Wendell Young, Mr. Perfect

There is no doubt that the Hershey Bears, currently in the midst of their 75^th anniversary season, and about to embark on their adventure for another Calder Cup title, are considered the model franchise in the American Hockey League. During the course of their 75 campaigns, the club has not only been a perennial success at the box office, but they have also captured the Calder Cup 11 times, nurtured hundreds of players on their way to the National Hockey League, and also served as a stepping stone for numerous coaches and executives on their way to the NHL.

Through all of those years, there has only been one goalie who led the club to the league title in “perfect” fashion, Wendell Young, who went 12-0 in the Bears’ sweep in the 1988 Calder Cup Playoffs and now serves as the General Manager of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.  Although the Wolves failed to qualify for this year’s post-season festivities, this season, Young reached into Hershey’s rich history, both recent and long ago, in his quest to bring the Calder Cup to the Windy City.

Young, a fourth round pick by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, a draft that saw the Philadelphia Flyers, then the Bears’ NHL affiliate select defensemen Steve Smith, a teammate on the ‘88 championship club with their first round choice. After spending his first four pro seasons with the Canucks organization patrolling the pipes in 113 contests for various Canucks’ farm clubs, in addition to thirty outings with the big club, Young was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers’ organization in the summer of 1987. In that deal, the Flyers dealt former Bears’ defenseman Daryl Stanley and goaltender Darren Jensen to the Canucks in exchange for Young and a 3^rd round draft pick in 1990 which turned out to be Kimbi Daniels who also spent some time in Chocolatetown during his career.

“Actually, I was quite surprised to get traded out of the organization. I guess after four years they had enough of me,” chuckled Young. “The situation with Philly was that Hextall got suspended in the playoffs the year before and they needed a goalie, actually two goalies, and Mark “Trees” Laforest and I ended up coming in because of that.”

Young’s tenure in the Flyers’ organization lasted only one season during which he spent six games with the “Boys from Broad Street”, but he spent the majority of his time that season with the Bears and appeared in 51 games, notching 33 wins in the regular season.

“As that season went on you could tell things were starting to look good, and we were turning the corner. We had a solid team talent-wise, but I think more importantly we were a very tight team who hung out a lot together.  We had a great dressing room with a lot of good leaders in it. That’s when you start realizing that you might be on to something special, when you end up winning the big games, because in those types of games, character really plays out.”

In the playoffs that season, the Bears and Young displayed their mettle and finished off their perfect 12-0 post season with a four-game sweep in the Calder Cup Finals at the expense of the Canucks’ top farm club, the Fredericton Express, in Fredericton no less, providing Young with a sense of vindication.

“Absolutely”, said Young without hesitation when asked if that championship meant more to him since it came immediately against the organization that gave up on him. “When players say it doesn’t mean anything to them, I don’t think they are being totally honest. When you leave an organization, you feel that they don’t want you, but the organization that you go to does. In so many words, I think people defend their honor by coming back to haunt people (in the old organization)” he laughed. “Also, I’m from the East Coast of Canada, and I had a lot of family and friends at the games in Fredericton, too, so it was great that a lot of people that I knew got a chance to see us achieve what we did live.”

During this season, Young’s Wolves had a distinct Hershey flavor as evidenced by the fact that three ex-Bears-Steve Pinizzotto, Zach Miskovic, and Andrew Gordon-all spent part of the season with his club.

“I should have Doug Yingst on retainer,” said Young responding to the sprinkling of Hershey players employed by his club this season. “It’s funny because before now I really didn’t realize we have had three guys on our team from Hershey this season. When we got out and look for guys, we obviously look for guys from winning organizations, and that’s just what these guys are. Andrew Gordon, you’ve got the great character that he brings; Zach, you had his talent level, but I think he was also kind of under the radar as far as a defenseman and Pinizzotto, every time I saw a game he played in, he’d be the guy I’d walk away noticing because of the way he plays the game.  He’s so intense. All three of them have been such pleasant guys to have on the team, especially from a GM standpoint of character off the ice, but they also they bring a lot to the team on the ice as well.”

“We don’t really rebuild here; we just try to win.  That’s what happens in Hershey.  Our organizations are a lot alike.  We have a lot of parallels with the older, quality guys.  We try to win every year.  Some teams are just trying to survive, and some teams are just trying to develop, but I think we try to develop and win at the same time.”

