B.C. Sports Hall of Fame perfect place for former Canuck
Hometown hero has fond memories of ’94 run and lots of kind words
A moment will arrive, sooner rather than later Cliff Ronning hopes, where he will face a dilemma: Does he don a New York Rangers jersey?
Ronning ’s record-smashing son Ty has signed an entry-level contract with the NHL’s Rangers, the franchise that Ronning and his Canucks teammates so memorably lost to by a goal in Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final.
“I’m still a Canucks fan, of course,” Ronning said. “Am I a Rangers fan? I’m a Ty Ronning fan.
“Hopefully he gets a chance to play an exhibition game or some league games down the road and I’m sure I’ll, uh ... I don’t know what I’ll do. That’ll be an interesting thing.”
Ty Ronning scored 61 goals for the Vancouver Giants this season, and won the Western Hockey League’s Doug Wickenheiser humanitarian award for his community work.
Poppa is proud, naturally. But this is the father’s day. Being inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame means a lot to Ronning, who at 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds had to scrap his whole life for on-ice acceptance.
“It’s not something you set out to do,” Ronning said. “You grow up playing hockey in the streets of B.C., to be inducted into the B.C.SportsHallofFamemeansalot. I never expected it, but it’s sure an honour to be a part of it, to join so many other athletes.”
Five feet and eight inches weren’t the only numbers that stood out in Ronning ’s hockey career.
There were the 483 points he racked up in three junior seasons with the New Westminster Bruins; his six productive Canucks seasons in which he averaged 25 goals per 82 games; 18 NHL seasons in all; and Ronning is still the all-time leading Canadian scorer in international play (72-79-151 in 97 games).
Yet the first memory that springs to his mind is the Canadian midget championship, which his Burnaby Winter Club team won in 1982 in Victoria. They beat Ste-Foy, Que., who were led by a goalie named Patrick Roy. In a tournament that included the likes of future NHL stars Wendel Clark, Sylvain Cote, Russ Courtnall and Tony Hrkac, Ronning led the event in scoring and was named MVP.
“There are a lot of memories looking back and winning the Air Canada Cup was one,” he said.
“We only had nine players left, everyone else was hurt.
“From there, obviously when you get drafted, you score your first goal, but my dream was always to play for my hometown. I was always a Canucks fan as a kid and finally got my opportunity.”
Pat Quinn famously obtained Ronning (with Geoff Courtnall and three others) in a lopsided trade with St. Louis at the trade deadline in 1991.
“I was very fortunate, Pat Quinn was OK with having a smaller player, as long as that player went out and worked hard,” Ronning said.
“He rewarded me by allowing me to play with great players. When I got to play with Trevor Linden and Geoff Courtnall, I’d never been allowed before to play at the NHL level with two goal scorers.”
Despite his phenomenal offensive numbers in junior with New Westminster, Ronning was not drafted until 133 other players had their names called.
In that 1984 NHL entry draft the Canucks chose J.J. Daigneault No. 10 overall, then ignored Ronning with their next seven picks, selecting players who, combined, played a total of only 89 NHL games. Ronning played 1,263.
“I had to prove myself, but that’s professional hockey.
“Everyone’s going to doubt you, especially if you’re a later draft pick and you’re under six feet. What’s interesting is I never felt I was small. When you’re in the heat of the game you’re not afraid of anybody and size meant nothing to me.”
The oh-so-close 1994 playoff run leaves no bitter taste.
Winning a Stanley Cup for his hometown would have been a dream come true, he said, but it was still an amazing couple of months to experience.
Pavel Bure is the purest goal scorer he’s ever played with, Alex Mogilny is the most skilled teammate he ever had.
“By far.”
Most recently Ronning coached Kontinental Hockey League team Kunlun Red Star in Shanghai (former Vancouver Giant Gilbert Brule was the team’s leading scorer). Ronning had gone to China to work on skills with some of the players at the invitation of Mike Keenan, then wound up coaching the final month of the season after Keenan was fired.
He saw some exciting hockey played, he said. It was an adventure, or rather a continuation of the adventure hockey has provided Ronning his whole life.
“I had a longtime player agent, Ron Perrick. I worked with Dr. Saul Miller in the 1994 run, just an amazing sports psychologist. I had a lot of people who helped me along the way.
“I had a coach, Al Patterson, when I was in amateur hockey
all the way through junior. Guys like that never get the recognition they deserve.”