#39 - Dennis Sobchuk: Junior Hockey Icon to WHA Superstar

Dennis “Super Sobby” Sobchuk was a dynamic junior hockey star, who went on to achieve success in the World Hockey Association.

Sobby is still a hockey legend in Regina Saskatchewan, where he starred with the junior Pats in the early 1970s. He played 200 games from 1971 to 1974, registering 191 goals and 225 assists.  On a team that included the likes of Clark Gillies and Gregg Joly, he  was named the most valuable player of the 1974 Memorial Cup. He later had his number #14 retired and in 2018 he and Guy Lafleur were chosen as honorary captains of the MasterCard 100th edition of the Memorial Cup event.

 His junior career was so impressive that he became the first player to sign with a professional hockey team before leaving major-junior hockey. Dennis signed a 10-year, $1-million contract with the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers in 1973. He played the 1973-74 season with the Pats and was loaned to the Phoenix Roadrunners for the 1974-75 season because the Stingers didn't have an arena in which to play.

Dennis was the centerpiece of the Stingers franchise, notching 44 goals and 96 points in 1976-77 while earning a spot in the 1977 WHA All Star Game.

Three major shoulder injuries would curtail his career, but did not diminish his legend.  After playing in the 1979 Avco Cup finals with Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers, Dennis has a brief NHL stint in Detroit before retiring in 1982.

You’ll enjoy Dennis’ recollections of a colorful and unforgettable ride in a career that could only have happened in the 1970s.

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Mark Willand

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