Darren McAusland
DARREN MCAUSLAND (1972- ) Learning to walk, talk and skate were almost simultaneous milestone’s in Darren’s early development. Sloughs and a dugout in the hamlet of Grovedale in Northern Alberta is where Darren McAusland learned to skate and play the game that would become his first career. Moving through the minor hockey ranks in Grande […]
Clint Malarchuk
CLINT MALARCHUK (1961- ) “I’m from Grande Prairie and very proud of that,” asserts Clint Malarchuk who was born in Grande Prairie and moved to Edmonton at the age of five. Whenever possible he returned to Grande Prairie, where Clint learned to skate and play hockey. On his Uncle Max Henning’s acreage outside of Grande Prairie […]
Doug Rigler
DOUG RIGLER (1961- ) Hockey is a central theme and connecting link to major events in Doug Rigler’s forty-six years and he has high praise for the influence of coaches during his hockey journey. Skating was recommended as therapy to overcome a childhood physical disability and it worked. From skating to hockey was simply a […]
Galen Head
GALEN HEAD (1947- ) Number one ambassador on the ice, prolific scorer, team leader, gentleman, and all around good guy were accolades attributed to Galen Head when his # 8 sweater was retired and he was inducted into the Johnstown Hockey Hall of Fame and the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. Galen’s […]
Ken Solheim
KEN SOLHEIM (1961- ) It is a measure of Ken’s reputation as a hockey player that he drew an assist on Gretzky’s 1000 goal. He was born on March 27, 1961 in Hythe, playing his first hockey at the age of seven coached by his Dad. He continued to develop his hockey skills at the […]
Oscar Blais
OSCAR BLAIS(1929-1999) His given name was Eugene. His friends called him Oscar, a name he inherited from a devoted pet goose. His hockey buddies labeled him Suzie because he was not a “scrapper” like many of his hockey buddies. When Oscar arrived in Grande Prairie in 1940 at the age of eleven the town featured […]
Johnny MacMillan
JOHNNY MACMILLAN (1935- ) Like other Legends before him, Johnny MacMillan is a Wapiti Arena Rink Rat Alumnus, an important credential and rite of passage for a young hockey enthusiast wanting to play senior hockey with the Key Club, Legion or the Red Devils along with Grande Prairie’s hockey heroes such as Pete Wright, Ken […]
Pete Wright
Pete Wright (1927- 1989) From time to time Pete had occasion to play against Don Cherry in the minors and as a fitting tribute to Pete’s rugged qualities it is reported that Don once stated on Hockey Night in Canada that “Pete Wright was the toughest player he ever played against”. Pete came by his […]
Garry Edmundson
Garry (Duke) Edmundson (1932-2016) Duke Edmundson was the first local hockey player to make it to the NHL. His basic skills were developed on his backyard rink, unsupervised scrimmages on the schoolyard rink and in the old Wapiti Arena where he was a rink rat. Duke’s Dad was passionate about hockey, played for the pre-war […]
Charlie Turner
Charlie Turner (1917-1996) He was an outstanding all-around athlete, but hockey was his favorite game. In 1979, the Herald Tribune’s Bill Scott referred to him as, “King of the Grande Prairie Hockey Hill,” and following in the tradition of Johnny Macdonald, the first Mr. Hockey, the title was passed to Charlie Turner. Like others in […]