Longtime Barrie Colts coach named a top player on prestigious list

Dale Hawerchuk (CHL)

Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk has been recognized with a top honour.

The longtime Barrie Colts coach is officially one of the Canadian Hockey League’s (CHL) top 50 players of the last 50 years.

The list is an initiative to celebrate the CHL’s 50^th anniversary season.

Hawerchuk comes in at the number ten spot on the coveted list that pays tribute to the greatest hockey players in junior hockey since 1975-76.

The ranking of the top 50 was created using what the CHL calls a weighted formula that mixed media and fan voting, recognizing players from the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

Hawerchuk was born in Toronto and played in the NHL for 16 years. He was picked first overall in the 1981 draft by the Winnipeg Jets. He retired from the NHL in 1997 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

He was the Barrie Colts’ longest-serving coach, leading the team for nine seasons from 2010 to 2019.

Hawerchuk died at 57 in 2020 after a battle with stomach cancer.

The entrance road to the Paul Sadlon Arena in Barrie has since been named after him, called Dale Hawerchuk Way.