Dale Hawerchuk

Dale Hawerchuk was a legendary junior hockey player who went on to even bigger things in the National Hockey League and in international competitions. It is no wonder why he is a deserving member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

As a junior player, he was named to the QMJHL First All-Star team after the 1980-81 season and was named the Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year. That year he played in all 72 games and scored a ridiculous 81 goals, 102 assists for 183 points! He led Cornwall of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to consecutive Memorial Cup Championships (1980 and 1981) and won the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the Memorial Cup Tournament MVP in 1981.

Hawerchuk was the Winnipeg Jets’ first round choice (first overall) in the 1981 Entry Draft. He made an immediate impression with the Jets as he was the first NHL rookie to record 40 goals and 100 points in the same season finishing with 45 goals and 103 points in 1981-82. Following the season, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year, beating out a great young goalie in Edmonton named Grant Fuhr.

In nine seasons with Winnipeg, Hawerchuk established himself as one of the NHL’s premier forwards. He led the team in scoring in each of his nine years in Winnipeg and broke the 100-point barrier six times. Seven times he scored more than 40 goals. During the 1984-85 season, he established career highs in goals (53) and points (130) while finishing second in the voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player.

Hawerchuk was a joy to watch. He was an excellent though not smooth skater, deceptively fast and blessed with great lateral agility. He had the rare ability to handle the puck and create plays even at top speed. A tremendous one on one player, Hawerchuk learned not to over handle the puck and became a great playmaker as well as a goal scorer, particularly on the power play.

However Hawerchuk and the Jets were never able to find post seasons success. That is largely due to the fact that they were in the same division as the powerhouse Edmonton and Calgary teams. The Jets just didn't have the depth to escape the Smythe division.

While Hawerchuk never tasted NHL post season highs, he did experience some great moments in international hockey. He was a member of the 1982, 1986 and 1989 Team Canada at the World Championships. He represented the NHL All Stars at Rendez Vous 1987 and most importantly was a big part of two Canada Cup championship teams - in 1987 and 1991. Dale's role in 1987 in particular is looked upon as one of the greatest examples of gamesmanship in hockey history. Dale was a high scoring superstar in the NHL, but at this level he graciously accepted a lesser role and became more of a gritty checker. That selflessness played a big role in Canada's victories, and in the maturing of Dale Hawerchuk into a complete hockey player.

As the 1980s wound down, Hawerchuk's offensive contributions were slowing as well. Coming off of his great 1987 Canada Cup performance, Dale scored the second best numbers in his career - 121 points thanks to 44 goals and 77 assists. He dipped down to a still very impressive 96 points in 1988-89, but in 1989-90 Dale had his worst offensive year in his career. 26 goals and 81 points in 79 games sounds like a career year for most players but for Dale those were his worst numbers in Winnipeg. The Jets were concerned that his play was in recession, and after a decade of brilliance, they still had not accomplished anything in the playoffs.

Jets management decided it was time for a change, and prior to the 1990-91 season, Hawerchuk was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in a draft day blockbuster that saw Phil Housley go to Winnipeg. In his first season in Buffalo, he scored 31 goals and 89 points and recorded his 1,000th NHL point during the campaign. He played a strong second line role behind Pat Lafontaine - combining his great playmaking with his gritty defensive game he discovered while in the Canada Cup. However post season success would not happen in Buffalo either, due to untimely Sabres injuries almost every playoff season.Dale would play in 5 seasons in Buffalo. His terrific passing game keyed the Sabres power play from the point for most of his time in New York state. In 5 seasons in Buffalo (including the lockout shortened 1994-95 season) Dale scored 110 goals, 265 assists for 375 points in 323 contests. His intelligent and shifty game made him a fan favourite.

Hawerchuk signed with the St. Louis Blues as a free agent on July 8, 1995. He played in 66 games for the Blues in 1995-96 before being traded to Philadelphia in exchange for Craig MacTavish.

Dale played in his first and only Stanley Cup final in 1997, yet he and his Philadelphia Flyer's came up short against the Red Wings. Dale played admirably in that series, and you couldn't help but route for him even if you weren't a Flyers fan.

Injuries forced Dale Hawerchuk to retire earlier than anyone wanted him to. His high scoring days were behind him but he was still a joy to watch.

Hawerchuk has played in 1,188 NHL games over 16 years with Winnipeg, Buffalo, St. Louis and Philadelphia. He has registered 518 goals and 891 assists, which ranked him at the time of his retirement 21st all-time in goals, and 10th in both assists and points.

