40 jours avant la soirée d’ouverture : Rick Blight (40e meilleur buteur de tous les temps)
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40 jours avant la soirée d’ouverture : Rick Blight (40e meilleur buteur de tous les temps)
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40. Rick Blight — 324GP | 96G | 125A | 221P | 1976-1981
Rick Blight was a Right Winger from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. He grew up playing Junior hockey for the local Portage team & the Brandon Wheat Kings. After a 112-point season with the Wheat Kings, Blight was selected 10th overall in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft.
Blight stepped into the NHL right away at 20-years old. He put up 56-points in his rookie season and was the team’s best rookie. Blight had two more solid seasons with the Canucks putting up a team high 68-points in 1976-77 and 63-points in 1977-78.
Across the next three seasons, Blight only had 34-points in 92-games with the Canucks. Knee injuries started to derail his career and he was missing significant time.
After being left unsigned by Vancouver, Blight played hockey in the CHL with Cincinati & Wichita
In 1982, he was signed as a UFA by the Oilers, but he never played for them. Six weeks after signing with the Oilers he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, but Blight only played 2-games with LA. He mostly played in the AHL that year with Moncton & New Haven. Blight retired that season.
Post hockey, Blight returned to Manitoba and worked as a stockbroker and marketing consultant. He was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Blight’s story ended in tragedy as he was declared missing in April, 2005. Two weeks later, Blight was found dead in a field on a farm in his pickup truck near Lake Manitoba having taken his own life. He was 49.
He had a wicked shot. Probably the worst skater I have ever seen in the NHL. Looked like he was stomping through mud up and down the right wing.
Didn’t know he committed suicide. RIP
I went on a field trip in 1977 with my grade 2 class to a Canucks practice. Rick Blight talked to all of us, and when I told him my name was Rick as well, he gave me his stick. Cool guy. RIP.