Larry Sacharuk: Difference between revisions

Larry Sacharuk
Larry Sacharuk
Born	September 16, 1952 (age 71); Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	defenceman
Shot	right
Played for	New York Rangers; St. Louis Blues; Indianapolis Racers
NHL draft	21st overall, 1972; New York Rangers
Playing career	1972–1982

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Revision as of 21:50, 16 May 2020

Lawrence William Sacharuk (born September 16, 1952 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 151 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. He also played 15 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the Indianapolis Racers. Sacharuk was drafted by the New York Rangers in second round, 21st overall in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft.

Junior hockey

Sacharuk began his career in 1967 as a 14-year-old with his hometown team, the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Canadian Hockey League (WCHL). It was rare for someone as young as Sacharuk to be playing at that level, and he was playing with older, more experienced players aged 17 to 20, many who were positioned to be drafted to the NHL. Sacharuk was already pushing 6 feet tall and 180 pounds as a defensive stalwart. At the Blades' training camp at that time, coach George "Bus" Agar noted Sacharuk's blistering slap-shot, an asset for a defenceman. He made the Blades roster for the 1967-68 campaign and scored six goals in only 34 games.

The following season, Sacharuk played 56 games with the Blades, recording 16 points with five goals. In the 1969-70 season the lowly Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association offered him a spot, promising more ice time and a chance to improve his game. In 51 games with the Flyers, Sacharuk improved by scoring 19 goals and 18 assists, a personal best up to that time. The following season, Sacharuk returned home to the Blades, and he was one of the team's scoring leaders for the following two seasons, with 77 goals in 124 games, and 171 points. In the 1971-72 season he scored 50, finishing his junior career as the Blades' leading scorer, and also the tenth-leading goal scorer in the WCHL, tied with Lanny McDonald.

Professional career

Sakaruk was drafted in the second round of the 1972 NHL amateur draft at #21 overall by the New York Rangers. At the time, the Rangers had established NHL defencemen such as Brad Park, Rod Seiling, Jim Neilson and Dale Rolfe, making it difficult to crack the Rangers roster. Ultimately, he was sent to the Rangers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Reds, at the start of the 1972–73 NHL season. After 64 games with the Reds he was recalled to the Rangers, and recorded one point, a goal, in eight games. The following season, he was again sent to the Reds following an unsuccessful Rangers' training camp. After 42 games for the Reds, Rangers again recalled him, and he played the remaining 23 games of the 1973–74 NHL season, but in limited playing time his offensive production suffered and he only managed six points in 23 games, scoring twice. Finding him expendable and in need of scoring, on August 29, 1974 the Rangers traded Sacharuk along with a number #1 draft pick to the St. Louis Blues for winger Greg Polis.^[1]

With the Blues during the 1974–75 NHL season, Sacharuk proved himself as an offensive-minded defenceman and scored 20 goals and 22 assists over the course of 76 games. He ended the season as the fifth-highest goal scored on the team, and was the only defenceman on the Blues to score 20 goals; the other 12 defencemen on the roster scored 21 combined. However the Blues also had several top NHL defensemen including the Bob and Barclay Plager, Bob Hess and Bob Gassoff, and traded Sacharuk back to the Rangers in the summer of 1975, in return for winger Bob MacMillan. Back in New York for the 1975–76 NHL season, Sacharuk's point production declined and he managed only 13 points in 42 games, missing almost half the season due to injury. The following season, he started with the Rangers' new AHL affiliate, the New Haven Nighthawks and put up some respectable numbers in the minors with 54 points including 23 goals in 55 regular season games. The Rangers called him up for only two games in the 1976–77 NHL season and he registered no points.

Sacharuk did not make the Rangers' squad in 1977-78 and was spent the entire season with New Haven. He returned to his offensive game and registered a solid 56 points, including 19 goals. During the summer of 1978, his contract was not renewed by the Rangers, and he took an offer from the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Sacharuk played 15 games with the Racers, who folded in December, recording 11 points. While other teammates on the Racers managed to find new homes to finish the season, Sacharuk was unable to do so and sat out the rest of the year. The following year, Sacharuk signed with the Birmingham Bulls in the Central Hockey League, where he played 80 games, notching 40 points.

In the 1980 season, he signed on to play with EC Innsbruck of the Austrian Hockey League where he played 34 games and managed 35 goals as a player who was over-skilled in a league which did not have many players with NHL experience. The following season in 1981-82 he played with Stadlau, another Austrian club, after which he retired from hockey. In 1988 the Birmingham Eagles of the British Hockey League enticed him to play for them, but he again retired after two games.