Dale was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

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Thomas Steen

Thomas is one of the most underrated Swedish players in NHL history.

He grew up in the small town of Grums in the Värmland region where he learned to play hockey as a little kid. His childhood idol was his cousin and ex-NHL'er Dan Labraaten as well as his older brother Malte Steen who played in the Swedish elite league for many years. They inspired Thomas to become a hockey player.

Thomas played for Grums IK in the Swedish 2nd division until 1976. In his last season there he had 9 points (5+4) in 21 games. He then debuted in the Swedish Elite league as a 16-year old for Leksand. Thomas made such a good impression that he was selected to represent Sweden in the 1977 European Junior Championships. He did very well there as he collected 6 points (3+3) in 7 games and guided Sweden to a Gold medal. Thomas also played in the 1979 and 1980 World Junior Championship tournaments, making the All-Star team in 1979. All in all Thomas played 18 games and collected 18 points (10+8).

Winnipeg Jets liked what they saw and drafted Thomas 103rd overall in 1979. At that time nobody could imagine that this young kid would one day become the franchise All-time leader in seasons (14) , games (950) and assists (553). This quiet, humble and well liked Swede played in the shadow of many of his fellow countrymen but was one of the most useful players around. In 1990-91 the players in the NHL voted for him as the most underrated player in the league.

The season before he came to the NHL he won the "Player of the year" award (1980-81) in Sweden as he led his team Farjestad BK in scoring and to the league title. He also finished second overall in league scoring. That same season Thomas represented Sweden in the 1981 World Championships and Canada Cup.

Thomas played hard every game and never backed down from any confrontations. Former Jets GM John Ferguson only had positive things to say about Thomas.

"Thomas Steen is the toughest and bravest of all the Swedes in the NHL. I've seen Thomas involved in more physical confrontations than most of the Canadian players in the league. He looks like a choirboy, but he can play as tough as anyone in the league."

Rick Bowness who coached Winnipeg said:

"You need players of Steen's caliber to be successful in the NHL. He is our most useful player."

Thomas strength was that he didn't have a real weakness. He played with a great deal of determination, he had great leadership qualities which landed him the captaincy between 1989-91, he was a great passer, a fine two-way player, he had good anticipation and vision, was a fine face-off man, nice stickhandler... and the list goes on...

He wasn't the flashy type of player but he was the heart and soul for the Jets for most of his 14 seasons with the team. No one wore the Jets uniform with more pride and dignity than Thomas Steen.

When it was announced at a press conference that Winnipeg was moving to Phoenix he cried openly.

"I was crushed by the news, he said later on."

During his 14 year NHL career Thomas hit the 80 point plateau twice (84 and 88 points), 70 points once (72), 60 points four times (65, 64, 66 and 67) and 50 points four times (59, 50, 54 and 51). His best effort point wise came in 1988-89 when he collected 27 goals and 61 assists.

Even in Sweden Thomas wasn't a household name. The primary reason was that he left for the NHL when he was only 21. But after his outstanding effort in the 1984 Canada Cup when he led his team to the finals, he got the recognition he deserved even from his folks back home. Thomas had prior to the 1984 Canada Cup only scored two goals in 21 games for the Swedish senior national team. He however exploded in the Canada Cup, as he went on to score a tournament high 7 goals in 8 games, scoring on 46.7 % of his shots.

"It was great to succeed in such a fine and prestigious tournament like the Canada Cup," Thomas said. "It was something of a personal revenge for me since I never had much success previously on the national team."

Thomas played on a line together with Hakan Loob and Kent Nilsson, both playing for Calgary Flames. They clicked together immediately and displayed some great hockey in the tournament.
Kent Nilsson had nothing but praise for his line mate.

"Thomas was incredible. As a center on our line he really worked hard. He was just a phenomenal guy to play with."

Thomas heroics in the Swedish uniform wasn't over. In the 1986 World Championships he was the tournaments leading scorer with 8 goals in 8 games as Sweden won the Silver. Thomas other appearances in the Swedish uniform came in the 1989 World Championships and 1991 Canada Cup.

The only thing Thomas regretted in his career was that his Winnipeg Jets never got past the second round while he was there.

"Personally I had a lot of success in Winnipeg. I only wish that the team could have done better in the playoffs."

On May 6, 1995 Thomas Steen's jersey # 25 was retired. He became only the second Jet after Bobby Hull to receive this honour and he became the first European trained player to have his number retired.

A great honour for the symphatic Swede. "It's a great honour and I'm proud of it," he said.

