June 22, 2010
Dino Ciccarelli Elected to the
Hockey Hall of Fame
By Dan
McCaffery
|
 |
A second
graduate of Sarnia Jr. 'B' hockey has
been named to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Dino
Ciccarelli, who got his start playing
with the Sarnia Bees at the tender age
of 15, was named to the Hall yesterday.
The Bees
have undergone a number of name changes
since then, and are now known as the
Legionnaires.
Ciccarelli is
the only Sarnia native ever selected for
such an honour, although former
Legionnaire Phil Esposito, of Sault Ste.
Marie, is also a member of the Hall.
photo courtesy of Hockey Hall of Fame |
"I'm very pleased for
Dino, an alumni of our team,” Legionnaire president
Tom Knight said. “It's nice to see our players being
recognized. Players of that quality are involved in
Jr. 'B' hockey every year, it's just a matter of
them being found, being recognized and given an
opportunity to move on.”
Knight added he does not
know of another Jr. 'B' organization in Ontario that
has two alumni in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Unforgettable season
After scoring an
astonishing 130 goals in SMAA bantam hockey,
Ciccarelli made the Sarnia Bees in the fall of 1975.
Some claimed he was too small, but the 5'9, 155
pound youngster got off to a quick start, scoring
his first goal in just his second game as Sarnia
defeated the Petrolia Jets 10-7.
Before long, goals were
coming in bunches. He got four in one game as Sarnia
crushed Strathroy 18-1, then added another four as
the Bees trounced London 11.5.
Young Ciccarelli told a
reporter there was no difference between scoring
goals in bantan and junior. The basics were the
same, he said, adding you had to have good linemates
(in his case Bobby Free and Rick Scully), work hard
as a team and get the puck to the right place at the
right time.
Coach Ron Carroll had
high praise for the rookie, but said he needed to do
more passing. Ciccarelli responded not long after
that by getting a goal and two assists in a draw
with the Jets.
On Dec. 7, 1975 he got
three goals as Sarnia edge the St. Marys Lincolns
7-5. “Dino certainly proved tonight he can score
goals against one of the best teams in the league,”
Carroll told the Sarnia Observer.
Before Christmas he had
more than 30 goals and was the team's top marksman.
By the end of the
campaign the little centre had scored 45 goals and
43 assists for 88 points.
Broken leg
From Sarnia it was on to
London, where he was a star with the OHL Knights.
But after he suffered a broken leg, there were
predictions that Ciccarelli would not go anywhere in
pro hockey. He silenced his critics by playing 19
seasons in the National Hockey League, scoring 608
goals. Included in his totals were two 50-goal
seasons. Players he outscored during his career
included Maurice 'Rocket' Richard, Guy Lafleur, Stan
Mikita, Bryan Trottier and Frank Mahovlich.
Of the more than 18,000
players who have scored NHL goals, only 15 have more
than Ciccarelli. In addition to his goals, he had
598 assists.
He also played on two
teams that made the Stanley Cup finals.
