Saturday, November 22, 2008

Top 17 Wendel Clark Moments - The Full List

This list was a lot of fun to put together. Thanks again to everyone who participated in the comments (120+ and counting), and for the various kind words there and elsewhere. It's good to know that there are still plenty of Leaf fans who remember the old days (and don't mind talking about them in ridiculous detail).

And for those new readers who found us through various links this week, welcome to the site. I hope you stick around. Don't forget to bookmark us or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Here's the final list:

#17 - Draft Day
#16 - Clark vs. Peluso
#15 - Belfour's five-hole
#14 - Clark vs. Marchment
#13 - The "All Heart" Video
#12 - Clark vs. Cujo
#11 - Clark vs. Neely
#10 - Debut as Captain
#9 - Clark vs. Chelios
#8 - Clark vs. Mackey (and others)
#7 - Clark vs. Fetisov
#6 - The Final Ovation
#5 - Clark vs. Probert
#4 - Welcome Home
#3 - Bruce Bell
#2 - Game Six
#1 - Clark vs. McSorley

And some honorable mentions I couldn't find room for, in no particular order:

  • The back-to-back hat tricks in 1994.
  • Clark singlehandedly wins gold for Canada at the WJC
  • Clark vs Behn Wilson
  • "Wendel Clark Appreciation Day" at Mel Lastman square (Aug. 23, 1994 -- proud to say I was there.)
  • Clark's final goal, the clincher to win the first Ottawa series (I was there for that one too)
  • Clark touches off the Flyers brawl that lead to Potvin/Hextall
  • The hit that destroyed a North Stars goalie behind the net (anyone remember who?)
  • The hit on Probert in the 1993 playoffs
  • The hit along the boards that turned around the Sharks series
  • Clark vs. MacTavish
  • The "good book, eh" commercial
  • Two goals in a game seven win against the Blues
  • Two goals in a game seven win against the Kings
  • Two goals in a game seven win against the Sharks
  • ... and many more I'm sure I'll think of later.
Now it's your turn. What did I miss? What did I get wrong? What moment should have been higher?




5 comments:

  1. Excellent work, throughout the whole series. This is the kind of thing that I wish I had the vision to put together on my own site. Extremely well done.

    For me, the only quarrel I would have with your list is the exclusion of Game 7 vs. the Kings in '93. It's the second-greatest game I ever saw a player have (in person) Wendel was a force of nature that night; keep in mind, that was only about 48 hours after the Game 6 in L.A, and Wendel's mojo was palpable. He roared around the ice like a one man wrecking crew that night and he lifted the level of play for the entire Leaf team. If Gretzky doesn't bank his third one in from behind the net off Davey Ellet's skate late in the 3rd, and the Leafs had gone on to win, there is no doubt in my mind that we would today be remembering this game as Wendel's finest ever.

    Great job on the list. It's going to be awful dusty around my place tonight; I'll be wearing my autographed #17 jersey and recording the moment for posterity.

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  2. Ohhhhh, 'good book eh' totally deserves it's own moment. I have tried many times to find it on YouTube, always unsuccessfully.

    The Chunky Soup one with Wendel shooting pucks through the boards at practice was also a classic.

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  3. I'm a lifelong Colorado Avalanche fan, but DGB, I think Wendel Clark just topped my list of favorite non-Av players.
    The fact that moment #1 wasn't a goal, or anything pretty, but simply a moment of pure leadership, helps me understand what he meant to you Leafs fans.
    I promise to be forgiving of unbearable Toronto fans in the future.

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  4. Wow! This is by far the best Wendel Collection I have ever had the priveledge of reading.

    Do you mind if I link to it from my site?

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  5. How about the time he coughed up the puck as he tried to split the D? Or the other time he coughed up the puck as he tried the split the D? Or that time he coughed up the puck when he paused for a second while considering trying to split the D? Or that time he coughed up the puck trying to split the D?

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