Bernie Federko

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.

Bernie Federko
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2002
Federko in 1981
Born (1956-05-12) May 12, 1956
Foam Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada
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

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 with his final game on April 1, 1990.[1]

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, the first Hall of Famer to earn his credentials primarily as a Blue.

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)
  • Held St. Louis Blues team record for points in one playoff year (21 in 1986); Until Ryan O'Reilly in 2019 with 23 (Won Conn Smythe & Stanley Cup)
  • Held St. Louis Blues team record for assists in one playoff year (15 in 1982); Until Alex Pietrangelo in 2019 with 16 (Won Stanley Cup)
    • 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 72 115 187 106 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 — — — — —
NHL totals 1000 369 761 1130 487 91 35 66 101 83

See also

References

Citations
  1. "Detroit Red Wings at Philadelphia Flyers Box Score — April 1, 1990". Hockey Reference. Retrieved 14 April 2020.

General references
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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