When Thomas announced that he had played his last game for Winnipeg he was given maybe the finest honour of them all. The children's hospital in Winnipeg got the name "Thomas Steen children's emergency" Thomas had donated large sums of money to the hospital for many years and also had a personal tragedy earlier on when his two month old son passed away.

The Steen family kept a house in Winnipeg as Thomas went on to play another three seasons in Germany for the Frankfurt Lions and Eisbären Berlin. He collected 55 points (23+32) in 117 games before finally hanging em' up in 1998. During that time he also fulfilled a dream to skate along his talented son Alexander Steen during an exhibition game.

As the new millennium approached Thomas was still running his appreciated hockey school in Orsa, Sweden, together with his brother Malte every summer.

The words in the 1995-96 Winnipeg Jets Media Guide sums up Thomas perfectly.

"Steen was a consummate professional who embodied everything good about the Jets organization; loyalty, commitment to excellence, hard work, dedication and pride. He played with enthusiasm and a burning desire to win at all costs. He was an exceptional player who represented the club both on and off the ice with class and distinction."

- Special thanks to Pat Houda

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Dan McFall

Danny McFall can thank long time NHLer Jim Lorentz for helping him appear in the NHL too.

McFall, who played 9 games for the Winnipeg Jets over parts of two seasons, was being coached by Lorentz when McFall was discovered by NHL scouts. Lorentz had recently retired but didn't want to leave the Buffalo area, so he turned to coaching the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, of the NYJHL. Now not too many players are ever drafted out of the NYJHL, but under Lorentz's guidance, McFall played impressively enough not only to get scholarship offers to play Division 1 college hockey, but also to be drafted out of high school by the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets selected Dan 148th overall in 1981.

The Jets probably never expected McFall to pan out as far as the NHL was concerned. The fact that he played 9 games was probably more than anyone expected. They drafted him knowing that most 8th round picks never make it. They also knew that he had committed to going to Michigan State for the next 4 years.

McFall had a good collegiate career with the Spartans. In 1984 he was named to the NCAA West's second All American team. By 1985 he was named to the first All American team. In 168 games over 4 years, McFall scored 36 goals and 76 assists. He excelled more as a defensive d-man, though he was too small to excel in that role at the professional level.

Immediately following the completion of the collegiate season in 1985, McFall joined the Jets late in the season where he played in his first two NHL games. 1985-86 saw the Jets send McFall to the minor leagues as they felt he needed time to adjust from the collegiate game to the rougher professional ranks. He did appear in 7 games for the Jets, recording his only NHL point, an assist.
 McFall didn't have a great season in the minors either. He had 2 goals and 12 points in 50 games. He seemed very overwhelmed by the difference of the pro game.

McFall played in just 11 games in the IHL in 1986-87 before called it quits. But McFall did alright for himself. He was just a kid playing hockey in Buffalo who got discovered with a bit of luck. He went on to get a good education at a good school and got paid for 2 years for playing hockey. He even made it to the big show for 9 games.

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Craig Endean

Craig Endean was a brilliant scorer in the Western Junior League with the Seattle Breakers/Thunderbirds and Regina Pats. However the smallish winger did little else than score, meaning he wasn't a physical presence nor a great defensive player.


Craig, who started in the WHL at the tender age of 15, played 5 seasons of junior hockey. Playing that many years is unusual, and allowed Craig to be one of the highest scoring players on the WHL career scoring list with 529 points.

After scoring 16 goals as a 15 year old, he scored an impressive 97 points as a 16 year old. By the time he reached age 17, the age many players begin playing juniors, he erupted for 58 goals and 128 points! He turned 18 before the NHL draft, thus making him eligible for NHL selection. But because of his size he slipped 91 selections before the Winnipeg Jets picked him 92nd overall in the 1986 Entry Draft.

Craig spent the 1986-87 season split between Seattle and Regina, and posted a mind boggling 146 points based on 69 goals and 77 assists! Endean was also brought up to the Jets to play his first two NHL games, and even picked up an assist!

However that would be the only two games Endean would ever play in the NHL. He returned to junior hockey as an overage junior, a rare thing for a true NHL prospect. At that point Endean must have realized he faced an uphill battle to make it to the big leagues. He would play one season in the Jets minor league system before he was released. Both the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars would give him a look in the following years training camp, but never signed him. Instead he signed some independent contracts with minor league teams but never made a big splash down there.

Endean retired as a hockey player at the end of the 1992-93 season.

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