Blazers add three Legends

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Andy Clovechok is Mr. Hockey in Kamloops so it would be fitting if his name
were to be on a banner hanging from the rafters at Interior Savings Centre.
And that is exactly what will happen after the Kamloops Blazers announced
Tuesday that the 85-year-old Clovechok is one of three individuals who will
be inducted as Blazer Legends on March 6 prior to a game against the
visiting Portland Winter Hawks.
Joining Clovechok in the builders’ category will be former Blazers scout and
general manager Stu MacGregor, while Zac Boyer, who scored the winning goal
in the final game of the 1992 Memorial Cup tournament, will be inducted as a
player.
“It’s very, very satisfying. It’s something I didn’t expect,” said
Clovechok, who is a member of the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame. He also is
in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the 1947-48 Edmonton
Flyers, who won the Allan Cup.
Clovechok served minor hockey in Kamloops as a coach, referee and director.
He also was a long-time member of the Blazers’ board of directors when the
team was owned by a non-profit society.
Born in what now is Slovakia, Clovechok came to Canada with his mother at
the age of five. His father already was in Rosedale, four miles from
Drumheller, Alta., working in a coal mine.
He played junior B hockey in Drumheller, leaving in 1942 to to into the
military service. He ended up in Lethbridge, where he played for the
Bombers. He was transferred to Vancouver where he played for the Sea Island
Seahawks under the legendary Frank Fredrickson.
In 1945, he went to training camp with the original Vancouver Canucks of the
Pacific Coast Hockey League. The Canucks won the league title and played the
Boston Olympics for the U.S. amateur championship.
“We beat them in a best-of-seven series . . . all the games were in
Vancouver,” he said, before adding with a chuckle: “I guess we’re the only
team that ever won a U.S. amateur championship becauase no one has played
for it since.”
The coach in Vancouver was Paul Thompson, who had played with and coached
the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. His brother, Tiny, a Hall of Fame goaltender,
had played with Clovechok in Lethbridge before moving on to a legendary
career with the Boston Bruins. It was Paul Thompson who suggested Clovechok
move to Kamloops and play for the senior Elks.
He did. And he never left.
“We had a lot of fun but we never won anything,” said Clovechok, who played
on a line with Bernie Bathgate and John Milliard in 1951-52. “We ended up
tied for the scoring lead . . . all three of us . . . I don’t think that was
done before or has been done since.”
Four years after coming to Kamloops, Clovechok purchased a carpet and
upholstery cleaning business, started a janitorial service and got involving
in coaching minor hockey.
And 58 years after arriving here, Clovechok and his wife, Molly, who have
three children (Don, Terry and Jane), are awaiting the birth of their second
great grandchild.
“There’s no better place to raise a family than Kamloops,” Clovechok said.
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MacGregor worked for the Blazers for almost 20 years. He began in 1981 as a
scout with the Junior Oilers. He later served as assistant general manager
and director of player personnel before being replacing Bob Brown as general
manager on June 16, 1995.
MacGregor left the Blazers on May 31, 1998, to join the scouting staff of
the NHL’s Dallas Stars. He now is the head scout for the Edmonton Oilers.
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Boyer played 247 regular-season games for the Blazers (1988-92) and totalled
312 points, including 119 goals. The biggest goal of his career came in the
championship game at the 1992 Memorial Cup in Seattle when he scored at
19:45 of the third period to give the Blazers a 5-4 victory over the Sault
Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Boyer is ninth on the Blazers‚ all-time points list.
These days, Boyer, who was the first head coach in the history of the Miami
Manatees of the short-lived WHA-2, and his family split their time between
North Carolina and Florida. His wife, Cindy, is in real estate, while he is
a stay-at-home dad with twin daughters Ava and Addison, who are going on
three.
“It’s a great honour . . . such a storied franchise and to be part of that
when there are so many other players who I think are more worthy than
myself,” said Boyer, who will be re-introduced to Kamloops at a news
conference on March 5.
JUST NOTES: The Legends were selected by a panel that included Blazers
general manager Craig Bonner, former Blazers director Derek Johnston, Rick
Wile of Radio NL, Earl Seitz of CFJC-TV and Gregg Drinnan of The Daily News.
Clovechok was part of the panel that chose to induct MacGregor and Boyer. .
. . The Blazers don’t play again until Friday when they visit the Bruins in
Chilliwack. RW Kenton Dulle will sit that one out as he completes a two-game
WHL suspension. He will be eligible to return Saturday against the visiting
Vancouver Giants. Dulle was suspended after being hit with a major penalty
for clipping and a game misconduct in Friday’s 2-0 loss to the Hurricanes in
Lethbridge.