Murray Baron

Prince George, British Columbia's Murray Baron played in 988 NHL regular season games, plus another 73 in the Stanley Cup playoffs. That number surprised me a bit. I got to watch him night in and night out when he played 5 seasons in Vancouver. He was generally a type of defenseman who never really noticed out there.

That's not necessarily a bad thing for a defensive, depth defender. He was intelligent enough to play within his limitations, which meant he rarely contributed much to the offense. He made high percentages outs and showed very little creativity with the puck. About the extent of his offensive game was a meager shot from the point.

For a player of Baron's healthy size (6'3" 210lbs), he was not overly spectacular on the defensive side either. He never really established any physical presence on the ice, preferring to rub players out than crush them. He rarely exhibited much authority in front of his own net either. But he was big and strong, and quietly matured into an efficient depth defender, but nothing more.

"Bear" was a product of the University of North Dakota, where he and goalie Ed Belfour won a NCAA championship in 1987. The Philadelphia Flyers had drafted Baron the year prior, gambling an 8th round pick (167th overall).

Baron left UND in 1988 and turned pro. For the next two years he played in the Flyers organization, slowly earning himself a regular NHL pay check.

The St. Louis Blues were so impressed that they insisted Baron be part of the Dan Quinn for Rod Brind'Amour trade. Baron did go on to serve the St. Louis blue line faithfully for more than 5 seasons, but the Blues sure would have liked to have that trade back.

After short stops in Montreal and Phoenix, Baron returned home to British Columbia in 1998. The Canucks, then not a very good team, relied on his veteran presence in helping out youngsters like Mattias Ohlund, Adrian Aucoin, and Ed Jovanovski.

Baron returned to St. Louis in 2003-04 for one final NHL season.

All told Murray Baron scored 35 goals and 94 assists for 129 points in 988 regular season games as an unspectacular but dependable depth defender.

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Ian Kidd

Despite being passed over in the NHL entry drafts, Ian Kidd signed as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks in 1987 with much fanfare. The 23 year old had done very little in his whole hockey career up until the 1986-87 season when he blossomed with the  University of North Dakota. Playing as a defenseman he was named as a First Team All American and NCAA All Championship Team after compiling 13 goals and 60 points in 47 games. Kidd was a classic latebloomer.

Kidd had played as a forward all his life, and despite his small size was actually an enforcer when he played in Penticton of the BCJHL. He discovered he could play defense almost by accident.

"For most of my career I was pretty well a mucker forward," admitted Kidd. "I'd just go in the corners and try and get the puck to someone else. I got to play defense by accident when the team ran into some injuries and my coach put me back there. Suddenly I could see and read the game much better. I realized this is where I should have been all along."

Kidd finished the year on defense and then reported to the University of North Dakota. He had a so-so freshman year as he was still adjusting to his new position, but when he exploded in year two, he was quick to jump at NHL offers and drop out of school.

Kidd was originally a supplemental draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, though he was later ruled ineligible  because of a maze of rules. Kidd signed with Vancouver, a team he followed as a child as he grew up in the Pacific Northwest.

Since the Canucks were very short on right shooting defensemen, Kidd had a roster spot pencilled in in his first NHL training camp. He performed well enough for the Canucks to give him a look at the start of the year. He played in 19 games and had 4 goals and 11 points. 3 of his goals came on the power play. He appeared to be making decent strides.

"He is extremely promising. His shot is low, hard and accurate. And he moves the puck out of our zone pretty well." advised GM Pat Quinn. But Quinn decided Kidd needed more time to develop, and sent him to the minor leagues for the rest of the year.

"Remember, this kid just started playing defense 3 years ago. He's got some natural talent but we need to bring him along slowly. He's making an awfully big jump and we feel it is in his best future interests to apprentice on the farm some." added Quinn, a former defenseman himself.

Kidd reported to Fredericton of the AHL and concentrated on learning the defensive game. In the process he added 1 goal and 21 assists in 53 games. The Canucks were disappointed that he didn't put up better numbers, but didn't want to give up on their free agent investment just yet.

In the offseason the Canucks went about improving their blueline corps. The biggest addition was Robert Nordmark, who had played the previous season in St. Louis. Nordmark too played the right side, and he put up good numbers in Vancouver - 6 goals and 35 assists. It was a good move for the Canucks, but not for Kidd. If Kidd was going to make the team he would have to be one of the top two offensive rearguards as his defensive game was not yet at a NHL level. As a result, with the exception of one NHL game, he was demoted to the minors. He had his strongest year as a pro - scoring 13 goals and 53 points. But that lone NHL game he played  in 1988-89 proved to be his last.

Kidd remained in the minor leagues for several years, enjoying his best years in Milwaukee of the IHL. He also spent time in Cinicinnati and Chicago, but never came close to getting back to the NHL.

