Dale Tallon

Dale Tallong was a very talented junior player, heralded as a future superstar when he was drafted 2nd overall in the 1970 Amateur draft, only behind Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault. Although he felt most comfortable as a defenseman he played center as well.

The expectations on him were tremendous. Vancouver thought that they had their franchise player in Tallon, but he never became that franchise player for them.

Dale's dad Stan pushed him when he was 15 to become a top hockey prospect. Dale became the MVP on his home team Noranda Copper Kings, and then under the direction of Gilles Laperriere played for the sister city Rouyn Citadels. Already at that early age Dale starred as both a defenseman and center. His dad recognized the potential in his son and contacted Alan Eagleson to ask him to advise and guide Dale.

Dale went to Oshawa to play for the Generals, but immediately had the pressure on him to follow in the footsteps of the illustrious Bobby Orr, another Eagleson client. A trade was made shortly thereafter, and he went to the Toronto Marlboros, also of the OHA. He enjoyed two good years with the Marlboros before being drafted by the Canucks.

The 6'1" and 200lbs Dale enjoyed a very fine rookie season in the NHL, scoring 56 pts (14 goals, 42 assists). He followed that up with another solid season (44 points - 17 goals and 27 assists), but somehow that never seemed to be enough.

He was added to the Canadian squad in the famous 1972 Summit Series. He never played against the Russians and only appeared in two "friendly" games against Sweden and Czechoslovakia.

When his 1972-73 season saw another drop in his production, the Canucks lost their patience with him and traded him to Chicago for Jerry Korab and goalie Gary Smith on May 14, 1973. Tallon welcomed the trade, and made it known to the Canucks that he wanted out. He did not get along at all with Canucks vocal coach Vic Stasiuk, and threatened to sign with the WHA if he was not granted a trade.

Dale had received a couple of WHA offers but decided to stay in Chicago where he signed a three year deal worth approximately $125,000 per season. Dale was happy to get out from Vancouver and start over again. As soon as he got to the windy city there was some controversy though. The Chicago management planned to give Dale sweater number 9 --- Bobby Hull's old number. At first he accepted, since it was his jersey number at Vancouver, but there was a large public outcry against the move, Bobby Hull was an icon, and you don't give away his number just like that. So in training camp, Dale asked not to have the number, and was promptly given number 19 instead.

Dale began working on a line as the center for Chico Maki and Lynn Powis, they were primarily a checking line. He eventually enjoyed his most productive season in Chicago when he had 62 points (15 goals and 47 assists) in 1975-76.

His production fell considerably the following two seasons and he was traded to Pittsburgh for a future draft choice on October 9,1980. Dale then played two more seasons in Pittsburgh. By that time he hadn't been considered a franchise player for a long time, he was just another NHL player.

After the 1979-80 season he retired, only 29 years old. He finished his career with 642 regular season NHL games (336 points) and 33 playoff games (12 points).

Tallon went on to become a long time Chicago broadcaster and then a successful manager in retirement, not to mention a top amateur golfer.

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Dennis Ververgaert

When the Vancouver Canucks drafted Dennis Ververgaert 3rd overall in the 1973 Entry Draft, much excitement was raised. The London Knights (OHA) right winger was supposed to be a combination of goal scorer and tough guy. He was feared in the junior leagues because of his shot (he had 58 goals in 63 games in his final year of junior) and his rugged play. In addition, he was drafted after the two most talked about juniors - Denis Potvin and Tom Lysiak - and ahead of future Hall of Famers Lanny McDonald and Bob Gainey.

When the Canucks introduced Ververgaert to the local media at a press confidence, Canucks president Coley Hall, a fitness buff, suggested Ververgaert take off his shirt. The two men would show off their physique for the photographers. However Hall made an ass out of himself, as he sucked in his gut, causing his pants to drop to his knees. That was the picture the Vancouver papers used!

Ververgaert's career in Vancouver was disappointing. Although to be fair, it was near impossible for him to achieve the high expectations placed on him. He came in, and put up some decent numbers, though it was never enough for the Canucks or the fans. He was a constant 20 goal man in his 5 full years in Vancouver.

