The B.C. Sports Hall of Fame unveiled its newest induction class, and Burnaby's Cliff Ronning is front and centre.
The former NHL star is among a group that includes five athletes, three builders and the 1991 Canadian men’s national rugby team.
Ronning, who spent two seasons with the New Westminster Bruins prior to being drafted by St. Louis, played 1,236 games in the NHL over 18 seasons and tallied 955 points, including 335 goals.
He was part of the Vancouver Canucks’ 1994 run to the Stanley Cup finals.
His junior career began with the New West Royals of the B.C. Junior Hockey League, where as a 16-year-old he finished second in league scoring with 82 goals and 68 assists over 52 games.
Making the jump to major junior, the five-foot-six centre captured the WHL’s Rookie of the Year award in 1983/84 by posting 69 goals and 67 assists for the New West Bruins. He followed that with a league scoring title in 1984/85, counting 89 goals and 108 assists over 70 games. His 197 points that season still stands as the second-best ever total.
Being inducted in the builder-coach category is New Westminster’s sports medicine/physiotherapist Alex McKechnie, a cofounder of the Fortius Institute and Burnaby-based Fortius Sport and Health Centre.
Also being inducted as athletes are para-alpine skier Josh Dueck, baseball’s Ryan Dempster, football’s Glen Jackson and skier Marielle Thompson, while Tom Johnson and Rob Schick enter in the builders/coaches category.
The list of honourees also include: Tony Gallagher, in the media category; the 1900-18 Rossland Ladies Ice Hockey team, in the pioneer category; and Alex Nelson, as the W.A.C. Bennett Award winner.
The 52nd induction class will be formally added to the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame on May 31, 2018.
