Wayne Babych
Date of birth | June 6, 1958 |
place of birth | Edmonton , Alberta , Canada |
size | 180 cm |
Weight | 88 kg |
position | Right wing |
Shot hand | Right |
Draft | |
NHL Amateur Draft |
1978 , 1st round, 3rd position St. Louis Blues |
Career stations | |
1973-1974 | Edmonton Mets |
1974-1976 | Edmonton Oil Kings |
1976-1988 | Portland Winter Hawks |
1978-1984 | St. Louis Blues |
1984-1985 | Pittsburgh Penguins |
1985-1986 | Nordiques de Québec |
1986-1987 | Hartford Whalers |
Wayne Joseph Babych (born June 6, 1958 in Edmonton , Alberta ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player who played 560 games for the St. Louis Blues , Pittsburgh Penguins , Nordiques de Québec and Hartford Whalers between 1974 and 1987 has played in the National Hockey League on the position of right winger . Babych, who had already been selected in third position in the NHL Amateur Draft 1978 and embodied the player type of the Power Forward , celebrated his greatest career success in the jersey of the Canadian U20 national team by winning the bronze medal at the Junior World Championship in 1978 . His three year younger brother Dave was also a professional ice hockey player and 19 years active in the NHL.
Career
Babych played during his junior years between 1973 and 1974 for the Edmonton Mets from his hometown Edmonton in the Alberta Junior Hockey League . From there he dared in the course of the 1973/74 season the jump to the higher-class Edmonton Oil Kings in the Western Canada Hockey League . After all, the striker completed two solid years of play there between 1974 and 1976 before he moved with the team to Portland , Oregon , and from then on participated with the team under the name Portland Winter Hawks . In the Winter Hawks jersey, Babych completed two seasons with 50 goals scored, which earned him the nomination for the league's First All-Star Team. He was also selected in the NHL Amateur Draft 1978 in third overall position by the St. Louis Blues from the National Hockey League .
The Blues immediately took the offensive player under contract, with which he decided against a baseball career at the Montreal Expos . In St. Louis he formed a storm line with Bernie Federko and Brian Sutter and had scored 63 points by the end of his rookie season . In his third of six seasons in the St. Louis Blues jersey, Babych reached 96 points, including 54 goals. This gave the Power Forward an extension of its contract by four years in the summer of 1981. The contract volume during this period was $ 400,000 and a bonus payment of $ 125,000 upon signature. With 19, 16 and 13 goals in the following three game years, Babych's productivity declined significantly in the first three years of the contract, which was also due to the fact that the attacker seriously injured his rotator cuff in a preparatory game for the 1981/82 season.
Before the start of the 1983/84 season , however, the Blues lost patience with Babych and left him unprotected in the NHL Waiver Draft , whereupon the Canadian was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins . There he was able to slightly increase his number of points compared to previous years at the side of Mario Lemieux and reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in four years. Although the Penguins extended his contract before the start of the 1985/86 game year , they transferred him to the Nordiques de Québec after only two missions in October 1985 . There the striker only found a sporting home until January of the following calendar year, as he again became part of a transfer business after 15 games. In exchange for Greg Malone , he moved to the Hartford Whalers , where he ended the season and played with his brother Dave . The following year, Babych was hit by a bad injury again when he broke his leg when he was hit by an opponent in the pre-season season. Finally, at the end of the 1986/87 season , he fought his way back to Hartford's NHL squad and played his last four NHL games. He then had to end his career prematurely at the age of 29 due to persistent pain in his leg.
International
For his home country, Babych took part in the junior division at the 1978 Junior World Championship in native Canada . With ten scorer points, including five goals, from six games he was the team's second-best scorer behind Wayne Gretzky and thus significantly involved in winning the bronze medal. Among all tournament games, he ranked tenth in the points collected. The following year he took part in the 1979 World Cup in the Soviet capital Moscow . There he finished fourth with the Canadians. In seven games he scored three times.
Achievements and Awards
- 1977 WCHL First All-Star Team
- 1978 WCHL First All-Star Team
- 1981 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game
International
- 1978 bronze medal at the Junior World Championship
Career statistics
Regular season | Play-offs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
season | team | league | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | ||
1973/74 | Edmonton Mets | AJHL | 56 | 20th | 18th | 38 | 68 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1973/74 | Edmonton Oil Kings | WCHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1974/75 | Edmonton Oil Kings | WCHL | 68 | 19th | 17th | 36 | 157 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1975/76 | Edmonton Oil Kings | WCHL | 61 | 32 | 46 | 78 | 98 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 23 | ||
1976/77 | Portland Winter Hawks | WCHL | 71 | 50 | 62 | 112 | 76 | 10 | 2 | 6th | 8th | 10 | ||
1977/78 | Portland Winter Hawks | WCHL | 68 | 50 | 71 | 121 | 218 | 8th | 4th | 4th | 8th | 19th | ||
1978/79 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 67 | 27 | 36 | 63 | 75 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1979/80 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 59 | 26th | 35 | 61 | 49 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||
1980/81 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 78 | 54 | 42 | 96 | 93 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8th | ||
1981/82 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 51 | 19th | 25th | 44 | 51 | 7th | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8th | ||
1982/83 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 71 | 16 | 23 | 39 | 62 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1983/84 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 70 | 13 | 29 | 42 | 52 | 10 | 1 | 4th | 5 | 4th | ||
1984/85 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 65 | 20th | 34 | 54 | 35 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1985/86 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1985/86 | Nordiques de Québec | NHL | 15th | 6th | 5 | 11 | 18th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1985/86 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 37 | 11 | 17th | 28 | 59 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
1986/87 | Binghamton Whalers | AHL | 6th | 2 | 5 | 7th | 6th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1986/87 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
WCHL overall | 269 | 151 | 197 | 348 | 549 | 23 | 8th | 11 | 19th | 52 | ||||
NHL overall | 519 | 192 | 246 | 438 | 498 | 41 | 7th | 9 | 16 | 24 |
International
Represented Canada to:
year | team | event | result | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1978 | Canada | June World Cup | 6th | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4th | ||
1979 | Canada | WM | 4th Place | 7th | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
Juniors overall | 6th | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4th | ||||
Men overall | 7th | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1 play-downs / relegation )
Web links
- Wayne Babych at legendsofhockey.net (English)
- Wayne Babych at eliteprospects.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Joe Pelletier: St. Louis Blues Legends: Wayne Babych. greatesthockeylegends.com, September 21, 2007, accessed February 12, 2019 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Babych, Wayne |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Babych, Wayne Joseph (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian ice hockey player |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 6, 1958 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Edmonton , Alberta |