Kidd is a good example of one season wonder who cashed in at the right time. There was a reason why he was never drafted by the NHL - he wasn't a good enough prospect. He had a big year at age 22 in US College hockey, and caught the eyes of NHL teams desperate for a young defenseman. Kidd cashed in on the resulting bidding war. Kidd was assured of at least a handful of NHL games because of the fanfare, but ultimately like most undrafted free agents, Kidd did not amount to much in the National Hockey League.

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Garry Valk

I remember exactly the moment when I knew Gary Valk would be a regular NHL player. He surprised Tie Domi and beat him in a fight.

YouTube does not seem to have that fight in it's vast archive, but as you can see in this fight against Rob Ray, Valk definitely could hold his own.

Not that Valk was a goon by an stretch of the imagination. He had less than a penalty minute per game in his 777  game career. He dropped the gloves occasionally and was surprisingly good at it, but he was far more likely to be found efficiently patrolling his wing than in the penalty box.

Valk was a solid third liner. Determined and gritty, he had a strong work ethic and threw his weight around with enthusiasm. He was tough to play against, and an inspiring teammate. Not flashy by any means, he was a really solid third line winger. You could count on him to do his job in blue collar fashion.

Was he a great defensive forward? He did the job adequately and willing, killing penalties and being strong on both the forecheck and backcheck with his knock-kneed skating. He was solid citizen who could find a job in the league somewhere. At the same time he was the type of player that was always being pushed for a job.

The University of North Dakota alum scored 100 career goals in 777 NHL games. He was a bit of a streaky player, going forever without a sniff than popping a few pucks in the same week. His goals were almost always because of net crashing. He added 156 assists for 256 points.

Gary Valk was a reliable NHL role player for parts of 13 NHL seasons.

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Glen Hanlon

There is something about Brandon, Manitoba and goaltenders Bill Ranford, Ron Hextall, Turk Broda and Ken Wregget were all born there. Sugar Jim Henry Trevor Kidd, Rick Knickle, Dave McLelland, and Pokey Reddick all apprenticed there with the WHL Brandon Wheat Kings.

So what happens when a hometown kid plays for the Wheaties? He becomes one of the top goaltending prospects in the world when he is ready to turn professional! That's what happened anyways in the case of red head Glen Hanlon.

Hanlon was taken in the 3rd round by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1977 Entry Draft after a spectacular career in the WHL. For three seasons he was the Wheaties top netminder -twice leading the league in shutouts and once in GAA. He also participated in the 1976 Memorial Cup - but not with Brandon but rather the New Westminster Bruins. There used to be an old rule in junior hockey which would allow a league champion to pick up an extra player - usually a goalie - from another team before meeting other league champions in the Memorial Cup final. The Bruins and Hanlon fell just short that year. .

A season of apprenticing in the minor leagues with CHL Tulsa only confirmed his status as a top prospect as he was a first team all star and Rookie of the Year. He posted a league high 3 shutouts with the Tulsa Oilers.
Hanlon made it to Vancouver and the NHL to stay in 1978-79, but after three seasons he was unable to turn around the Canucks fortune. When the Canucks acquired "King" Richard Brodeur, Hanlon was reduced to backup and became expendable.

Late in the 1981-82 season Vancouver traded the still highly respected Hanlon to the St. Louis Blues for Rick Heinz, Tony Currie, Jim Nill and a draft pick. Many so called experts declared it a steal of a deal for the Blues, but the three players who went to Vancouver helped the Canucks in their Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup finals just weeks later.

Hanlon's stay in St. Louis was short as he was second fiddle to Mike Liut. He was traded to NY Rangers with Vaclav Nedmonasky for Andre Dore early in 1983. He spent the next two years as the number one goalie with an average Rangers team. His best season as a pro probably came in 1983-84 when he recorded 28 wins in 50 games while playing behind an injury riddled Rangers squad.

Hanlon fell out of favor in New York during the 1985-86 and actually spent some time in the minor leagues. The Rangers had a couple of hot goaltending prospects in John Vanbiesbrouck and Mike Richter coming along in their system, so the following year they ended up trading Glen to the Red Wings. For the next 5 years served as a capable keeper who at times was a backup, yet at other times served as the number one guy. He enjoyed a fine 1987-88 season when he recorded 22 wins in 47 games and shared the NHL lead for shutouts with 4.

Hanlon retired at the end of the 1991-92 season. In 1992-93 he returned to Vancouver as a goaltending coach and scout. Before long he was named as a full time assistant coach. This was the start of a long career in coaching, which includes stops on the top of the hockey world (NHL) and the unlikely (national team coach of both Belarus and Slovakia).

Hanlon is of course remembered for one thing more than any other - he is the guy who surrendered Wayne Gretzky's first NHL goal.

