Local author recording history of Lethbridge Broncos

By Lethbridge Herald on July 6, 2022.

Herald photo by Al Beeber Author Mark Weninger works on the manuscript for his books on the Lethbridge Broncos in his westside home.

Al Beeber – Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Broncos are gone but thanks in part to a new book being written, the city’s first Western Hockey League team may never be forgotten.

Lethbridge resident Mark Weninger is in the finishing stages of writing a book about the history of the team which played here from 1974 until 1986. 

For his book, Weninger has interviewed numerous players and others associated with the team from the day it was brought here from Swift Current to begin play at the newly opened Canada Games Sportsplex.

More than 261 players wore Broncos colours when the team played here including Bryan Trottier, Lindy and Randy Ruff, Rick Gal, Warren Babe,  Ken Wregget, the Sutter brothers and so many others who captured the interest of hockey fans across southern Alberta.

Helping Weninger edit the book is retired Lethbridge Herald journalist and former sports editor Randy Jensen. He’s also had fellow hockey book writer Gord Hunter look at his manuscript as he writes it.

The book contains biographies of every Bronco player, season statistics and details that will be of interest to hardcore Broncos fans and hockey followers in general.

The book is 98 per cent finished and all proceeds after the cost of printing will be donated by Weninger to the Hockey Heroes charity.

Hockey Heroes is an organization aimed at empowering marginalized children both on and off the ice, teaching life skills through hockey. It offers “free programs to youth of all backgrounds from grade four through post-secondary,” says its website, heroshockey.com

Weninger is hoping to have the book printed in August so it’s ready for sale in September.

The Broncos, said Weninger in a recent interview, were first in the WHL for producing National Hockey League players with a total of 41 making It to the big league. That’s a whopping 15 per cent of the total for the club’s entire tenure here. In contrast, other junior clubs see about three to four per cent of players make it to the NHL.Ten kids of Broncos have also made the NHL, as well.

Eight Broncos coaches also went on to the NHL while four general managers made it to the big leagues. Trottier and Joe Sakic are the team’s two NHL Hall of Famers.

“It’s been a lot of fun reliving old memories,” said Weninger on his authorship journey.

Broncos still hold WHL records that stand today – for example, Good Williams scored six goals in one game in 1979 during a 14-0 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers.

One record, which isn’t acknowledged in the WHL record books  and one Weninger hopes to see added, is a five-goal performance by defenceman Randy Moller on March 7, 1982. The WHL credits Ron Greschner of the New West Bruins with four goals for the record.

“He should get credit and I hope they do change the record,” said Weninger who has among his possessions a photograph of a rookie Trottier holding three pucks after scoring a hat trick in his second career game with the New York Islanders.

Randy Ruff, he recalled, scored a WHL record of four goals in 52 seconds. When he returned to his billet at the home of the late Clint Dunford, he found a sign on his bedroom door saying “Rocket Richard.”

He said the fastest two goals in a WHL playoff game were scored by Ron Sutter in seven seconds  against the Portland Winterhawks.

Gord Williams is in second place with two goals in nine seconds in a 1979 game.

Weninger was looking for something to do when he decided to write the book and he’s always been fascinated with the team. He was 17 when the club came to the city and worked in a gas station owned by Earl Ingarfield and Dennis Kjeldgaard. The Broncos used to come in to buy gas and he got to know them, said the lifelong hockey fan.

He decided to put something together on the team, a project that started out small and then evolved.

“It’s been a wonderful ride, actually,” he said.

“I think I’ve got a very comprehensive history so I’m looking forward to publishing it come the fall,” said the author of the book which right now is over 300 pages long.

His book includes a thorough look at the team’s arrival and first year in the city. That chapter lays the groundwork for the rest of the book which includes a look at some of the different characters involved in the franchise and what became of them.

He scoured copies the Lethbridge Herald from 1974 until 1986 for information and acquired photos from the Galt Museum and Archives.

He also thought “wouldn’t it be kind of neat to talk to some of the old Broncos and just see what their memories were.” Weninger knows some from playing hockey with them and the other interviews evolved from there.

“The memory part, in my mind, is probably the best part because it’s interesting hearing peoples memories of their time with the Broncos” and their stories after they left, he said.

“There’s lots of good stories like Randy Moller – he’s a broadcaster with the Florida Panthers.” He also talked to John Chapman, whom he called wonderful to talk to.

Jensen, he said, has a lot of knowledge about the Broncos and was invaluable to him.

The team came to Lethbridge when Swift Current Broncos owner Bill Burton saw an opportunity to sell  after Lethbridge had built a new 5,000 seat arena to host the 1975 Canada Winter Games.

The Swift Current team was probably the smallest junior franchise in Canada at the time, said Weninger.

 In 1972 on March 13 during a game between the Lethbridge Sugar Kings and Edmonton Maple Leafs, the Lethbridge Arena on 12 St. A and 2 Ave. S. burned down so there wasn’t a suitable rink for junior hockey here anymore with that 1,800 seat facility gone.

However, Bob Bartlett, Andy Anderson and others made a pitch in the early 1970s to get the 1975 Canada Games here and that got the puck moving for a new team , recalled Weninger.

The Broncos came here in the spring of ’74 and the puck dropped on its first season here that fall.

Trottier, Weninger recalled, was probably the best junior hockey player in Canada the one year he played in Lethbridge 

Joe Sakic was a Bronco briefly but he was returned to his midget team as a 16-year-old before the start of the Broncos final season, Weninger recalled.

By the time the team left, it was in a rebuilding stage and wasn’t able to draw the kind of crowds needed to make money in an era of high inflation, Weninger said.  Swift Current was desperate to buy a team and had a community group ready to spend the money.

During the Broncos stint, they made it to the Memorial Cup once in 1983 but star goalie Wregget was injured in Game 5 of the WHL finals against Portland  when his skate caught a rut in the goalmouth and he sprained an ankle which ended his season.

“He was the No. 1 or No. 2 goalie in Canada,” said Weninger. The other top netminder was Mike Vernon of the Calgary Wranglers who the Broncos had just beaten to get into the WHL finals. Vernon turned down an invitation to join the Broncos in the Memorial Cup and instead joined the host Winterhawks which went onto to win the Cup. The Broncos  had to pick up another goalie who struggled, said Weninger.

That 1983 team had such players as Gal, Rich Sutter, Troy Loney, Marty Ruff, Darin Sceviour, Ivan Crook, Mark Tinordi and Brent Morrison.

That team was the best junior hockey team in Canada, Weninger believes.

Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter.

Comments are closed.