Wendel Clark has been honoured many times, many ways, for his excellence as a hockey player.
The Saskatoon Blades (for whom he wore No. 22) and Toronto Maple Leafs (No. 17) have both retired his jersey number.
A statue honouring Clark is part of the Leafs’ Legends Row.
In 2015, he was among the enshrinees into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame.
And now he is entering another provincial shrine — the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.
“This is a big one because it’s the Saskatchewan hall of fame,” the Kelvington-born Clark said during a media conference Thursday. “This is where you grew up. All your peers are here. The faces are familiar.
“There’s the Gordie Howe sweater and Glenn Hall and people who were greats in the game, not just in hockey but in all the sports in the province. The province has such a great athletic presence everywhere, so to be part of the Saskatchewan hall of fame is huge.”
Clark excelled for the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds and the WHL’s Blades before being selected first overall by Toronto in the 1985 NHL entry draft.
He played for seven teams during a 15-year big-league career, but is best remembered for his time with the Maple Leafs.
Even while being front and centre in Toronto, he never forgot his small-town, home-province roots.
“You’re humbled by it all because, growing up, you were just a hockey player,” said Clark, 52. “I grew up on a farm, playing some hockey, and playing some ball in the summer.
“Hockey has been the platform. I didn’t do it for any other reason than having a love for playing the game and wanting to play the sport at the highest level that I could. Every time I put the skates on, I just tried to play as hard as I could.”
That mindset helped him play in 793 NHL regular-season games, during which he registered 330 goals — including 46 in 64 games with the 1993-94 Leafs — and 564 points, along with 1,690 penalty minutes.
Clark is to be formally inducted Sept. 28 as part of the Hall’s Class of 2019.
Clark, Chris Biegler (a basketball player from Regina), Jacki Nichol (softball; Saskatoon), Kelly Parker (soccer; Saskatoon), Marg Sihvon (basketball; Moose Jaw) and Colleen Sostorics (hockey; Kennedy) are being honoured as athletes.
Bill Kinash (cycling; Regina) and Clarence Campbell (hockey; Fleming) are being recognized as builders. Campbell, the NHL’s president from 1946 to 1977, is being honoured posthumously.
“If you look around the hall of fame and you look at all the names, they all weren’t from the big cities of Saskatoon and Regina,” Clark noted. “There are little towns from all over the province where people got to be very good at what they were good at, whether it be fastball, cycling, hockey … you name it.
“Somebody had a love for the sport and then became very good at it because of their passion and how much they worked at it, so kudos to all those people. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. If you put the time and effort in and you have some skill, you can make it.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