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Robert Dirk

Robert Dirk was a one-dimensional hard hitting defensive defenseman, complete with the mean streak every coach dreams of. But you had to take the good with the bad with Robert Dirk.

Dirk was huge at 6'4" and 218 pounds. He was a punishing but clean hitter who specialized in protecting his goalie and the area in front of the net. He was an intimidating presence if there ever was one.

While his job is thankless, that's about all Dirk could do. His skating was, well, bad. He would never dream of winning a foot race, and his agility was not a whole lot better. He compensated this by playing smart positional hockey and slowing down the opposition with his strength and smarts. Dirk wisely played within his limitations, recognizing when to retreat early to not get spurned by speedy forwards

An extremely likeable guy, Dirk definitely wasn't an offensive contributor. In 402 NHL games Dirk scored a lucky 13 career goals and 29 assists for just 42 points. He added one lonely assist in 39 playoff games.

Holding the blue line with a dump to the corner or a less than fearsome shot directed to the front of the net was his only offensive contribution. It was a pretty rare play to ever see him pinch up in the offensive zone.
Dirk was originally drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 1984 Entry Draft (53rd overall) He played three full seasons with his hometown WHL Regina Pats. In his final season he had an impressive 19 goals and 79 points with 140 PIM.

Dirk spent 5 seasons in the Blues organization, but split his time between St. Louis and their farm team in Peoria (IHL). In total Dirk played in 93 games over 5 years with the Blues. He didn't make with the Blues on a full time basis until 1990-91, which ironically was the year the Blues traded him.

Dirk was a throw-in in a large deal with the Vancouver Canucks. Dirk, who spent a good part of his youth growing up in the British Columbia interior, joined the Canucks with Geoff Courtnall, Cliff Ronning and Sergio Momesso for Dan Quinn and Garth Butcher. The trade still stands as perhaps the best trade in Canucks history.

Dirk's best NHL years came in Vancouver where he played under coach Pat Quinn. Quinn must have saw something of himself in big Dirk. Like Dirk, Quinn was a big, plodding defensive blueliner who struggled to stay in the NHL on a full time basis. Dirk really enjoyed playing for the big Irishman.

Dirk played almost 3 full seasons with the Canucks. In that time he played in almost every game and was rarely a scratch unless it was due to a minor injury. He scored 9 of his 13 career goals in his 217 games with the Canucks. He added 401 of his 786 career PIM with the Canucks.

The Canucks traded Dirk to Chicago for a draft choice at the trading deadline in 1994. As a result, Dirk was moved just prior to the Canucks Cinderella run in the 1994 playoffs, something he would have loved to have been part of. The Canucks felt they had to move Dirk in order to create roster room for equally big Brian

Glynn who they had just picked up. So in essence the Canucks traded Dirk for Glynn. Glynn fulfilled Dirk's role and had much more mobility although lacked Dirk's mean streak.

Dirk finished the '94 season with Chicago but was traded to Anaheim in the summer Dirk patrolled their blue line for a season and a half before flipping him to Montreal for Jim Campbell. Dirk's stay in Montreal was less than memorable. In his first game he suffered a serious knee injury (ironically the Habs were playing the Canucks in Dirk's first game). The injury cost Dirk his place in the Montreal line up. It also cost him his place in the NHL as no team looked to pick up an immobile d-man with a bum knee.

Dirk did play one final pro season split between the IHL's Detroit Vipers and Chicago Wolves before trying his hand in the minor league world of coaching and managing. At one time he also owned a construction company which he started while still playing.

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Gerald Diduck

Gerald Diduck was at his best when he played an aggressive, physical game. Unfortunately Gerald was inconsistent in his application of his toughness. As a result he was a good #4 defenseman who often would play a 5th or 6th d-man role.

Gerald was big at 6'2" and 205lbs, and had great upper body strength. He could dominate in the corners, where he could tie up a guy along the boards with ease. He was also capable of a good open ice hit. He was a good fighter when he did drop the gloves, but that was a rare occurrence.

Gerald also had a good package of skills to compliment his physical game. Gerald had tree trunks for legs, which meant a strong skating stride. He had good quickness and mobility. His most attractive finesse quality was his booming hard shot. Gerald was often used on the latter half of a power play because of his shot which often perplexed goalies. He was able to get the shot from the point off quickly too, although it made his shot erratic and therefore often unthreatening. Otherwise Gerald was fairly average in terms of skills. He wasn't a great puck-handler or playmaker. He was more into dumping the puck out his zone as opposed to creating a transitional breakout play. The way to play against Gerald was to forecheck him hard. When under pressure Gerald would make hurried decisions.

Gerald spent three seasons with Lethbridge of the Western Hockey League, where he was named the Broncos best defenseman and MVP of the playoffs. In 1982, he helped Lethbridge to the league's regular season championship. This impressive resume earned him status as a NHL first round draft pick, 16th overall in 1983 by the New York Islanders.

