despite the success, Bromley got little respect. Many experts and the Sabres themselves felt that Bromley could not be the goalie that could take them to the next level. The Sabres made moves to upgrade the goaltending situation, which left Bromley out of the picture for the 1975-76 season. Playing behind Rogier Crozier, Gerry Desjardins and Al Smith, Bromley only got into one game that season, and gave up seven goals.

Bromley resurfaced in the World Hockey Association, first in Calgary and then in Winnipeg, where he enjoyed a 25-12-1 season.

"I'll never forget that Jets team" recalls Bromley. "We had guys like Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, and we won the Avco Cup (as WHA champions)."

Bromley returned to the NHL with Vancouver in 1978-79, and appeared in 38 contests behind a weak Canucks team. The Canucks, who also had Glen Hanlon, went out and acquired their future "King," Richard Brodeur. Needless to say Gary didn't see much playing time behind those two guys, and was traded to Los Angeles, where he signed a two-way minor league contract.

"I had applied to the Vancouver Fire Department the summer before my last season," he said. "Because when I signed my two-way contract with LA, I pretty well knew which way it would be no matter how well I played. I was a bit disappointed because I did have a good training camp."

"So they sent me down to New Haven for the year. But I still had the idea that I was going to get on with the fire department. When I came back to Vancouver at the end of the season, I applied to the department again and got on. So I took the secure job."

Still living in British Columbia's lower mainland, Bromley has no regrets. "Its been a terrific experience. Like hockey, firefighting is a team game with camaraderie and shift work .... so the transition was easy."

Gary was nicknamed "Bones" right from the start of his career as he weighed only 145 lbs when he first attended professional camps. He eventually tipped the scales at 160 lbs but is forever known as Bones.

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