Date of Birth: 1954
Place of Birth: St. John’s, Nfld.
Inducted: 2017 (Player Category)

 

Critch, the 1974-75 Newfoundland Senior Hockey League rookie of the year, impressed not only the St. John’s Capitals and their fans that season, but also Doug Harvey, the former Montreal Canadiens icon and Hall of Famer who was scouting for the World Hockey Association’s Indianapolis Racers.

Harvey noticed Critch when he was in St. John’s during the ’74-’75 hockey season, when Critch finished runner-up in league scoring in his first season of senior play.

Harvey signed Critch, and the St. John’s native appeared in three WHA games for Jacques Demers’s Racers in 1975-76, a team that featured former NHLers Dave Keon and Pat Stapleton, and Wayne Gretzky’s future linemate, Blair McDonald.

But like many Newfoundland hockey players who went “away to the mainland” at the time, Critch returned home and rejoined the Caps, with whom he won a pair of Herders.

His provincial senior career would last eight years, and he totaled 132 goals and 250 points in only 118 games.

One noteworthy stat is his 15 goals and 24 points in Allan Cup play, good enough for 11th place amongst Newfoundlanders on the all-time list.