Just adding a little spice to the night, former New York Islanders’ great Bryan Trottier broke into song while referee Ron Hoggarth holds the microphone during the Oldtimers Hockey Challenge at the General Motors Centre.

By Wally Donaldson
The Oshawa Express

While acknowledging the increased speed of hockey and entertainment value since the elimination of the red line, former hockey great Dale Hawerchuk has a cure for reducing the abundance of head injuries and lost playing time many leagues, especially the NHL, have encountered.
Bring back the red line.
“It’s a real speed game now with the red line out,” notes the Oshawa-raised 2001 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. “The guys work on their speed north-south. You don’t see so much east-west hockey any more and I find it disappointing at times because that’s the real brains of the game.

 “It’s a power game now and that’s why the guys are getting hurt. They’re coming down like missiles and when you get hit by a missile, you get hurt. Personally, I would like to see them bring back the red line. You’ll still have the speed, but you’ll have to think more as a player when you make your plays. You would have to, as a player, become more creative with the puck whereas now, they just throw it ahead.”
Hawerchuk had little problems finding the back of the net during his 16-year tenure in the NHL, the bulk of it spent in Winnipeg with the Jets. He also played five seasons in Buffalo, one in St. Louis and finished up competing two years with the Philadelphia Flyers.
He did in that span accumulate 518 goals and 1,409 points.
Not bad at all for this immense talent who as a peewee hockey player in Oshawa, scored all eight goals in a tournament game at Montreal, clipping the mark previously held by Guy Lafleur.

And although his NHL career was colorful, to say the least, Hawerchuk is equally enjoying his lifestyle to its fullest as a horse farm owner, a Provincial junior A coach and owner of the Orangeville Crushers and also a member of the NHL Legendary Hockey Heroes.

The Hockey Heroes delighted a large, enthusiastic crowd Thursday at the GM Centre while taking on the Durham Regional Police Team, which included former Generals defenceman Marc Laniel.
While fans laughed at the wit of referee Ron Hoggarth and put their hands together when Bryan Trottier stretched his vocal chords with guitar in hand, the night was really for the Ontario Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.
One of the many highlights featured a Durham police member taking Bob Probert into the boards.
“Hold it, hold it,” shouted Hoggarth with microphone in hand as he confronted the guilty officer, bringing the game to a brief standstill. “Do you know who you just hit? Do you know (Probert) accumulated 3,000 penalty minutes in the NHL, most of them for fighting? Are you crazy?”
That plus the traditional pie-in-the-face to two Durham police newcomers, Brad Corner and Lee Douglas, and an opportunity for minor hockey children to score on four-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Billy Smith, who was stellar during the New York Islanders dynasty in the mid-1980s, added to the festivities.
Seated in the concourse section across from the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame was hockey legend Bobby Hull, the coach of the Heroes squad. Even the youngsters, with pen and program in hand, appreciated the wonderful history before them.
“This is such a win-win situation,” beamed Hawerchuk while glancing around at the GM Centre facility. “The guys had a really good time. I know the local police enjoyed themselves and this was all for a good, local charity played in one beautiful arena.”
Hawerchuk would, of course, not have competed at the GM Centre had he been able to achieve a dream of throwing on an Oshawa Generals jersey in 1979.
He was selected first overall by the Cornwall Royals who, at the time, competed in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).
“My dream was to get drafted by the Generals since I grew up here,” he recalls. “I remember seeing Rick Middleton playing here when I was a kid. I remember seeing Terry O’Reilly and Bob Kelly.
“But I got drafted away by Cornwall which wasn’t too bad, either.”
Indeed! Two years in Cornwall and two Memorial Cup championships.
Highlight of Hawerchuk’s career was the famed 1987 Canada Cup victory over Russia at Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum when Mario Lemieux’s goal inside the final minute lifted Canada’s pride to ecstatic proportions, much like Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal Sunday afternoon against the United States.
Canada needed a faceoff win to orchestrate this now famous rush which included Wayne Gretzky. Hawerchuk pulled it off.
With the faceoff deep in Canadian territory, coach Mike Keenan spotted a fatigued Mark Messier and so he sent Hawerchuk over the boards.
“He put me on with Lemieux and Gretzky and I was fortunate enough to win the faceoff,” says Hawerchuk. “Gretzky took it up, got the puck to Lemieux and the rest is history. It was sweet though, I can tell ya.”