Bernie Federko

Bernie Federko
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2002
Federko in 1981
Born	(1956-05-12) May 12, 1956 Foam Lake, SK, CAN
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	St. Louis Blues Detroit Red Wings
NHL Draft	7th overall, 1976 St. Louis Blues
WHA Draft	6th overall, 1976 Edmonton Oilers
Playing career	1976–1990

Bernard Allan "Bernie" Federko (born May 12, 1956) is a retired professional ice hockey centre who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League from 1976 through 1990.

Playing career

Federko began playing hockey at a young age in his home town of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan. He was captain of the 1971 Bantam provincial champions. He also played Senior hockey with the local Foam Lake Flyers of the Fishing Lake Hockey League, winning the league scoring title as a bantam-aged player. Federko continued his career with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL where he set and still holds the team record for assists. He played three seasons with the Blades, and in his final year with the club he led the league in assists and points in both the regular season and playoffs. As a reward, Federko was drafted 7th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. He started the next season with the Kansas City Blues of the Central Hockey League and was leading the league in points when he was called up mid-season to play 31 games with St. Louis. He scored three hat tricks in those 31 games. In the 1978–79 NHL season, Federko developed into a bona fide star, as he scored 95 points.

Federko would score 100 points in a season four times, and was a consistent and underrated performer for the Blues. Federko scored at least 90 points in seven of the eight seasons between 1978 and 1986, and became the first player in NHL history to record at least 50 assists in 10 consecutive seasons. However, in an era when Wayne Gretzky was scoring 200 points a season, Federko never got the attention many felt he deserved. In 1986, in a poll conducted by GOAL magazine, he was named the most overlooked talent in hockey. His General Manager Ron Caron said he was "A great playmaker. He makes the average or above average player look like a star at times. He's such an unselfish player."

On March 19, 1988, Federko became the 22nd NHL player to record 1000 career points. After a poor season for Federko in 1988–89, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings with Tony McKegney for future Blues star Adam Oates, and Paul MacLean. In Detroit, Federko re-united with former Blues head coach Jacques Demers, but he had to play behind Steve Yzerman and did not get his desired ice time. After his lowest point output since his rookie season, Federko decided to retire after the 1989–90 season, having played exactly 1,000 NHL games.

Post-NHL career

Less than a year after retiring as a player, the Blues retired number 24 in his honor on March 16, 1992. Federko was eventually inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. Currently, Federko is a television color commentator for Fox Sports Midwest during Blues broadcasts.

Federko was the head coach/general manager of the St. Louis Vipers InLine team of the Roller Hockey International for the 1993 and 1994 seasons.

Awards

Named to the WCHL All-Star Team (1976)
Named WCHL MVP (1976)
Named to the CHL Second All-Star Team (1977)
Won Ken McKenzie Trophy as CHL Rookie of the Year (1977)
Played in the NHL All-Star Game (1980, 1981)
Named NHL Player of the Week (For week ending December 3, 1984)

Records

St. Louis Blues team record for career games played (927)
St. Louis Blues team record for career assists (721)
St. Louis Blues team record for career points (1073)
Shares St. Louis Blues team record for assists in one game (5 on February 27, 1988)
St. Louis Blues team record for career playoff assists (66)
St. Louis Blues team record for points in one playoff year (21 in 1986)
St. Louis Blues team record for assists in one playoff year (15 in 1982)

Career statistics

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1973–74	Saskatoon Blades	WCHL	68	22	28	50	19	6	0	0	0	2
1974–75	Saskatoon Blades	WCHL	66	39	68	107	30	17	15	7	22	8
1975–76	Saskatoon Blades	WCHL	72	72	115	187	108	20	18	27	45	8
1976–77	Kansas City Blues	CHL	42	30	39	69	41	—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	St. Louis Blues	NHL	31	14	9	23	15	4	1	1	2	2
1977–78	St. Louis Blues	NHL	72	17	24	41	27	—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	St. Louis Blues	NHL	74	31	64	95	14	—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	St. Louis Blues	NHL	79	38	56	94	24	3	1	0	1	2
1980–81	St. Louis Blues	NHL	78	31	73	104	47	11	8	10	18	2
1981–82	St. Louis Blues	NHL	74	30	62	92	70	10	3	15	18	10
1982–83	St. Louis Blues	NHL	75	24	60	84	24	4	2	3	5	0
1983–84	St. Louis Blues	NHL	79	41	66	107	43	11	4	4	8	10
1984–85	St. Louis Blues	NHL	76	30	73	103	27	3	0	2	2	4
1985–86	St. Louis Blues	NHL	80	34	68	102	34	19	7	14	21	17
1986–87	St. Louis Blues	NHL	64	20	52	72	32	6	3	3	6	18
1987–88	St. Louis Blues	NHL	79	20	69	89	52	10	2	6	8	18
1988–89	St. Louis Blues	NHL	66	22	45	67	54	10	4	8	12	0
1989–90	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	73	17	40	57	24	—	—	—	—	—
WCHL totals			206	133	211	344	157	43	33	34	67	18
NHL totals			1000	369	761	1130	487	91	35	66	101	83

References

Total Hockey (Second Edition), Editor - Dan Diamond, ISBN 1-892129-85-X

External links

Career statistics and player information from Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database
St. Louis Blues Website

Awards and achievements
Preceded by John Davidson	St. Louis Blues first round draft pick 1976	Succeeded by Scott Campbell
Preceded by Blair Chapman	Edmonton Oilers first round draft pick 1976	Succeeded by Mike Crombeen
Preceded by Brian Sutter	St. Louis Blues captain 1988–89	Succeeded by Rick Meagher

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