One year, 1975-76, he came close to realizing his potential as he scored 37 times and had 71 points. 11 of his goals were on the power play. However the following year Ververgaert, like his lacklustre Canucks, took a step or two backwards towards mediocrity.

While Ververgaert wasn't achieving expectations on the scoreboard, he was definitely underachieving in the physical game as well. Perhaps the expectations that he'd be a John Ferguson type power forward were unreasonable to begin with. Ververgaert seemed to tame down some in the NHL, and averaged less than 1 PIM per game.

Aside from a couple of legendary battles with the Philadelphia Flyers feared goons Dave Schultz and Bob Kelly, most of Ververgaert's fighting seemed to be coming off of the ice. At least on two occasions he was involved in off ice scandals.

The Canucks traded Ververgaert to Philly in 1978-79 in exchange for minor leaguer Drew Callander and defenseman Kevin McCarty. It was a good trade for Vancouver as McCarthy became one of best defensemen in team history, and was named captain shortly after. Ververgaert had two unnoticeable seasons in the Philadelphia before signing as a free agent with Washington for the 1980-81 season. That proved to be his final year in pro hockey.

In the end Dennis played in 583 NHL games. He scored 176 goals and 216 assists for 392 points. 22 of his goals were game winners, while 42 came on the power play.

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Peter Bakovic

For every hockey player who is naturally talented there are probably 1000 that aren't. And of that 1000, only maybe a couple will ever make it beyond junior hockey. The ones who do graduate only do so because of their desire to play the game. Their heart outweighs all the skill they may lack, and that alone keeps their hopes of a NHL job alive.

Peter Bakovic was such a player. There's no confusing Bakovic with a goal scorer or a smooth skater. He made the minor pro rosters because of his work ethic, and because of that he even got a cup of tea in the National Hockey League.

Bakovic's route to the professional ranks was not a conventional one. He played with Kitchener and then with Windsor of the OHL. Despite scoring 74 points in 58 games while leading the entire OHL in penalty minutes in his final year of junior hockey, Bakovic was never drafted. He would be nothing more than a goon scouts said, as his skating was horrendous by NHL standards.

But the Calgary Flames, one of the better teams in hockey at the time, were impressed enough to offer Bakovic a training camp tryout in September of 1984. His hard hitting, glove dropping, all-out style of play impressed the Flames enough to sign Bakovic to a minor league contract. For the next three years Bakovic would play for the Flames farm team, improving his skills and crashing and banging and doing whatever it took to win in his limited ice time.

The Flames were impressed by his work at the minor league level, but they knew he could never play on the deep Calgary roster. So at the trading deadline of 1988, Bakovic was included as a throw-in in a 3 for 1 deal with the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks moved NHL tough guy Craig Coxe, who had memorable fights with Bob Probert earlier in his career, to the Flames who were looking to beef up for the playoff race. The Canucks got back three prospects - small but skilled Olympian Brian Bradley, good minor league defenseman Kevan Guy and Bakovic.

"Peter is a great competitor and very good minor league player at the moment," said Canucks GM Pat Quinn, who added Bakovic was an important part of the deal, not just a throw-in. He pointed to Bakovic's 43 points in 36 IHL games in 1987-88 plus his 221 PIM.

"Being 25 years old there is still an opportunity for Peter to become an NHL player," Quinn added.
Quinn gave Bakovic that opportunity late in the 87-88 season. The Canucks were out of the playoff picture, and Quinn was giving his young players a good look.

Bakovic played well as he took Coxe's role as the tough guy for the final 10 games of the year. In that time he picked up 48 penalty minutes. He also scored 2 goals!

The following training camp however Bakovic was sent back to the minor leagues.

"Peter has a lot of courage and a big heart," said Quinn at the time. "However, he does have a problem with the speed of the NHL right now and has to improve his skating."

Bakovic lost a spot on the Canucks roster to another Canucks prospect, Ronnie Stern. Stern was a very similar player to Bakovic, but was a better skater and a little more polished in the finesse game. Stern would go on to a lengthy NHL career as a mucking 4th liner. Bakovic would play 3 more seasons in the minors before retiring in 1991.

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