3 OHL Sudbury Wolves Retired Numbers

The Ontario Hockey League franchise now known as the Sudbury Wolves has been firmly planted in that northern Ontario city since the 1972-73 season. The franchise began as the Barrie Flyers in 1945 and moved to Niagara Falls to become the Niagara Falls Flyers in 1960.

Since moving to Sudbury, the team has been to the Robertson Cup final just twice and has yet to win an OHL championship. Probably the best year in Wolves history came in 1975-76. The team went first overall, winning the Hamilton Spectator Trophy and reaching the Robertson Cup final before losing to eventual Memorial Cup champions the Hamilton Fincups.

The Sudbury Wolves have retired just three jersey numbers between 1972 and the present. All three played on that Wolves team from 1975-76. All three continued throughout their careers in the National Hockey League with two of the three playing over 1,000 NHL games.

Randy Carlyle dressed number 6 during his three years with Sudbury. The defender played with the Wolves from 1973-74 to 1975-76. In that final season, he had 79 points from the blue line in 60 regular-season games.

The Toronto Maple Leafs liked what they saw and selected Carlyle in the second round of the 1976 NHL amateur draft. Randy played 1,055 NHL regular-season games between 1976-77 and 1992-93 with the Maple Leafs, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Winnipeg Jets. In 1980-81, as a member of the Penguins, Carlyle received the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman.

Randy pretty much jumped right into a coaching career after retiring as a player. He won a Stanley Cup as head coach of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and is currently the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As Carlyle looked at the blue line, number 10 ron duguay I was offending In 1975-76, Duguay had 134 points with 42 goals and 92 assists in 61 games. Ron’s 92 assists were mostly assists on Rod Schutt’s 72 goals. Both the 92 assists and 72 goals stand today as team single-season records. The puzzling thing is that Sudbury hasn’t retired Schutt’s number either.

Ron Duguay played four years with Sudbury from 1973-74 to 1976-77. After his final season, the New York Rangers selected him 13th overall in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft. Duguay played nearly 900 NHL regular-season games between 1977-78 and 1988-89 with the Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings.

Number 17 Mike Foligno he was in his rookie season with Sudbury in 1975-76, but was still a major contributor to the team’s success. Foligno played four years with Wolves from 1975-76 to 1978-79 and captained the team in his final season. In 1978-79, Mike scored 65 goals and assisted on 85 for 150 points. The point total stands today as a Sudbury Wolves single-season team record.

Mike was the third overall pick in the 1979 NHL draft, going to the Detroit Red Wings. Foligno was drafted behind only Rob Ramage and Perry Turnbull and surpassed Hockey Hall of Famers Mike Gartner, Ray Bourque and Mark Messier. Mike played just over 1,000 NHL regular season games between 1979-80 and 1993-94 with the Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Florida Panthers.

Foligno returned to Sudbury for the 2003-04 OHL season and remained as General Manager and Head Coach for seven seasons. In 2006-07, he led Wolves to their second Robertson Cup final appearance. This time, it was the Plymouth Whalers who denied Sudbury a trip to the Memorial Cup.

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