On the management side, the Wolves also have a strong Chocolate and White flavor.  Former Bears’ coach Mike Foligno is the assistant coach and former Bear Gene Ubriaco is the Wolves’ Senior Advisor/Director of Hockey Operations, and Young’s right hand man.

“I think we’ve been a big help to each other,” Young said of Ubriaco. “He’s the one who really pushed for me to be the GM here. I call him my godfather.  When he was coaching in Pittsburgh, he brought me in there, and then when was in the Tampa organization, he brought me in there in the expansion draft. I also played for him in Atlanta and during the 1994-95 NHL lockout, he was here as the coach and assistant GM and they needed a goalie, so he called up Tony Esposito and brought me in here. We’ve had a long relationship and we’ve always gotten along really well. He’s my senior consultant and has been a massive help to me because of his outstanding knowledge of the game, the players and the way that the game runs from a business perspective. I’ve leaned on him a lot, and that’s the reason he’s a senior and I’m a junior.”

“When Scott Arniel was hired as the head coach and we were going over candidates for the assistant’s job, we were shocked that Mike was available,” said Young of Foligno. “Mike wasn’t so sure (he wanted the job) because he was looking for an NHL job. But when Scott approached him, he said that he would be absolutely interested in coming here. He understands the game so well, both from his extensive experience in the game from a player’s standpoint as well as from a coaching standpoint.  He’s also a great guy to have around.  He’s what we call a guy’s guy. He’s and upbeat guy who is really good with the players, and wants what’s best for them and I think that’s what impressed us most about Mike. He does it in such a great way.”

Although he has yet to win a championship as the Wolves’ GM, Young is the only player in the history of professional to hockey to win the Memorial Cup (junior hockey), Calder Cup, Turner Cup (twice) and Stanley Cup (twice), and some may wonder what he envisions his reaction to be should his club ever capture the Calder Cup under his management.

 “I think it would be a different perspective for me.  People go into the Hockey Hall of Fame as builders and some as players, and I think I’m seen as being a builder.  Gene and I in our organization, we put a team together and we pick and choose our players to an extent.  We give everybody a chance to win.  There are no excuses.  Anything they need, they get to help us win.  If we don’t win, then we always know we tried the best we could.”

With the championships that he accumulated as a player, it’s not very surprising that Young has absolutely no regrets when looking back on his playing days, and that also applies to his current position, despite the lack of a championship under his management.

“I don’t look back on my career and wonder about anything that I didn’t do, or anything that didn’t happen. I look at my career and see how fortunate I am and how lucky I’ve been to be a part of those championship teams.  I was in the right spot at the right time.  A lot of great players haven’t been on one championship team.  I’ve had the privilege of being on many of them.  There’s nothing I would change.  Hockey has been great to me.  I’ve been in the right place at the right time so many times that I should have bought lottery tickets.  It’s long days and stressful and time away from your family, and I still say I’ve never had a true day of work.  In reality, I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Tim Tookey Program Article

By: John Sparenberg

Speedy is a term that has been used to describe many professional hockey players throughout the history of the game, and many of the all-time NHL greats of the game like Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, and Wayne Gretzky, all fit the speedy moniker and could bring the noise level of the crowds to a deafening level when they turned on the jets.

Former Hershey Bears’ great Tim Tookey, who was hobbled by knee and ankle injuries during the course of his illustrious career, never had an abundance of speed and had a quiet demeanor, but utilizing his smarts and savvy, his play brought the crowds at HERSHEYPARK Arena to it’s feet on many occasions, and rightfully eventually earned him the honor of having his number nine hung from the rafters and a place in the AHL Hall of Fame.

Tookey, who was selected by the Washington Capitals with their fourth pick in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, the same draft that saw the Caps also select forwards Errol Rausse, and Harvie Pocza, along with defensive stalwart Greg Theberge, all of whom spent substantial time in their careers with the Chocolate and White started out his professional career with the Bears in the 1980-81 after finishing up his junior career the prior campaign with the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League, setting a then team record by registering 141 points (58 goals, 83 assists).

