3 WHL Players With 500 Or More PIM In A Season

The Western Hockey League (originally the WCHL) was formed in 1966-67 and is one of three major junior hockey leagues in Canada. Currently, there are 22 teams in the WHL, 17 in Canada and 5 in the United States. The trademark of the league is big players, toughness and defensive play. In the league’s history, three players have topped the 500 penalty minutes mark in a single season.

Brent Gogol – Billings Bighorns, Victoria Cougars

Gogol holds the WHL record for most PIM in a single season with 511 in 1977-78. It was Brent’s only full season in the WHL and he split it between the Billings Bighorns and Victoria Cougars. In the playoffs that year, Gogol played 20 games and added 95 more PIM as the Bighorns reached the finals before being swept by the New Westminster Bruins. The Bighorns are the current Tri-City Americans and the Cougars are now the Prince George Cougars. Gogol played 36 games in the league in 1976-77 with the Calgary Centennials and Victoria.

Although he was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in the ninth round of the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, Brent never reached the big league. In 1978-79, he played just two games with Billings before going pro in the IHL with the Flint Generals and Milwaukee Admirals. Gogol finished second in the IHL with 441 penalty minutes, behind Mark Toffolo who sat 557 in 78 games with the Saginaw Gears.

Mel Hewitt – Saskatoon Blades, Calgary Wranglers

That same year, 1977-78, Mel Hewitt sat 508 minutes in the sin bin while splitting his season between the Saskatoon Blades and Calgary Wranglers. The Blades are hosting the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup and the Wranglers are the present day Lethbridge Hurricanes. It was Hewitt’s fourth of four years in the WHL.

Mel was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, 92^nd overall. Hewitt never saw action in the NHL but was leader of the bad boys in the minors for a few years out of junior. In 1979-80, he led the IHL with 504 PIM in 68 games with the Saginaw Gears.

The following season, he moved to the AHL and led that league with 304 penalty minutes over 68 games with the New Brunswick Hawks. 1981-82 would mark the last year the Hawks played in the AHL before moving to St. Catherines to become the Saints. Hewitt played the full season with the club but his time spent in the box was drastically reduced to 119 minutes. The Orval Tessier coached Hawks won the Calder Cup championship with a four games to one victory over the Binghamton Whalers in the final series.

Kerry Toporowski – Spokane Chiefs

The last WHL player to top 500 penalty minutes, Toporowski sat 505 in 1990-91 with the Spokane Chiefs. It was his second of two years with the Chiefs and he led the WHL both seasons.

Kerry was a fourth round pick of the San Jose Sharks at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, 67^th overall. He never played in the NHL but was a part of deal that sent Doug Wilson to San Jose from the Chicago Blackhawks in 1991. Toporowski played minor pro from 1991-92 to 2003-04 in the IHL, AHL, ECHL, UHL and Russia’s Super League. In 2000-01, he led the UHL in penalty minutes with 413 as a member of the Quad City Mallards.

Saskatoon Blades Individual Scoring Records

The Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League are a charter member of the league with the origins of the franchise dating back to 1964. The Blades are infamously known for never winning an Ed Chynoweth Cup as playoff champions, despite putting together some great teams. The individual single season scoring records are impressive, with one record even held by a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Goals – Frank Banham

Banham exploded for 83 goals in 1995-96, his fourth of four years with the Blades. Frank finished the season 152 points in 72 games. He led the league in goals with twenty more than the runner-up, Jarome Iginla of the Kamloops Blazers. His point total placed him second to teammate Mark Deyell. Deyell recorded 159 points on a Saskatoon team with the fourth worst record in the WHL with just 59 points.

Frank was drafted into the National Hockey League after just his first year in the WHL. He was taken in the sixth round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals, 147^th overall. In total, Banham played 32 games in the NHL between 1996-97 and 2002-03 with the Anaheim Ducks and Phoenix Coyotes.

Banham has been in Europe since 2004-05, playing in Russia, Finland, Switzerland, Austria and Sweden. He played the 2012-13 season with Szekesfehervar of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL) and will play with the club again in 2013-14.

Assists – Bruce Eakin

Soft handed Eakin assisted on 125 goals in 1981-82. He also scored 42 goals of his own to total 167 points in 66 games with the Blades. Bruce was responsible for two of his teammates, Marc Habscheid and Todd Strueby, both scoring over 60 goals that year. It was his second of two years with Saskatoon and Eakin led the WHL in assists while finishing third in the league for points.

Bruce went into the 1981-82 season a prospect of the Calgary Flames. He was selected in the tenth round of the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by Calgary, 204^th overall. He ended up playing 13 games in the National Hockey League with the Flames and Detroit Red Wings. Eakin played in Europe from 1987-88 until retiring after the 1998-99 season. He appeared on teams in Finland, Germany and England.

Points – Bernie Federko

In his third of three seasons with Saskatoon, 1975-76, Bernie scored 72 goals and assisted on 115 for a team record 187 points in 72 games. He led the league in points and was awarded the Brownridge Trophy for his efforts. The Brownridge was renamed the Bob Clarke Trophy in 1987, in honour of the Flin Flon Bombers and Philadelphia Flyers legend.

Federko was popular at hockey drafts following his 1975-76 offensive outburst. The St. Louis Blues chose him seventh overall at the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft and the Edmonton Oilers chose him sixth overall at the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft. Of course, he took the NHL route.

After playing half of his first year of pro hockey with the Kansas City Blues of the Central Hockey League, earning rookie of the year honours, Federko became a regular star with the St. Louis Blues and never looked back. He played exactly 1,000 NHL regular season games in a career that spanned from 1976-77 to 1989-90.

His entire career was spent with the Blues, with exception of his last, which was in a Detroit Red Wings jersey. You couldn’t fault the Blues for trading him. Federko and Tony McKegney went to Michigan for Paul MacLean and Adam Oates. MacLean was in the twilight of his career but Oates became a superstar for the Blues, forming a dynamic duo with Brett Hull. Oates is now in the Hockey Hall of Fame with Federko. Both Oates and MacLean were head coaches in the NHL in 2012-13.

Bernie was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. His jersey number 15 is retired by the Saskatoon Blades. His number 24 is retired by the St. Louis Blues.