4 Two-Time Winners of the WHL's Bobby Clarke Trophy

The Bobby Clarke Trophy is presented each season to the WHL player with the highest point total. Originally dubbed the Brownridge Trophy, it was re-named in 1987 to honour Clarke, one of the best to play in the league. The trophy was introduced for the 1966-67 season and Clarke won the scoring title the next season. Four players have won the Bobby Clarke / Brownridge Trophy on more than one occasion.

Bobby Clarke - Flin Flon Bombers

Bobby Clarke, himself, was the first to take the WHL (WCHL at the time) scoring title in consecutive seasons. As a member of the Flin Flon Bombers, Clarke totaled 168 points in 1967-68, 37 points ahead of teammate Reg Leach. Clarke and Leach would, of course, reunite with the Philadelphia Flyers team that won consecutive Stanley Cups in 1973-74 and 1974-75. Clarke led the league the following season with 137 points.

Bobby was a second round pick of the Flyers at the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft. He played 1,144 regular seasons NHL games between 1969-70 and 1983-84, all with Philadelphia. Three times, Clarke surpassed the 100 point plateau in a season. Three times he was a Hart Trophy recipient as the NHL’s most valuable player. He finished his career with 1,210 points and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987.

Tom Lysiak - Medicine Hat Tigers

Tom Lysiak was the next WHL player to win the scoring title in consecutive seasons. With the Medicine Hat Tigers, Lysiak led the league in 1971-72 with 143 points, ten more than teammate Stan Weir. The following season, Lysiak led again with 154 points, seven points ahead of Dennis Sobchuk of the Regina Pats.

Tom was the second overall pick at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, going to the Atlanta Flames and behind just Denis Potvin who went to the New York Islanders. The Houston Aeros also picked Lysiak in the second round of the WHA Amateur Draft, 23rd overall. Tom played 919 regular season NHL games between 1973-74 and 1985-86 with the Flames and Chicago Black Hawks.

Brian Propp - Brandon Wheat Kings

Brian Propp put up serious numbers in winning the Brownridge Trophy in 1977-78 and 1978-79. In the first season, Propp finished 22 points ahead of teammate Ray Allison with 182 points. The following year, on 94 goals and 100 assists, Propp led the league with an incredible 194 points, 41 ahead of Allison in the WHL scoring race. The two were part of one of the greatest Canadian junior teams of all-time in 1978-79, as the Brandon Wheat Kings finished with 58 wins, five losses and nine ties for 125 points.

Propp was the fourteenth overall pick at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, going to the Bobby Clarke led Philadelphia Flyers. By then, the Broad Street Bullies era had pretty much come to an end but the Flyers were still a great team. Propp played 1,016 regular season games over his NHL career that lasted from 1979-80 to 1993-94. Brian played for the Flyers, Boston Bruins, Minnesota North Stars and Hartford Whalers.

Brian is known for his hard luck with Stanley Cup finals. Five times over his career, Propp went to the final series without a single victory to show for it. Three times, he played for the Cup with the Flyers and he played once each with the Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars.

Rob Brown - Kamloops Blazers

Rob Brown won the scoring race in 1985-86 and 1986-87 in record setting fashion. With the Kamloops Blazers, Brown led the league with 173 points the first season. In 1986-87, Rob set the present day record with 212 points, 66 points ahead of the next closer contender in capturing the Bobby Clarke Trophy.

Despite the numbers, Brown was drafted way down in the fourth round of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played a total of 543 NHL regular season games from 1987-88 to 1999-00 with the Penguins, Hartford Whalers, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings. Playing on a line with Mario Lemieux in 1988-89, Brown enjoyed his best NHL season with 115 points in just 68 games.

Brown was a standout in the now defunct IHL, where he played in between NHL stints. On three occasions, he won the Leo Lamoureux Memorial Trophy as the league’s scoring leader. In 1993-94, he led with 155 points as a member of the Kalamazoo Wings. In 1995-96 and 1996-97, he led with the Chicago Wolves, totalling 143 and 117 points.

1986-87 WHL Scoring Leaders

Despite finishing first overall with 55 wins and 113 points, having five players with more than 100 points and a superstar coaching staff with Ken Hitchcock as head coach and Don Hay as assistant, the Kamloops Blazers could not get past the WHL semi-finals in 1986-87. Kamloops fell to the Portland Winterhawks, who in turn would fall to the Medicine Hat Tigers in the finals.

That disappointment has been all but forgotten after the Blazers marched to three Memorial Cup victories in the 1990’s. What does remain in the Western Hockey League history books is the scoring records etched by Blazers star Rob Brown.

Rob Brown – Kamloops Blazers

Brown totalled 212 points on 76 goals and 136 assists. The points and assists remain as WHL single season records today. Just three years before, Ray Ferraro of the Brandon Wheat Kings set an unreachable record for goals in a season with 108.

It was Brown’s last of four seasons in the WHL. The Pittsburgh Penguins drafted him in the fourth round of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, 67^th overall. In just his second season in the NHL, 1988-89, Brown reached the pinnacle of his NHL career playing alongside Mario Lemieux. Rob scored 49 goals and totalled 115 points playing just 68 games.

Craig Endean – Seattle Thunderbirds/Regina Pats

Craig Endean finished second to Brown with 146 points. He split his season between the Seattle Thunderbirds and the Regina Pats. Endean’s season was a bit of cheat, appearing in 76 games when the league played a 72 game schedule. 1986-87 was his fourth of five seasons in the WHL. The Winnipeg Jets drafted him in the fifth round of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft. The only two NHL games he would play were with Winnipeg at the start of the 1986-87 season while still a junior.

Len Nielson – Regina Pats

Len Nielson capped his five year WHL career finishing third with 136 points as a member of the Regina Pats. Undrafted, Nielson played just two years of pro hockey, split between minor pro in North America and Finland.

Joe Sakic – Swift Current Broncos

In his first full season in the WHL, Joe Sakic finished fourth with 133 points on 60 goals and 73 assists over 72 games with the Swift Current Broncos. The following year, his last in the league, Sakic led the WHL with 160 points while only appearing in 64 games.

Sakic was the 15^th overall pick at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques. Of course, Joe went on to a Hockey Hall of Fame NHL career spanning from 1988-89 to 2008-09. He played for solely for the Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise, appearing in 1,378 regular season games and contributing 1,641 points.

Theo Fleury – Moose Jaw Warriors

Another very familiar name in the hockey world followed Sakic in fifth place. Theoren Fleury was in his third of four seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors. He scored 61 goals and assisted on 68 more for 129 points. The following season, he also totalled 160 points but had two few goals than Sakic.

Despite being 5’6” and a lowly eighth round pick of the Calgary Flames in 1987, Fleury went on to a stellar NHL career. Between 1988-89 and 2002-03, Theo played 1,084 regular season games and totalled 1,088 points. He scored 455 goals over that period and was a 51 goal scorer with the Flames in 1990-91. Along with Calgary, Fleury also played for the Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks.