Wendel Clark's Biography

Wendel "Captain Crunch" Clark (#17 retired) was born October 25th, 1966 in Kelvington, Saskatchewan, Canada and played NHL hockey at left wing.
Wendel's last amateur club was Saskatoon (WHL) and was drafted 1st overall in the 1985 entry draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Clark was drafted as a defenseman, but was converted to a forward. In Clark's earlier days playing hockey in Saskatchewan, he used to play on "The Hound Line" which included Russ Courtnal and Gary Leeman. The line also played together on the Maple Leafs.

In 1985-86 Clark burst onto the NHL scene by scoring 34 goals and 45 points, along with 227 penalty
minutes in 66 games with Toronto as a rookie. Wendel was named as The Sporting News Rookie of the Year and finished second to Calgarys Gary Suter in the NHLs Calder Trophy voting for NHL Rookie of the Year. Clark played in the NHL All-Star Game.

Clarks high water mark came in 1993, when the Leafs lost the Conference Finals in seven games to the Los Angeles Kings. When Kings colossus Marty McSorley leveled Doug Gilmour, with what is still looked upon in Toronto as the most heinous elbow ever, Clark threw off his glives and engaged McSorley in a fight for the ages.

Clark also had many great fights against Bob Probert in the late 80's and early 90's. Sadly, Bob Probert passed away on July 5th on his boat, on Lake St. Clair.

In 1993-94, Clark recorded career-highs in goals (46), assists (30) and points (76) even though he only played in 64 games. Clark also added 9 goals and 7 assists in 18 playoff games.

Wendel retired June 29th, 2000 with the Maple Leafs, ending his career with 330 goals, 234 assists for 564 points in 793 games. He had a total of 1,690 penalty minutes in his career.

Upon his retirement, Wendel Clark joined Darryl Sittler as a Toronto Maple Leafs Community Representative,
meeting fans and team partners in the fields of marketing, community and alumni relations. Wendel is also a member of the Maple Leafs Alumni.

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