Former NHLer Rogers set for the hall
If you don’t know him, you certainly know of him.
His name is as household-y as it gets.
Calgary old-timers, for starters, are well-versed in his junior exploits.
Other generations remember him as a local boy, who, starring away from his hometown, piled up points by the hundreds at the professional level.
Younger fans associate him with a couple of decades’ worth of sharp sports-radio commentary.
This is called a lasting impression.
And Mike Rogers has definitely cut a memorable swath through this city’s hockey community.
Now, as part of the 2016 class going into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame, the man will be duly honoured.
Rogers — nominated by Peter Maher, legendary voice of the Calgary Flames — joins Johnny Bucyk and the 1966 Edmonton Oil Kings in the achievement category at this weekend’s induction ceremony in Canmore.
Honoured builders include George Kingston and Terry Ledingham.
Larry Kwong, meanwhile, has been singled out for the Founders Award.
“It’s nice when somebody remembers your name,” Rogers, 61, says. “Born and raised in Calgary, being an Albertan, it obviously holds a special meaning. It brings back a flood of memories, from when I first laced skates on till the day I retired. (This tribute) is kind of what you’ve done, not just being a pro player.
“It has to do with your childhood — what you did, where you played. It’s more or less your journey.”
Which began on the snow-blown rinks of Renfrew.
Five years old, he loved it — and he thrived, churning out goals by the bushel. Looking back, that’s not what stands out, though.
“What was pretty unique or cool growing up — my dad (Steve) was either coach or assistant coach or helper from the first day,” Rogers says. “And Mom (Olive), she was the scorekeeper.”
In bantam, he paced the local circuit in scoring, garnering attention from the biggest outfit in Calgary, the Centennials. In 1971, he jumped to the Western Canada Hockey League.
Picture it — Rogers, 16 years old, 145 pounds. And helmetless — seriously. “Around Christmastime, they made it mandatory,” he says, laughing. “I was the happiest guy in the world.”
The Cents, star attractions at the oft-packed Stampede Corral, were stacked — Danny Gare, Bob Nystrom, John Davidson, Jerry Holland — with Rogers front and centre, putting up 57 points as a rookie, 112 points at 17, 140 points at 18.
In the 1974 National Hockey League draft, however, he dipped into the fifth round, where the Vancouver Canucks took him.
The Edmonton Oilers, of the World Hockey Association, were much keener — a three-years guaranteed salary ($50,000, $60,000, $70,000) and a $40,000 signing bonus. Plus? A shiny, new Dodge Charger.
Suddenly, Rogers was entering an outlaw league, during a bloodthirsty era, a time of long sideburns and short fuses.
He refers to his WHA days as “colourful,” chuckling.
“Some nights I was wondering, ‘ What am I doing?’ ” he says. “I’m a 19-year-old kid playing against 30-year-old journeymen who would just as soon take your head off as score a goal. Some crazy guys out there.”
After five winters — four with 70-plus points — Rogers and his New England (soon-to-be Hartford) Whalers joined the NHL. Little was expected from tiny pivot. (The Canucks could have added him at no cost — but declined.)
Even the Whalers offered him only a two-way contract.
“Kind of a slap in the face,” he says. “I didn’t know if I had a future.”
Fuelled, he responded.
His 105 points staked him fifth in scoring, wedged between all-timers Gilbert Perreault and Bryan Trottier.
“That was my arrival time,” Rogers said, “that I was as good as these guys I always watched on TV.”
For any remaining doubters, he produced 105 points the next season — this time as captain of the Whalers. Then 103 points for the 1981-82 New York Rangers.
Collecting 100 points in your first three NHL seasons? No small thing. Gentlemen who have accomplished that: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Peter Stastny. And Mike Rogers. “That even separates you from a lot of great players.”
After four seasons in New York, Rogers shifted to familiar surroundings — Edmonton, where he started in 1974 (on a roster that included Jacques Plante) and where he finished in 1986 (on a roster that included Gretzky).
Enhancing his post-retirement horizons, Rogers showed an on-air knack, providing radio analysis for 20 years, including the last dozen as Flames colour man on The FAN 960.
“I enjoyed every minute of it,” he says, “something that I’m extremely proud of.”
And something he could do in his hometown.
“I’m a proud Calgarian,” says Rogers. “I couldn’t ask it to work out any better. To play my junior hockey here. And, after my 12 years of pro, I was able to come back and get involved in the community.
“I’m entrenched in the city.”
I’m a proud Calgarian. I couldn’t ask it to work out any better.