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.