Not a Real Hockey Fan If You "Canuck" Appreciate This 31 Year Old Relic!

**IrbeFan4Life** · 10-27-2016, 12:53 PM

Helloeveryone, I'm back again with the newest piece in my good old hoard of goodies.

Solet us begin! This goaltender was born on August 1, 1963 in Halifax, NovaScotia. His name...Wendell Young. Transitioning from the Nova Scotia Junior HockeyLeague to the OHA/OHL, he became a bonified starting goaltender of the juniorleagues. He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks 73rd overall as a 17 year oldunderage draftee back in 1981 after his first season in the OHA with theKitchener Rangers. He played two additional seasons with Kitchener beforetransitioning to the pros with the Fredericton Express of the AHL, the SaltLake Golden Eagles of the CHL and the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL all in1983-84. A busy year! The next season, he remained exclusively in the AHL. In1985-86, Wendell started the year and played 24 games in the AHL, however, likeall stories within the hallowed halls of my museum, the opportunity came. OnDecember 17, 1985 the young and now full time back-up goaltender to"King" Richard Brodeur made his NHL debut against the WashingtonCapitals and stopped 24 of 28 shots in a 4-4 tie. From that point on in theseason, he never looked back. That rookie season, Wendell Young appeared in 22games for the Canucks and recorded a 4-9-3 record with a 3.58GAA and a 0.886%save average, not unusual numbers for that era. The following year, he waslimited to 8 games with the Canucks and instead spent the majority of the yearin the minors. Young was then traded to Philadelphia in 1987-88 and appeared insix games for them, again spending the majority of the year in the minors. Thefollowing season, he was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins and there heremained for the next four seasons. Forming a triumverate with Tom Barrasso,and Frank Pietrangelo, Wendell Young was immortalized as a Stanley Cup winnerwith the team in 1991 and 1992. He also appeared in 101 regular season gameswith the Penguins during that four year stretch. In 1992-93, Wendell Young wasacquired by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the expansion draft. In 31 games withthem, he recorded a 7-19-2 record, one of the statistically weakest years ofhis career. He appeared in nine additional games in 1993-94 with them beforebeing reacquired by the Penguins in 1994-95. He played the final ten uneventfulgames of his NHL career with them before playing as starter goaltender for theChicago Wolves of the IHL from 1994/95-2000/01. He is currently a GM in theAHL.

Inhis career, Wendell Young appeared in 187 NHL games, recording a 59-86-12record with two shutouts, 10 assists, a 3.94GAA, and a 0.876% save average. Healso appeared in two playoff games, recording an 0-1 record with one assist, a3.64GAA and a 0.860% save average. To top it off, he is the only player in allof hockey's history to have won the Memorial Cup in Juniors, the Calder Cup inthe AHL, the Turner Cup in the IHL, and the Stanley Cup as well.

Thepiece you are looking at right now is a rookie year worn 1985-86 VancouverCanucks road jersey used by Wendell Young, possibly in up to 11 games,including his first NHL win and his playoff debut against Edmonton. The jerseyhas tremendous wear for its black color, has a removed nameplate where you canstill make out the name that was on the back, and it also features thedesirable "City of the Century" patch. Also visible is the outline ofwhere the "Expo" patch was affixed on the chest of the jersey back inthe day. A real stunning piece.

Acquiredfrom: Rick Schukay

Datesof Game Use:
December21, 1985 v Kings (28-30, 6-2W)
January9, 1986 v Flames (26-31, 5-4OTL)
February12, 1986 v Rangers (45-50, 5-2L)
February15, 1986 v Penguins (5-7, 9-4L)
March1, 1986 v Flames (40-43, 3-2L)
March11, 1986 v Nordiques (31-32, 1-1T)
March15, 1986 v Bruins (42-43, 1-1T)
March24, 1986 v Jets (17-18, 8-4L)
April1, 1986 v Flames (5-6, 6-5L)
April2, 1986 v Oilers (28-36, 8-4L)
April10, 1986 v Oilers (27-32, 5-1L)

Photomatched:Referenced only at the moment. More research to be conducted.