Larry Sacharuk

Lawrence William Sacharuk (born September 16, 1952 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenceman who played 151 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. He also played 15 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the Indianapolis Racers. Sacharuk was drafted by the New York Rangers in round 2, going as the 21st pick in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft.

Junior Hockey

Sacharuk began his career as a 14 year old with his hometown team, the Saskatoon Blades in 1967. The Blades were part of the Western Canadian Hockey League (now the Western Hockey League (WHL)) one of the three major junior leagues in Canada at the time. As a 14 year old, Sacharuk was playing with older, more experienced players from the ages of 17 to 20, many who were positioned to be drafted to the NHL. It was virtually unheard of for a 14 year old to be considered for, let alone play major junior hockey. Not to be deterred, Sacharuk was already pushing 6 feet tall, and 180 pounds as a defensive stalwart. At the Blades' training camp at that time, his coach, George "Bus" Agar noted that Sacharuk possessed a blistering slap-shot, a much needed skill for a defenceman, particularly in the junior and NHL ranks. He made the Saskatoon Blades roster for the 1967-68 campaign and in spite of only playing 34 games, he managed to score 6 goals during that time.

The following season, as a 15 year old, Sacharuk played 56 games with the Blades, putting up 16 points, again, 5 which were goals. Just as he was settling in with the Blade's organization, in the 1969-70 season he was offered a position with the lowly Niagara Flyers in the Ontario Hockey League, with the promise of more ice time and a chance to improve his game. In 51 games with the Flyers, Sacharuk took his game to another level, notching 19 goals and 18 assists, which was a personal best up to that time. The following season, Sacharuk wanted to return home and play again for the Blades, where in the next two seasons, he was one of the team's scoring leaders with 77 goals in 124 games, and total points of 171. In the 1971-72 season, he scored 50 goals finishing his junior career as the leading scorer on the Blades, and also the 10th leading goal scorer in the WCHL, tied with Medicine Hat's Lanny McDonald, who went on to a prolific NHL career.

Professional career

Sakaruk was drafted first in the 2nd round of the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft at #21 by the New York Rangers. At the time, the Rangers had the likes of established NHL veteran defencmen such as Brad Park, Rod Seiling, Jim Neilson Ron Harris and Dale Rolfe. In spite of his stellar junior year previously and his draft position, cracking the Rangers lineup for the '72-'73 season was a difficult proposition for Sacharuk. Ultimately, he was sent to the Rangers AHL affiliate, the Providence Reds to start the season. He spent 64 games with the Reds before the call-up to the Rangers, where he played 8 games and only managed one point, a goal. The following season, he was again sent to the Reds following an unsuccessful Rangers' training camp. He played 42 games for the Reds during the '73-'74 NHL campaign, and once again, due to injuries on the Rangers, he was called up to play the remaining 23 games of the season. With virtually no change in defensive personnel on the Rangers from the previous season, Sacharuk struggled with ice time and his offensive role as a top point getter. As a result, he only managed 6 points in 23 NHL games, with 2 of them goals. Disillusioned over the lack of offensive production by Sacharuk, on August 29, 1974 the New York Rangers Management traded Sacharuk along with the Ranger's number #1 draft pick to the St. Louis Blues for their 1977 #1 draft pick.

While with the St. Louis Blues, during the 1974-75 NHL season, Sacharuk picked up the pace as an offensive-minded defenceman and scored a respectable 20 goals and 22 assists over the course of 76 games. However, over the summer of 1975, the Blues, which had several top NHL defensmen including the Plager brothers, Bob and Barclay, along with the bruisers Bob Hess and Bob Gassoff shoring up their defensive ranks, traded Sacharuk back to the Rangers. This was an unusual move as some one describe as a "head scratcher" as Sacharuk had a stellar season, the best campaign he had put forth in the big leagues. He was the only defenceman on the Blues to score 20 goals, as the other 12 defencemen on the roster had a combined total of 21 goals. He also ended the season as the 5th highest goal scorer on the Blues roster for the season. The Blues received winger Bob MacMillan in return from the Rangers. Back in New York for the 1975-76 season, Sacharuk's point production again was on the decline. He managed only 13 points in 42 games, and sat out almost half the season due to injury. The following season, he started with the Ranger's AHL affiliate, the New Haven Nighthawks and put up some respectable numbers in the minors with 54 points including 23 goals in 55 regular season games. The Rangers called him up for only two games in the '76-'77 season and he registered no points in his NHL outings.

For the 1977-78 season, Sacharuk did not make the Rangers' squad and was sent back down to the AHL's Nighthawks, where he toiled for the entire season and played 72 games. Again in the AHL ranks, he was back to his offensive game and as a defenseman and he registered a solid 56 points, including 19 goals. During the summer of 1978, his contract was not renewed by the Rangers, and he took an offer from the World Hockey Association Indianapolis Racers which had a superstar on their roster by the name of Wayne Gretzky. Sacharuk managed only 15 games due to injury with the Racers, putting up 11 total points. The following year, the World Hockey Association folded, so as a free agent, Sacharuk signed with the AHL's Birmingham Bulls where he played 80 games, notching 40 points.

In the 1980 season, he was not offered a contract with any NHL team and the WHA had folded. As a result he decided to play in Europe and signed on to play with Austria's national team where he played 34 games and managed 35 goals as a player who was over-skilled in a league which did not have many players with NHL experience. The following season in 1981-82 he played with Stadlau in the Austrian Elite league, which was followed by his retirement from hockey. Sacharuk remained in retirement for the next 6 years until 1988 when Birmingham, of the British Hockey League enticed him to play for them. He managed 2 games with the team, before he decided to retire once and for all.

Record

Sacharuk was noted for one of the hardest shots in hockey, with a clocked speed of 118 mph for his slap-shot. In the WCHL 1971-72 season, he scored 50 goals in 65 games as a defenceman, and still holds this record in any league of major junior or professional hockey. He scored these 50 goals in while playing with the major junior team the Saskatoon Blades. This feat has not been repeated.

He is the current head coach of the Serie A team Sport Ghiaccio Pontebba.

External links

• Larry Sacharuk career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database