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.

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.