In his rookie season, the Edmonton, Alberta native skated in 29 games with the Caps, netting ten goals, including his first one on December 20, 1980 in the old Capital Centre in Landover, Md. against the Philadelphia Flyers and goaltender Pete Peeters, who tended the crease for the Bears in a two-game stint a few years later. He also donned the Bears’ colors for 47 outings, registering 58 points and 129 penalty minutes, the only time in his career that he reached the century mark in that category.

Tookey’s sophomore was also split between the nation’s capital and the Chocolate Capital, but ended in Fredericton, New Brunswick with the Fredericton Express of the AHL after he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques, the parent club of the Express in an in-season trade.

After a couple of seasons with the Nordiques, Tookey signed a free-agent deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the summer of 1983. In two seasons with the Pens’ organization, with the exception of games, Tookey spent all of his time playing in “Charm City” for the Baltimore Skipjacks, bitter rivals of the Bears, and was coached by a man many longtime Bears fans remember fondly from his playing days in Hershey, Gene Ubriaco.

“Tim was a very good player. Often we were a little short on players and talent, and so I had to use him like you can’t believe. He had a couple of looks in the NHL before that, but with me he played all the time. He killed penalties, played power plays, and he could really handle the puck. When I had him, he was on his way, and he certainly helped me a lot, but when he worked in Hershey he became a legend.”

Tookey played an instrumental in helping Ubriaco guide his Baltimore charges to a berth in the 1985 Calder Cup Finals, averaging just under a point per game in the regular season in 74 games, and better than a point per game in 15 post-season encounters, but in the end, it proved to be not enough as the Skipjacks’ hopes for their first Calder Cup Championship were capsized by a young, then unknown goaltender in the finals.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for Gene. I think he was a player’s coach. He was a friend of ours, and it wasn’t just a job for him. He realized we were humans, and thankfully he gave me a great opportunity to play and show my talents. We had a heck of hockey team that year and it was a great run we went on, and we just fell a little short against Montreal’s farm team in Sherbrooke. They had a kid named Patrick Roy in goal that year, and look at the legend he is now. ”

The next season, Tookey came back to the Bears for his second stint with the club when the Philadelphia Flyers, the Bears’ new NHL affiliate inked him to a free-agent deal. That campaign saw the talented centerman return to the Calder Cup Finals for a second straight year, but once again he fell just short in his “Quest for the Cup”, as the Bears were grounded by the Adirondack Red Wings.

“Moving onto Hershey again was a great experience and playing for John Paddock was a good thing. He was a family man, and worried about what was off the ice as well as on”, said Tookey, who scored 97 points in the regular season. “Again, we had a great run but ran into a team that had a lot of guys who ended up playing in the NHL for Detroit. One of them is now coaching the Washington Capitals, Adam Oates. We gave it everything we had, but there were guys hurt, and we fell a little short again, but it was a great year.”

Despite the team setback that the Bears suffered being banished by Adirondack, Tookey, who scored 19 points in 18 post-season contests was given individual acclaim for his stellar stats, being named the recipient of the Jack Butterfield Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs. By claiming the hardware, first awarded in 1984, Tookey earned the distinction of becoming the only player on a non-Cup winning team to win the Trophy, a distinction that he still holds to this day.

On a personal note, things got even better for Tookey the following season when he devastated the AHL and demolished his previous professional season highs, leading the AHL in scoring in 1986-87 with 124 points by lighting the lamp on 51 separate occasions and aiding and abetting on 73 others, the 124 points still stand to this day as a Bears’ team record for points earned in a single season.

“When I first got there the year before, I started on the third or fourth line, and then Philly traded Len Hachborn away. That gave me an opportunity to move up the ladder. (In 1986-87) John Paddock gave me a chance to play with Ray Allison and Ross Fitzpatrick. It was probably one of the most fun times I’ve ever had playing the game. They weren’t just great hockey players, but they became good friends. We had so much playing on and off the ice, our families and everything. We had a bunch of great guys on that team, and it’s one of those years you’ll never forget. Probably one of the biggest thrills you can have as a hockey player is 50 goals in a season in any league. I’ll never forget the 50th. Don Nachbaur and I were killing a penalty and he blocked a shot and gave me a chance for a breakaway. I skated down and made the shot. I’ll never forget what Don did there, because that was a special play that will stay in my head for the rest of my life.”