Gerald was solid in parts of 7 seasons on Long Island, but was never able to put all the pieces together to become a dominant NHL backliner. On September 4, 1990, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for an aging but stalwart defenseman in Craig Ludwig.

It was hoped that Diduck could develop into a younger version of Ludwig, but Gerald had his troubles in Montreal. Diduck didn't adapt to the Canadiens style of play easily, as it was foreign compared to the way he had played his whole life. As a result he fell out of favor quickly in Montreal and was traded to Vancouver by midseason.

Gerald parts of 5 seasons on Canada's west coast, and really benefited from playing under coach Pat Quinn. Quinn, a former NHL blue line journeyman, had a way of getting the most out of his defensemen, including Diduck. Gerald played very aggressively upon his arrival in Vancouver, and as a result played a more important role on a team than he had at any other point in his NHL career.

Playing aggressively of course leads to injuries. Injuries would slow Diduck down and by late in 1995 he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks. He finished the season there before signing as a free agent with the Hartford Whalers.

Gerald played an effective role in Hartford for 2 years and another 3 with the Phoenix Coyotes before joining the Canadian National Team in 1999. He signed on with the Toronto Maple Leafs where Pat Quinn was coaching. Diduck did an admirable job for the Leafs who badly needed an experienced, physical blueliner that season.

Did You Know: Gerald's sister Judy competed Team Canada's women's hockey team in 1998, and is also a member of the Canadian Ringette Hall of Fame.

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Ed Dyck

Ed Dyck was born and raised in Warman which is about 10 miles North of Saskatoon. He started his junior career for the famous Estevan Bruins (WHL) in 1967-68 where he was the backup goalie to Chris Worthy who went on to play for Oakland and California in the NHL.  Ed won the WHL championship with Estevan that season, but his stint there was pretty shortlived as he went on to play for the Calgary Centennials (WHL) halfway into the 1968-69 season.

Ed was one of WHL's busiest and best goalies for the next two seasons. His Calgary didn't win the WHL championship but they came close. Ed had the best goal against average in the 1970 playoffs (2.81 GAA). He also had the best average after the 1970-71 regular season (2.53 GAA). During that 70-71 season Ed won the Del Wilson trophy as WHL's outstanding goalie. He also made the WHL All-Star team in 1970 and 71.

After his fine performance in the 1970 WHL playoffs he got drafted by Vancouver (3rd choice - 30th overall) that same summer.

Ed started his pro career in the AHL for the Rochester Americans in 1971-72, and also saw some time with the Seattle Totems. But later that season he was called up by Vancouver where he did well (3.66 GAA) under the barrage of shots he faced.

In 1972-73 he backed up Dunc Wilson admirably and played 25 games for Vancouver. Ed also played 13 games for Seattle. He continued his backup role in Vancouver the following season (12 games), this time to Gary Smith. That 1973-74 season was Ed's last in the NHL.

In April 1974 Ed was the first player signed by the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA. At the time of the signing Dyck said: " It's a kind of special feeling being first, but at the same time, I realize the responsibilities and challenges that go with it." He played 32 games during the 1974-75 season for Indianapolis, finishing with a 4.36 GAA. If Ed played for strong junior teams he certainly didn't in the pros. The teams were very poor defensively which his 21-64-14 record is a good indication of. During this time the soft spoken Ed was considered to have one of the fastest gloves in all pro hockey. His reflexes were lightning fast and he often made spectacular saves with his glove hand. He liked to work a lot with his stick and was always cool under pressure.

After the WHA stint Ed was loaned to the Swedish division 2 club Bodens BK for the 1975-76 season as a compensation for the signing of the Swedish goalie Leif "Honken" Holmqvist, a longtime member of the Swedish National Team.

Jan-Erik "Biffen" Nilsson,the coach of Boden was exstatic at that time to get Ed. " I don't understand how Indianapolis could release Ed and buy "Honken" instead. "Honken" isn't in the same class, " coach Nilsson said.

Ed became an instant hit with the Swedish fans. He trained with Bodens BK for the first time on August 27, 1975, the same day as Boden was to meat local rivals IFK Lulea in a friendly game. To the delight of 2.563 people in the stands, Ed shut out the opponent. They chanted his name over and over. He was an overnight success. The fact that Ed had two fellow Canadians (Ron Smith - ex NY Islanders and Jeff Ablet (ex-Forth Worth - IHL) as his teammates made the transition to a foreign team a lot easier.

At an early stage it became apparent that Ed was too good for the Swedish Division 2. But instead of trying to get back to the WHA or NHL Ed decided to retire, only 26-years of age and not even at the peak of his career. It was really a shame because he had a lot more to give.

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