May 6, 2019

Media Release

For immediate release

HOCKEY NL ANNOUNCES THE NAMES OF FIVE NEW MEMBERS WHO WILL ENTER THE PROVINCIAL HOCKEY HALL OF FAME 

Grand Falls-Windsor, NL- the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame will increase by five with the induction of five new members Saturday, June 8 in Gander.

Hall of Fame Chairman Gerry Evans of Mount Pearl announced that Players Sheldon Currie, Pat Dempsey, Harold Druken, Bob O’Neill and Builder Declan ‘Dec’ Lacour will be inducted during Hockey NL’s Annual General Meeting and Awards Banquet at the Albatross Hotel.

Members of the Hall of Fame Selection Committee, besides Evans, are Don Bradshaw of Corner Brook, Jack Lee of the Goulds, Robin Short of St. John’s and Hughie Wadden of Buchans.

SHELDON CURRIE

He wasn’t the biggest player on the ice, but Sydney, N.S. native Sheldon Currie gave no quarter during his five seasons in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League.

Currie was one of the toughest in provincial senior hockey during the mid-to late 1980s, and he was also one of the league’s top scorers during that time.

Arriving in Newfoundland for the 1983-84 season, Currie would win a Herder Memorial Trophy and an Allan Cup during his five-year stay in the province.

Currie suited up for three teams — the Stephenville Jets, Port aux Basques Mariners for a season (where he was the player-coach) and the Corner Brook Royals.

He won a Herder with the 1983-84 Jets, and after the Jets were eliminated by the Royals in the 1986 Herder final, he was added to the Corner Brook roster for the Allan Cup.

Currie had two goals and three assists in the final game of the Allan Cup championship in Nelson, B.C. as the Royals beat the host squad 7-0 to sweep the series.

In 200 games played in Newfoundland, Currie averaged almost two points per game with 186 goals and 210 assists for 396 points.

Most impressive is the fact he finished amongst the league’s top 10 scorers in each of his five seasons — fifth in scoring in his rookie year, third, fourth and 10th in scoring twice.

He’s 26th in all-time provincial senior hockey league scoring, and his 570 penalty minutes place him 10th on the all-time list.

PAT DEMPSEY

Responding best when he was under pressure, Pat Dempsey was a “money goalie” during his nine-year career in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League, during which he won an incredible five Herder Memorial Trophy championships.

A St. John’s native, Dempsey was the backbone of the powerful Bro. Rice Celtics high school teams in the late 1960s, and he was so good he slid right into the St. John’s Capitals senior lineup right out of high school, and remained the Caps’ starting net minder for years.

The puck stopped with Dempsey on Bob Badcock’s “Kiddie Corps” Caps squad that won four straight Herders beginning in 1973.

Three times in four years — in 1976, ’78 and ’79 — Dempsey was named the provincial senior league’s top net minder.

In the 1978 playoffs, Dempsey registered a stellar 3.48 goals against average to backstop the Labatt BlueCaps to their first Herder win, and the fifth of Dempsey’s brilliant career.

He retired following the 1981 season.

HAROLD DRUKEN

As a minor hockey player growing up in the Shea Heights section of St. John’s, big things were expected of Harold Druken.

And he didn’t disappoint.

Regarded as one of the most skillful players to come out of this province, Druken went on to shine on the national stage, represent Canada internationally and play professionally for seven years, which included 146 National Hockey League games.

Druken first raised scouts’ eyebrows at the 1995 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, scoring five of Team Atlantic’s 19 goals and assisting on six others.

Following three years of prep school hockey at Nobles and Greenough outside Boston, Druken joined the Ontario Hockey League’s Detroit Whalers, who made him the 16th overall pick in the 1996 OHL draft.

The next year, the Vancouver Canucks selected Druken in the second round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 36th overall.

In his third season in Plymouth, Mich. (where the Detroit franchise relocated), Druken led the OHL with 58 goals and he finished seventh overall in league scoring, earning second all-star team honours.

That was in 1998-99, the same season in which he made Canada’s world junior squad, winning a silver medal in Winnipeg.

Druken would turn pro in 1999-2000, splitting the season between Vancouver and the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch. As a 20-year-old, he would score seven goals and register 16 assists in 33 NHL games. His numbers in the AHL were even more impressive, with 20 goals and 25 assists in only 47 games, leading to a year-end all-rookie team selection.

His best NHL season came the next year in 2000-01, when he scored an impressive 15 goals and 15 assists in only 55 games.

