Clifford John Ronning (born October 1, 1965) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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 ...

forward. He was selected by the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

in the seventh round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 134th overall. During a

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 ...

(NHL) career that spanned 18 years, Ronning played for the Blues,

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

and

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

Playing career

Ronning played minor hockey in Burnaby. He led his midget team to the 1982 Air Canada Cup, where they won the gold medal. Ronning was named Most Valuable player and led the tournament in scoring. Prior to being drafted, he played in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

for the

New Westminster Bruins The New Westminster Bruins were a Junior ice hockey#Major junior, major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. There were two franchises that carried this name: * 1971–1981 (formerly the Estevan Bruins, now the Kamloops Blazers) * ...

, displaying the same excellent scoring touch. In 1983–84, Ronning's draft year, he posted 136 points in 71 games, earning the Stewart "Butch" Paul Memorial Trophy as the league's rookie of the year. Due to his small stature (Ronning was 5'8"), he was not drafted until the seventh round, when the

picked him 134th overall. The next season, he returned to New Westminster and accumulated an astonishing 197 points, establishing a WHL record (he was later surpassed by Rob Brown's 212-point season in 1986–87). Accordingly, Ronning earned the WHL Most Valuable Player Award and the Bob Brownridge Memorial Trophy as the league's leading scorer. Recording just 20 penalty minutes, he was also named the Most Sportsmanlike Player. After Ronning's record setting season, he joined the Canadian National Team, with whom he played for one and a half seasons. During this stint, Ronning made his first appearance in the NHL with the Blues, playing five games in the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Ronning began the next season with the National Team again before joining the Blues for the remainder of 1986–87. Ronning did not, however, find his full stride in St. Louis. He spent part of 1988–89 with the Blues' International Hockey League affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, and played the entirety of the following season in Italy with HC Asiago. When he returned to the Blues in 1990–91, he was traded to his hometown team, the

, along with Geoff Courtnall, Robert Dirk,

Sergio Momesso Sergio Francesco Momesso (born September 4, 1965) is an Italian-Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1983 and 1997. Playing career Momesso played his junior hockey for t ...

, and a fifth-round draft pick ( Brian Loney) in exchange for Garth Butcher and Dan Quinn. Ronning quickly became a key element on the rapidly improving Canucks. In 1992–93, he posted a career-high 29 goals and 85 points. On April 15, 1993, in a game against the

, he nearly tied

Bryan Trottier Bryan John Trottier (born July 17, 1956) is a Canadian and American former professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won four Stanley Cups with ...

's record for most points in a single period, notching 3 goals and 2 assists in the third (Trottier had six). The following season, Ronning helped the Canucks on their run to the

1994 Stanley Cup Finals The 1994 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers a ...

, which they lost in seven games to the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

. He played the seventh game with a broken hand. Spending another two seasons in Vancouver, Ronning became a free agent after the 1995–96 season and signed with the

for their first season after moving from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

. Following just over two seasons in Phoenix, Ronning was dealt with Richard Lintner to the

for future considerations. As he joined the Predators in their expansion year, he took on a leadership role with the fledgling Predators, who finished second-to-last in their first NHL season. In all four seasons with the Predators, Ronning led the team in scoring, twice exceeding 60 points. He played an important role in mentoring young players, such as

David Legwand David A. Legwand (born August 17, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the first player ever drafted by the Nashville Predators, with whom he spent 12 full ...

. At the 2001–02 trade deadline, the Predators sent Ronning to the Los Angeles Kings, who expected him to help them in the playoffs. In the off-season, he was traded from Los Angeles to yet another recent expansion team, the

in their third year. Ronning was a veteran presence and still an able scorer, recording 48 points, as the Wild reached the Western Conference Finals before being swept by the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: Businesses *Mighty Audio, an American company known for its product ''Mighty'', a portable audio player *Mighty Animation, an animation studio based in Guadalajara, Mexico Films *''The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy–drama * ''The ...

. In 2003–04, Ronning signed with the

, mostly playing as a powerplay specialist, recording 24 points in 40 games played. As the

NHL lockout The NHL lockout may refer to any of the four industrial disputes in the history of the National Hockey League: * The 1992 NHL strike, which postponed 30 games of the 1991–92 season * The 1994–95 NHL lockout, which cancelled many of the gam ...

suspended play, Ronning was inactive the following season. When the NHL resumed, Ronning announced his decision to retire on February 15, 2006. Cliff Ronning was involved in two of the most notable games of Patrick Roy's career. He played against Roy in the 1982 Air Canada Cup

midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a Medical terminology, medical term like ''dwarf'' (for a person with d ...

tournament. Ronning's team beat Roy's Sainte-Foy Gouverneurs, and it was the last game of Roy's midget career. On April 22, 2003, Ronning played for the Minnesota Wild, and played in Roy's final NHL playoff game.

Awards and achievements

* Air Canada Cup Most Valuable Player -

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

BCJHL The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is an independent Canadian Junior ice hockey league with 21 teams in British Columbia and Alberta. It was classified as a Junior "A" league within the Hockey Canada framework, until it became independe ...

Coastal Division First All-Star Team - 1983 * WHL Rookie of the Year -

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

* WHL West Second All-Star Team – 1984 *WHL West First All-Star Team -

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

* WHL Most Valuable Player - 1985 * Bob Brownridge Memorial Trophy (WHL leading scorer) - 1985 * WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player - 1985

Records

* WHL league record; most points in a season - 197 in 1984–85 (surpassed by Rob Brown; 212 points in 1986–87)

Personal life

Ronning and his wife, Ivana have four children; three daughters Taryn, Kristin and Carly and one son, Ty. Ronning returned to live in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

after his retirement. He plays with the Old-timers' Hockey Challenge and coaches a spring hockey team, the Vancouver Selects. Ronning has participated in the research and development of a better hockey stick. In 2009, Cliff Ronning and Ron Kunisaki formed BASE Hockey Labs. President and Co-Founder Ron Kunisaki founded Innovative Hockey, Inc. in 1993 and built the industry's largest high-performance OEM supplier before selling to Warrior Hockey in 2005. Vice-President and Co-Founder Cliff Ronning heads up Base Hockey's Shooting Analysis and Custom Fitting protocol in Burnaby, British Columbia. His son Ty was drafted by the

in the seventh round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and as of 2024 plays as a forward for the

Eisbären Berlin The Eisbären Berlin (; English: ''Berlin Polar Bears'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey, and is also ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Transactions

*June 9, 1984 - Drafted in the 7th round, 134th overall, by the

*March 5, 1991 - Traded by St. Louis with Geoff Courtnall, Robert Dirk,

and a 5th round draft pick ( Brian Loney) to the

in exchange for Garth Butcher and Dan Quinn *July 1, 1996 - Signs with the

as a free agent *October 31, 1998- Traded by Phoenix with Richard Lintner to the

for future considerations *March 16, 2002 - Traded by Nashville to the

for Jere Karalahti and a 4th round draft pick (Teemu Lassila) *June 22, 2002 - Traded by Los Angeles to the

in exchange for a 4th round draft pick (Aaron Rome) *January 9, 2004 - Signs with the

as a free agent *February 15, 2006 - Announces his retirement

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ronning, Cliff 1965 births Living people Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian people of Norwegian descent Asiago Hockey 1935 players Los Angeles Kings players Minnesota Wild players Nashville Predators players New Westminster Bruins players New Westminster Royals (BCHL) players New York Islanders players Peoria Rivermen (IHL) players Phoenix Coyotes players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States St. Louis Blues draft picks St. Louis Blues players Ice hockey people from Burnaby Vancouver Canucks players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen