Bernard Allan Federko (born May 12, 1956) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre who played fourteen seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

from

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

through

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Playing career

Federko began playing hockey at a young age in his home town of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan. He was captain of the 1971 Bantam provincial champions. He also played Senior hockey with the local Foam Lake Flyers of the Fishing Lake Hockey League, winning the league scoring title as a bantam-aged player. Federko continued his career with the

Saskatoon Blades The Saskatoon Blades are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Founded in 1964, the Blades were a charter team of the then-Western Canada Junior Hockey League in 1966, and are the only club that has played ev ...

of the WHL where he set and still holds the team record for assists. He played three seasons with the Blades, and in his final year with the club he led the league in assists and points in both the regular season ''and'' playoffs. Federko was drafted 7th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. He started the next season with the Kansas City Blues of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

and was leading the league in points when he was called up mid-season to play 31 games with St. Louis. He scored three hat tricks in those 31 games. In the 1978–79 NHL season, Federko developed into a bona fide star, as he scored 95 points. Federko scored 100 points in a season four times, and was a consistent and underrated performer for the Blues. Federko scored at least 90 points in seven of the eight seasons between 1978 and 1986, and became the first player in NHL history to record at least 50 assists in 10 consecutive seasons. However, in an era when

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

was scoring 200 points a season, Federko never got the attention many felt he deserved. In 1986, in a poll conducted by GOAL magazine, he was named the most overlooked talent in hockey. His

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Ron Caron said he was "A great playmaker. He makes the average or above average player look like a star at times. He's such an unselfish player." On March 19, 1988, Federko became the 22nd NHL player to record 1000 career points. After he had a poor season as a captain in 1988–89, he was traded to the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

with Tony McKegney for future Blues star Adam Oates, and Paul MacLean. In Detroit, Federko re-united with former Blues head coach Jacques Demers, but he had to play behind Steve Yzerman and did not get his desired ice time. After his lowest point output since his rookie season, Federko decided to retire after the 1989–90 season, having played exactly 1,000 NHL games with his final game on April 1, 1990.

Post-NHL career

Less than a year after retiring as a player, the Blues retired number 24 in his honour on March 16, 1991. Federko was eventually inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 2002, the first Hall of Famer to earn his credentials primarily as a Blue. Currently, Federko is a television colour commentator and studio analyst for Bally Sports Midwest during Blues broadcasts. He was the head coach/general manager of the St. Louis Vipers

roller hockey Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 cou ...

team of the

Roller Hockey International Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey. History League president Dennis Murphy had been involved in ...

for the 1993 and 1994 seasons.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards

* Bob Brownridge Memorial Trophy (WCHL leading scorer) - 1976 *Named to the WCHL First All-Star Team (1976) *Named WCHL MVP (1976) *Named to the CHL Second All-Star Team (1977) *Won Ken McKenzie Trophy as CHL Rookie of the Year (1977) *Played in the NHL All-Star Game (1980, 1981) *Named NHL Player of the Week (For week ending December 3, 1984)

Records

* St. Louis Blues team record for career games played (927) * St. Louis Blues team record for career assists (721) * St. Louis Blues team record for career points (1073) * Shares St. Louis Blues team record for assists in one game (5 on February 27, 1988) * St. Louis Blues team record for career playoff assists (66) * First NHL player to get 50 assists in 10 consecutive seasons.

References

Citations

General references

External links

*
St. Louis Blues Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Federko, Bernie 1956 births Living people Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Detroit Red Wings players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Edmonton Oilers (WHA) draft picks Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Kansas City Blues (ice hockey) players National Hockey League broadcasters NHL first-round draft picks National Hockey League players with retired numbers Saskatoon Blades players St. Louis Blues announcers St. Louis Blues draft picks St. Louis Blues players World Hockey Association first round draft picks 20th-century Canadian sportsmen