Hurricanes Broncos Hall of Fame

John Chapman & Brian Sutter
rLethbridge, AB – As the Lethbridge Hurricanes prepare to battle the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday night at the ENMAX, the organization is also busily preparing for what should be a gala event as the Hurricanes/Broncos Alumni committee will be making their inductions to the Hurricanes Broncos Hall of Fame. In preparation for Friday night’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony; the Alumni committee would like to take this opportunity to familiarize and re-familiarize the Lethbridge public with some of their old time hockey heroes. This three part series of profiles begins today with the second eldest of the Sutter brothers and a true junior hockey ambassador.
r
rBrian Sutter, is the second oldest of the Sutter brothers and the first to play his junior hockey in Lethbridge. During his career with the Broncos he amassed 173 points and 70 goals in 125 games before being drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. Brian would play his entire career in St. Louis where he would be named captain and totaled 636 points and 1786 penalty minutes in 779 NHL games. He went on to coach four separate NHL teams in St. Louis, Boston, Calgary and Chicago over a span of 13 seasons and was the recipient of the Jack Adams award for the NHL’s best coach in 1990-91.
r
rJohn “Chappy” Chapman, was the Head Coach of the Lethbridge Broncos from 1980 – 1986, during that time he posted a career winning percentage of 0.563 and over 200 wins. His best regular season record came as coach of the ’81-’82 Lethbridge Broncos who notched 50 wins and 100 points. The next year, he guided the Broncos to a 15-5 record in the playoffs en route to a berth in the Memorial Cup. “Chappy” was known as a hard nosed, competitive and flamboyant coach who coached three of the Sutters during his time in Lethbridge; Ron, Rich and Brent.
r
rFriday’s special Hurricanes Broncos Hall of Fame Induction ceremony is set to kick off at 7:00 PM prior to the Canes key divisional match up with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Be sure to get to the rink early so as not to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Office, the Yates Theatre Centre, by calling (403) 329-SEAT or online at: www.lethbridgehurricanes.com
r
r