On April 5, 2001, he scored in overtime after tying the game with a third-period power play goal as the Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in Vancouver’s second-last game of the regular season.

When the Phoenix Coyotes lost to the San Jose Sharks minutes later, the Canucks were officially in the playoffs for the first time in five years.

Druken would only play 38 games the next season in Vancouver and with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose thanks to shoulder, knee and ankle injuries.

It would be injuries — a bum shoulder required at least three surgeries — that would put an end to his career.

Druken would play another 31 NHL games — three in Vancouver, 14 with the Carolina Hurricanes and nine with the Toronto Maple Leafs — and two-plus seasons with the American Hockey League’s St. John’s Maple Leafs.

His career NHL numbers read 27 goals, 36 assists and 63 points in 146 regular season games. He also made four playoff starts for the 2001 Canucks, picking up four assists.

Druken wound up his pro career with one year in the Swiss Elite league with Basel.

DECLAN LACOUR

“Dec” LaCour has spent almost a lifetime involved with minor hockey — 42 years to be exact.

During those 42 years, LaCour spent 26 with the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association’s (later rebranded Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador) Minor Council.

After helping with novice and atom divisions in Wabush, LaCour moved back to his native Harbour Main where he quickly got involved with the Conception Bay Central Minor Hockey Association.

The following year, C.B.C. Minor was affiliated with the provincial association and LaCour served for 13 years on the C.B.C. executive, 10 as president.

During his time as president, he served five years on the C.B.S. Stadium Commission, and he was instrumental in having teams enter Purolator Cup (later called Irving Oil Cup) provincial bantam play.

LaCour would become synonymous with AA bantam play, serving for 25 years as the Branch representative for the championship.

He was awarded the Meritorious Award for outstanding service to minor hockey in 1984, and in ’87 was awarded the Brian Wakelin Executive of the Year Award. Four times he won the Norm Doyle Executive of the Year Award.

During his time as Eastern Director, LaCour was instrumental in the merging of the C.B.C. minor association with C.B.S. minor to form the CBR Minor Hockey Association, which was one of the largest in the province.

LaCour is a life member of both Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador and its Minor Council.

BOB O’NEILL

For 11 seasons, Bob O’Neill quietly starred in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League, winning four Herder Memorial Trophy championships.

A big, skilled defenceman who could move the puck and play an aggressive game, O’Neill was a standout at Gonzaga high school before a brief stint of junior A hockey in Ottawa.

After returning home, he broke into senior hockey with the Labatt BlueCaps and joined the Shamrocks in 1977-78 to form a formidable defensive pairing with fellow Hall of Famer Bill Breen.

Following a stellar regular season campaign of 10 goals and 21 points, O’Neill was a key player for the Shamrocks in their improbable run to the 1979 Herder.

In Game 7 of the series and the score tied 4-4, Kirk Johnson of the Gander Flyers scored in overtime. With 26 seconds left on the clock, O’Neill scored, setting the stage for double OT and Ron Cadigan’s game-winning goal.

O’Neill had four goals in that final.

He would suit up for the Shamrocks for the next four years before joining the Corner Brook Royals in 1984-85, winning the first of two Herders.

The 1986, the Royals won Newfoundland’s first Allan Cup as Canadian senior hockey champs. O’Neill is the fourth highest-scoring defenceman for Newfoundland teams in Allan Cup play, trailing only long-time teammate Nigel Facey, import Steve McKenzie and the great George Faulkner.

O’Neill finished up his career with the St. John’s Capitals in 1986-87, a Caps squad that dominated from start to finish en route to winning the Herder.

Despite being a defenceman, O’Neill had impressive senior career stats — 56 goals, 82 assists for 138 points in 176 games.

 

 

 

MEMBERS

Members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame are:

 

1994

Athlete — Frank “Andy” Cahill, Alex Faulkner, George Faulkner, Doug Grant

Athlete/Builder — Jack Reardigan, Terry Trainor

Builder — Msgr. George Bartlett, Robert S. Furlong, Don Johnson, Brian Wakelin

1995

Athlete — Jack Faulkner, Jim “Bucky” Hannaford, Joe Lundrigan, John Murphy, Bill Scott

Athlete/Builder — Joe Byrne, Roger Howse, Hugh Wadden

Builder — Walter Clarke, Carl Hansen, Harold Hillier, Vince Rossiter, T.A. “Gus” Soper

