CBC-Sports

Passion, punishing play was Wendel Clark’s stamp

November 20, 2008 05:47 PM | Posted by   Scott Morrison  

Over the years we've had the great pleasure, first through the magic of television, to watch the wizardry of Bobby Orr.

As journalists, we had the good fortune to see firsthand and in person many of Wayne Gretzky's greatest moments, Mario Lemieux's as well.

We've seen countless big-game players over 28 years of watching NHL games and enjoyed every minute.

Near the top of that list of favourites to watch, too, was Wendel Clark.

A first-round pick of the moribund Toronto Maple Leafs back in 1985, Clark was not one of the greatest players to ever play the game, but he was a good one and was certainly fun to watch when his body co-operated.

Clark, who started as an offensive defenceman and evolved into a power forward, had great assets. He was a terrific skater, handled the puck well, had a wicked slap shot ("My Dad wouldn't let me take a slap shot"), was a punishing body checker (anyone remember Bruce Bell?) and was a terrific and willing fighter.

Despite his size, 5-foot-10, 185-pounds, Clark played much bigger than that and was fearless. He fought all the big gunners of his day, from Behn Wilson to Rick Tocchet to Cam Neely to Bob Probert to Marty McSorley, all of them.

"I enjoyed fighting," Clark said.

Who wouldn't when you won more than you lost?

As a result of how he played, though, two things happened - Clark became one of the most popular Leafs ever and one of the most injured.

He suffered shoulder and back injuries mostly, which limited how often he played, but not he played.

"No regrets," said Clark. "That's the way I had to play and if I didn't I wouldn't have the career I did."

Still, had Clark not missed 260 games with the Leafs and 437 overall, the 330 goals he scored and 564 points he accumulated would have been considerably higher, perhaps even high enough to earn Hockey Hall of Fame consideration.

But Clark insists he has no regrets. He could only play one way and injuries happen. Of all the pain he endured, however, among the worst was the hurt he felt when he was traded in 1994. That he came back to Toronto not once, but twice didn't ease the pain, but it got him back to the town and team he never wanted to leave.

Of the many great nights Clark had, few rivaled Game 6 of the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs in Los Angeles. The Leafs ultimately didn't win that night because, as any Leaf fan will tell you, Wayne Gretzky scored the winning goal in overtime from the penalty box. Not quite, of course. Gretzky did score the winner, but only after the officials failed to notice an accidental high stick on Doug Gilmour moments earlier. He scored when he could have been in the penalty box.

Anyway, that night Clark scored three goals for the Leafs and it was a night in which it looked like the captain was going to will his team to victory and a meeting with the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final.

"I know from talking with Kirk (Muller) the Canadiens were celebrating when LA beat us," said Clark. "They knew we would've been on such a high, we would have had the right amount of time to rest, there was no way they would have beat us. But we just couldn't get there."

That was the closest Clark and the Leafs really got to the big show. Though they got to the semifinals the next year against Vancouver, the magic wasn't there.

"We didn't have a lot in our tank," said Clark.

On Saturday night, Clark will be back on the ice at the Air Canada Centre, but this time standing on a red carpet. The Leafs are honouring Clark by raising a commemorative number 17 banner to the rafters.

It's an honour Clark richly deserves. And it will be one more exciting night he will give Leafs fans.

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