Record

Sacharuk was noted for one of the hardest shots in hockey, with a clocked speed of 118 mph for his slap-shot. In the WCHL 1971-72 season, he scored 50 goals in 65 games as a defenceman, and still holds this record in any league of major junior or professional hockey. He scored these 50 goals in while playing with the major junior team the Saskatoon Blades. This feat has not been repeated.

He is the current head coach of the Serie A team Sport Ghiaccio Pontebba.

References

^ Rogers, Thomas (30 August 1974). "People in Sports". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 May 2020.

External links

Larry Sacharuk career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

[1] Rogers, Thomas (30 August 1974). "People in Sports". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 May 2020.

[1]

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 ==Professional career==
-Sakaruk was drafted first in the 2nd round of the [[1972 NHL Amateur Draft]] at #21 by the New York Rangers. At the time, the Rangers had the likes of established NHL veteran defencemen such as [[Brad Park]], [[Rod Seiling]], [[Jim Neilson]] [[Ron Harris (ice hockey)|Ron Harris]] and [[Dale Rolfe]]. In spite of his stellar junior year previously and his draft position, cracking the Rangers lineup for the '72-'73 season was a difficult proposition for Sacharuk. Ultimately, he was sent to the Rangers AHL affiliate, the [[Providence Reds]] to start the season. He spent 64 games with the Reds before the call-up to the Rangers, where he played 8 games and only managed one point, a goal. The following season, he was again sent to the Reds following an unsuccessful Rangers' training camp.  He played 42 games for the Reds during the '73-'74 NHL campaign, and once again, due to injuries on the Rangers, he was called up to play the remaining 23 games of the season. With virtually no change in defensive personnel on the Rangers from the previous season, Sacharuk struggled with ice time and his offensive role as a top point getter. As a result, he only managed 6 points in 23 NHL games, with 2 of them goals. Disillusioned over the lack of offensive production by Sacharuk, on August 29, 1974 the New York Rangers Management traded Sacharuk along with the Ranger's number #1 draft pick to the [[St. Louis Blues]] for winger [[Greg Polis]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rogers |first1=Thomas |title=People in Sports |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/30/archives/polis-of-blues-traded-to-rangers-people-in-sports.html |website=The New York Times |accessdate=16 May 2020 |date=30 August 1974}}</ref>
+Sakaruk was drafted in the second round of the [[1972 NHL amateur draft]] at #21 overall by the New York Rangers. At the time, the Rangers had established NHL defencemen such as [[Brad Park]], [[Rod Seiling]], [[Jim Neilson]] and [[Dale Rolfe]], making it difficult to crack the Rangers roster. Ultimately, he was sent to the Rangers' [[American Hockey League]] (AHL) affiliate, the [[Providence Reds]], at the start of the [[1972–73 NHL season]]. After 64 games with the Reds he was recalled to the Rangers, and recorded one point, a goal, in eight games. The following season, he was again sent to the Reds following an unsuccessful Rangers' training camp. After 42 games for the Reds, Rangers again recalled him, and he played the remaining 23 games of the [[1973–74 NHL season]], but in limited playing time his offensive production suffered and he only managed six points in 23 games, scoring twice. Finding him expendable and in need of scoring, on August 29, 1974 the Rangers traded Sacharuk along with a number #1 draft pick to the [[St. Louis Blues]] for winger [[Greg Polis]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rogers |first1=Thomas |title=People in Sports |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/30/archives/polis-of-blues-traded-to-rangers-people-in-sports.html |website=The New York Times |accessdate=16 May 2020 |date=30 August 1974}}</ref>
-While with the St. Louis Blues, during the 1974-75 NHL season, Sacharuk picked up the pace as an offensive-minded defenceman and scored a respectable 20 goals and 22 assists over the course of 76 games. However, over the summer of 1975, the Blues, which had several top NHL defensemen including the Plager brothers, [[Bob Plager|Bob]] and [[Barclay Plager|Barclay]], along with the bruisers [[Bob Hess]] and [[Bob Gassoff]] shoring up their defensive ranks, traded Sacharuk back to the Rangers. This was an unusual move as some one describe as a "head scratcher" as Sacharuk had a stellar season, the best campaign he had put forth in the big leagues. He was the only defenceman on the Blues to score 20 goals, as the other 12 defencemen on the roster had a combined total of 21 goals.  He also ended the season as the 5th highest goal scorer on the Blues roster for the season. The Blues received winger [[Bob MacMillan]] in return from the Rangers. Back in New York for the 1975-76 season, Sacharuk's point production again was on the decline. He managed only 13 points in 42 games, and sat out almost half the season due to injury. The following season, he started with the Ranger's AHL affiliate, the [[New Haven Nighthawks]] and put up some respectable numbers in the minors with 54 points including 23 goals in 55 regular season games. The Rangers called him up for only two games in the '76-'77 season and he registered no points in his NHL outings.
