Sports

3 Numbers retired from the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL

The Ontario Hockey League franchise now known as the Sudbury Wolves has been firmly planted in that northern Ontario city since the 1972-73 season. The franchise began as the Barrie Flyers in 1945 and moved to Niagara Falls to become the Niagara Falls Flyers in 1960.

Since moving to Sudbury, the team has been to the Robertson Cup final only twice and has yet to win an OHL championship. Probably the best year in Wolves history came in 1975-76. The team was first overall, winning the Hamilton Spectator Trophy and reaching the Robertson Cup Final before losing to the eventual Memorial Cup champions, the Hamilton Fincups.

The Sudbury Wolves have retired only three jersey numbers between 1972 and the present. All three played on that Wolves team from 1975-76. All three went on throughout their careers in the National Hockey League and two of the three played more than 1,000 games in the NHL.

Randy Carlyle dressed number 6 during his three years with Sudbury. The defenseman played with the Wolves from 1973-74 to 1975-76. In that final season, he had 79 points from the blue line in 60 regular season games.

The Toronto Maple Leafs liked what they saw and selected Carlyle in the second round of the 1976 NHL amateur draft. Randy played in 1,055 NHL regular season games between 1976-77 and 1992-93 with the Maple Leafs, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Winnipeg Jets. In 1980-81, as a member of the Penguins, Carlyle was awarded the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the NHL.

Randy practically went straight into a coaching career after retiring as a player. He won a Stanley Cup as the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and is currently the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As Carlyle looked at the blue line, number 10 rum duguay I was offending. In 1975-76, Duguay had 134 points with 42 goals and 92 assists in 61 games. Ron’s 92 assists were mostly assists on Rod Schutt’s 72 goals. Both the 92 assists and 72 goals stand today as team single-season records. What’s puzzling is that Sudbury hasn’t retired Schutt’s number, either.

Ron Duguay played four years with Sudbury from 1973-74 to 1976-77. After his final season, the New York Rangers selected him 13th overall in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft. Duguay played nearly 900 regular season games in the NHL between 1977-78 and 1988-89 with the Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings.

Number 17 Mike Foligno he was in his rookie season with Sudbury in 1975-76, but was still a huge contributor to the team’s success. Foligno played four years with the Wolves from 1975-76 to 1978-79 and captained the team in his final season. In 1978-79, Mike scored 65 goals and assisted 85 for 150 points. The point total stands today as a Sudbury Wolves single-season team record.

Mike was the third overall pick in the 1979 NHL draft, going to the Detroit Red Wings. Foligno was drafted behind only Rob Ramage and Perry Turnbull and edged out Hockey Hall of Famers Mike Gartner, Ray Bourque and Mark Messier. Mike played just over 1,000 regular season games in the NHL between 1979-80 and 1993-94 with the Red Wings, Buffalo Sabers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.

Foligno returned to Sudbury for the 2003-04 OHL season and remained General Manager and Head Coach for seven seasons. In 2006-07, he led Wolves to their second appearance in the Robertson Cup Final. This time, it was the Plymouth Whalers that denied Sudbury a trip to the Memorial Cup.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *