Bernie Federko

Bernie Federko
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2002
Federko in 1981
Born	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 Canadian retired professional ice hockey centre of Ukrainian ancestry 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 scored 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, 1991. 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 roller hockey 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)
  • NHL Record

- First player to get 50 assists in 10 consecutive seasons in nhl history.

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

See also

• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played
• List of NHL players with 100-point seasons
• Hockey Hall of Fame
• List of NHL statistical leaders

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