+With the Blues during the [[1974–75 NHL season]], Sacharuk proved himself as an offensive-minded defenceman and scored 20 goals and 22 assists over the course of 76 games. He ended the season as the fifth-highest goal scored on the team, and was the only defenceman on the Blues to score 20 goals; the other 12 defencemen on the roster scored 21 combined. However the Blues also had several top NHL defensemen including the [[Bob Plager|Bob]] and [[Barclay Plager]], [[Bob Hess]] and [[Bob Gassoff]], and traded Sacharuk back to the Rangers in the summer of 1975, in return for winger [[Bob MacMillan]]. Back in New York for the [[1975–76 NHL season]], Sacharuk's point production declined and he managed only 13 points in 42 games, missing almost half the season due to injury. The following season, he started with the Rangers' new AHL affiliate, the [[New Haven Nighthawks]] and put up some respectable numbers in the minors with 54 points including 23 goals in 55 regular season games. The Rangers called him up for only two games in the [[1976–77 NHL season]] and he registered no points.
-For the 1977-78 season, Sacharuk did not make the Rangers' squad and was sent back down to the AHL's Nighthawks, where he toiled for the entire season and played 72 games. Again in the AHL ranks, he was back to his offensive game and as a defenseman and he registered a solid 56 points, including 19 goals. During the summer of 1978, his contract was not renewed by the Rangers, and he took an offer from the [[World Hockey Association]] [[Indianapolis Racers]] which had a future superstar on their roster by the name of [[Wayne Gretzky]]. Sacharuk managed only 15 games with the Racers, who folded in December, putting up 11 total points. While a few of teammates on the Racers managed to find new homes to finish the season, it was not his case and he was inactive the rest of the year. The following year, Sacharuk signed with the AHL's [[Birmingham Bulls (WHA)|Birmingham Bulls]] where he played 80 games, notching 40 points.
+Sacharuk did not make the Rangers' squad in 1977-78 and was spent the entire season with New Haven. He returned to his offensive game and registered a solid 56 points, including 19 goals. During the summer of 1978, his contract was not renewed by the Rangers, and he took an offer from the [[Indianapolis Racers]] of the [[World Hockey Association]] (WHA). Sacharuk played 15 games with the Racers, who folded in December, recording 11 points. While other teammates on the Racers managed to find new homes to finish the season, Sacharuk was unable to do so and sat out the rest of the year. The following year, Sacharuk signed with the [[Birmingham Bulls (WHA)#After the WHA|Birmingham Bulls]] in the [[Central Professional Hockey League|Central Hockey League]], where he played 80 games, notching 40 points.
-In the 1980 season, he was not offered a contract with any NHL team and the WHA had folded a year earlier. As a result he decided to play in Europe and signed on to play with EC Innsbruck of the [[Austrian Hockey League]] where he played 34 games and managed 35 goals as a player who was over-skilled in a league which did not have many players with NHL experience. The following season in 1981-82 he played with Stadlau, another club in the Austrian Elite league, which was followed by his retirement from hockey. Sacharuk remained in retirement for the next 6 years until 1988 when the [[Birmingham Eagles]], of the [[British Hockey League]] enticed him to play for them. He managed 2 games with the team, before he decided to retire once and for all.
+In the 1980 season, he signed on to play with [[Innsbrucker EV|EC Innsbruck]] of the [[Austrian Hockey League]] where he played 34 games and managed 35 goals as a player who was over-skilled in a league which did not have many players with NHL experience. The following season in 1981-82 he played with [[WAT Stadlau|Stadlau]], another Austrian club, after which he retired from hockey. In 1988 the Birmingham Eagles of the [[British Hockey League]] enticed him to play for them, but he again retired after two games.
 ==Record==