No longer fitting into the Flyers’ plans, Tookey was claimed by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1987 NHL Waiver Draft and spent the next two seasons in the Kings’ and Pittsburgh Penguins’ organizations before returning to Flyers again as a free agent in the summer of 1989.

Tookey’s first two seasons after signing consisted of two injury plagued seasons for the man who ironically earned an associate’s degree in “Prevention of Athletic Injuries” from Portland (Oregon) Community College during his junior hockey days, and while those injuries kept him off the ice for a substantial part of time, it did allow him for plenty of quality time with Dan “Beaker” Stuck.

“I was around as a stick boy in the early 80s when he first came in. Everyone’s personality’s different, and when you got to know him, he opened up when he was around his comfort zone. When he was around the rink and in the locker room, he was a totally different person. I’ve been the trainer for the Bears for 25 years, but I’ve only skated three times and one of those times was with him. I put on the goalie stuff in the outdoor rink at the arena. He was hurt and I went out there to put the pads on so he could take some shots. That’s one of the only times I’ve skated in my life. I was very close with him.”

Tookey rebounded with a fine season in the 1991-92 season, playing in all 80-games and eclipsing the 100-point plateau with a 105 point season, but nearly didn’t make it back for another season when the Flyers initially balked at the Bears’ plans to bring back the very popular player, again citing that he was no longer a legitimate NHL prospect. Eventually, a deal was brokered between the Bears and Flyers that saw the clubs evenly split his salary, and he responded with another 100-point season (108), and then spent an additional season in Hershey before joining the Providence Bruins as a player-assistant coach for the 1994-95 season.

As fate would have it, Tookey and the P-Bruins had the Bears as their opponents in their opener that season and the stoked up Tookey potted a pair of goal and added a helper for the Bruins in that encounter.

“I think you are always amped up a bit when you go against your old team and teammates, even when I went from Baltimore to Hershey, you want to go back and beat your old teammates. It gives you a boost to play. I was lucky to get on a line (in Providence) where there were a lot of talented hockey players. My goals (beating Mike McHugh to the front of the net and fishing out a rebound from a sea of players in the crease) were more being in the right place at the right time. It was a nice feeling to win that hockey game.”

That season with the P-Bruins turned out to be Tookey’s last one as a player, and as a coach, and he retired as the fourth-leading scorer in AHL history with 974 points (353 goals, 621 assists) on his AHL resume, to go along with 58 points (22 goals, 36 assists) in 106 NHL encounters.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to (pursue a professional coaching career), but there are only so many coaching jobs. I think every man that plays the game wants to pursue a coaching career, but it just didn’t work out for me. I coached at junior levels and I still coach today in AA in Alberta.” The cards aren’t always meant to fall the same for everybody. It just wasn’t meant to be for me.”

Originally Tookey and his family had planned to settle in the Hershey area after retirement, but those plans changed and he and his family eventually headed out west to begin his post-playing career pursuits.

“I had an opportunity to come and coach here in Arizona, so I moved out here and my daughter was excited to see somewhere else, and so was my wife. We just took the opportunity, but it just wasn’t in the cards and didn’t work out. The financial situation in Arizona is not good, and there’s not a lot of work for people, so it fell through. We own a home here in Arizona and we reside here, but I work in Canada. I got home to Canada for most of the year and sneak down here whenever I can to be with my girls. My daughter Trista is going to the University of Arizona in Tucson and is in her third year studying physics, and my wife (of 31 years) Susan has a great job here working for a lawyer, and I install ceiling sprinklers. I had to go back to school for three years, and I made it through after all those years. I’m just becoming a journeyman in the next couple of weeks. It’s some hard work, but it keeps me in shape.”

Tookey once had ambitions of become a professional singer and songwriter in his younger years, and now at the age of 52 and nearly 20 years removed from skating in his last professional game on the hockey stage, he no longer pursues the life on the singing stage either, but he is still very much a music man at heart.

“I still play and have fun and write songs, but now they’re more for just myself and my family, but I’ve always loved music, and always will. I bought my daughter a guitar for her birthday last year. She’s going to college and trying to learn how to play a little bit, too. Music will always be in my heart and something I’ll always do.”

Any Bears fan that had the pleasure of seeing Tookey perform at HERSHEYPARK Arena will surely break into a smile remembering back fondly to those days recalling when the familiar tune of “Took” often echoed through that hallowed hall.