To commemorate its 50th year, the WHL gathered a group of league historians to name the top 125 players in its history, and fans will get a chance to pair the list down to the top 50 at WHL.ca.
Here is my ballot for Nos. 40 to 31.
40. Dan Lambert, Swift Current Broncos (1986-1990)
Lambert was part of Swift Current’s 1989 Memorial Cup Championship team when he put up 25 goals and 102 points from the Broncos blueline. That was good enough to be named WHL defenceman of the year and get him drafted by the Quebec Nordiques. In his four years patrolling the blueline, he potted 20 goals twice and ended with 319 career points. Last season, he won the WHL Championship as head coach of the Kelowna Rockets.
39. Dennis Sobchuk, Regina Pats (1971-1974)
An offensive machine, Sobchuk never scored fewer than 56 goals during his three-year run with the Pats. His 68-goal, 146-point campaign in 1974 was second in the league scoring race but good enough to lead Regina to their first WHL championship and a Memorial Cup win. Sobchuk would score 191 times in his three full WHL campaigns and was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1974. He opted for the WHA initially however and appeared in 348 games in the fledgling league.
38. Todd Holt, Swift Current Broncos (1989–1984)
Holt was part of two Broncos league championship teams and one Memorial Cup. He spent five seasons with Swift Current and ended his run as the WHL’s eighth leading goal scorer of all time with 216 markers. He turned in four seasons with 40-plus goals with the high water mark coming in 1992-93 when he potted 56 for 113 points which was sixth best in the league that season.
37. Troy Mick, Portland Winterhawks and Regina Pats (1985-1990)
Mick was one of the key players in Portland’s strong run during the late 1990s. They made it to the league final with Mick on the ice, but could not quite get over the hump, losing to Medicine Hat in 1987. Mick ended up in Regina for the 1989-90 season where he turned in his second 60-plus goal campaign. When his WHL career was over he was the 13th-highest scorer of all time with 466 points.
36. Barry Pederson, Victoria Cougars (1978-1981)
Pederson is perhaps most known for being the player that the Vancouver Canucks got back in the now infamous Cam Neely trade. But before he was the answer to a trivia question, he was lighting up the WHL. After a 31-goal rookie campaign in 1978 he went on to score 52 and 65 goals the next two seasons. In 1980-81 he led the Cougars in scoring with 147 points as Victoria would go on to win a WHL record 60 games.
35. Ken Wregget, Lethbridge Broncos (1981-1984)
Wregget backstopped the Broncos to their first WHL Championship in 1983 before going on to a lengthy NHL career that would see him play in 575 games. He was named WHL goalie of the year in 1984 and ended his Lethbridge career with 77 wins. The 1983-84 season was his finest—32 wins, a .902 save percentage and 3.16 GAA. Considering the high-scoring era he played in, those numbers are pretty fantastic.
34. Al Conroy, Medicine Hat Tigers (1982-1986)
Conroy spent four seasons with the Tigers and was a model of consistency. He twice scored 38 goals and twice scored 41. He ended up as the league’s 15th-highest scorer of all time with 446 points. His best campaign was 1984-85 when he put up a whopping 97 assists to give him 138 points. That kind of play making got him to ninth all time in WHL assists.
33. Cliff Ronning, New Westminster Bruins (1983-1985)
Ronning only played two WHL seasons with the Bruins, but they were pretty spectacular. He won rookie of the year honours in 1984 after an incredible 69-goal, 136-point season. He followed that up with an even more impressive 89 goals and 197 points in 1984-85. That was good enough to earn him the MVP award and got him drafted by St. Louis. Considered undersized, he lasted until the seventh round but went on to play more than 1,000 NHL games.
32. Cam Ward, Red Deer Rebels (2000-2004)
Ward was twice named WHL goaltender of the year. First in 2002 after he went 30-11-4 for the Rebels with a .911 save percentage and a 2.27 GAA then again in 2004 with a minuscule 2.05 GAA and a .926 save percentage. He was a first-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2002 and has played 513 NHL games to date and has a Stanley Cup on his résumé.
31. Todd Robinson, Portland Winterhawks (1994-1999)
Spending five seasons in Portland, Robinson was a steady presence—his 470 points are 11th all time. He led Portland in scoring during the 1997-1998 season with 109 points to help the Winterhawks to a WHL championship and Memorial Cup victory. His best season came in 1996-97 when he put up 134 points to lead the league. Robinson never made it to the NHL but played pro hockey in various outlets through the 2014 season.