1996

Athlete — Frank “Danky” Dorrington, Al Dwyer Jr., Frank Finlayson, Robert Petrie, Frank Walker

Athlete/Builder — Herbert Augustus “Gus” Herder

Builder — Claude Anstey, Cliff Gorman

1997

Athlete — Stan Breen, Cal Dunville, Hugh Fardy

Builder — Eric Dawe, Ron Taaffe

1998

Athlete — Watson John “Wats” Goobie, Wilson “Copper” Leyte, Harry “Moose” Watson

Builder — George “Daddy” Dawe, Sam Rose

1999

Athlete — Charlie Cahill, Mike Kelly, Bill Martin, Leo Murphy

Athlete/Builder — Walt Davis

Builder — Arthur Johnson

Media — Bob Cole

2000

Athlete — George Connors, Jimmy Dawe, Zane Forbes, Merv Green, Don Howse, Jim Kennedy, Ed Philpott, Terry Ryan Sr., Harold Stanley

Athlete/Builder — Bob Badcock

Builder — Neil Amadio, Peter Duffy, Ambrose O’Reilly, William Parrott

Media — John M. Tobin

2001

Athlete — Terry Gilliam, Rob Gladney, Jim Temple

Athlete/Builder — Rick Babstock

Builder — Mel Andrews, Charlie McCarthy

Media — John Mayo

2002

Athlete — Randy Pearcey, Jim Penney, Tony White

Athlete/Builder — Ray Bowe

Builder — Ron Healey

Female — Colleen Tapper

Media — George MacLaren

2003

Athlete — Ian Campbell, Brian Gibbons, Ernie Hynes, Dick Power

Athlete/Builder — Joe Maynard, Gerry Taylor

Builder — Don Walsh

Female — Glennis (Thorne) Thomey

Media — Joe Mullins

2004

Athlete — Ted Gillies, Jimmy Guy, Hubert Hutton, Gerry Lahey, Cyril Power

Athlete/Builder — Stan Cook

Builder — Claude Browne, Howie Meeker, Wayne Mercer, Mike Squires

2005

Athlete — Bill Breen, Roger Dean, Bern Fitzpatrick, Alfie Hiscock, Andy Sullivan

Athlete/Builder — Wes “Bucko” Trainor

Builder — Frank Moores

Female — Debby Power

2006

Athlete — Nigel Facey, Roger Kennedy, Doug Squires

Builder — Francis Wiseman

Media — Don Gibbon

2007

Athlete — Mike Anderson, Alex Blanchard, Leo Kane, Harry Katrynuk

Builder — Len Butt, Gerry Kelly

Media — Bill Callahan

2008

Athlete — Eg Billard, Jake Critch, Clar Goulding

Athlete/Builder — Ed O’Brien

Builder — Wayne Russell

2009

Athlete — Al Bargery, Ford Metcalfe, Ed Oates

Media — John Murphy

2010

Athlete — Jim Grant, Art Hamlyn, Ed Lawrence

Media — Bruce MacDonald

2011

Athlete — Kirk Johnson, Ed O’Quinn

Builder — David Brazil, George Fardy

Media — Dee Murphy

2012

Athlete — Bert Brake

Athlete/Builder — Jim Hornell Sr.

Builder — Jim Hayward, Danny Williams

2013

Athlete — Ron Cadigan, Len Coughlan, Wayne Faulkner, Todd Stark

Athlete/Builder — Art Barry

Builder — Michael Dinn

2014

Athlete — Clobie Collins, J.C. Garneau, John Slaney

Builder — Marv Ryder, Glenn Stanford, Leo Rose

2015

Athlete — Darren Colbourne, Darren Langdon, Dwayne Norris

Builder — Jim Hornell Jr., Rosemary Marshall, Ken Williams

2016

Athlete — Charlie Babstock, Juan Strickland

Builder — Wally Dalley

Media — Brian Rogers

2017

Athlete — Glenn Critch, Michael Ryder, Ed Kearsey

Athlete/Builder — Darryl Williams, Derek Clancey

Builder — Kevin “Fox” Fagan

2018

Athlete — Ryane Clowe, Dan Cormier, Jim Heale, Kevin Morrison, Cec Thomas

Athlete/Builder — Bob Jackman

Builder — Bonnie Evans

2019

Athlete — Sheldon Currie, Pat Dempsey, Harold Druken, Bob O’Neill

Builder — Dec LaCour

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information please contact:

 

 

Craig Tulk

[email protected]

709-489-5512