By Matthew DeMille via Western Hockey League

SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – A contingent of WHL legends had their names added to the Ted Knight Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame (SHHOF) on July 12, as Hockey Saskatchewan hosted the induction ceremony for the Class of 2024.

Patrick Marleau, Cory Sarich, Travis Moen, Tim Tisdale, Brad Meier, and the 1995 Team Saskatchewan Men’s U17 roster are the latest batch of junior hockey figureheads to enter the SHHOF.

Headlining the group was Seattle Thunderbirds alumnus and San Jose Sharks icon, Patrick Marleau. Marleau spent two seasons dominating the Western League with the Thunderbirds, before taking his talents to the Bay Area.

At the NHL level, the Swift Current local collected over 1,100 points in a famed career spanning 23 seasons. In February 2023, Marleau saw his jersey hit the rafters at the SAP Centre in San Jose, Calif., cementing the WHL alumnus as one of the best to suit up for the Sharks.

The Seattle Thunderbirds would follow suit in November 2023, as Marleau’s famed No. 12 was retired in front of a sold-out crowd at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash.

Marleau concluded his professional hockey career as a two-time gold medalist at the IIHF Men’s World Championship and the Olympics with Canada.

And, while proud of his accomplishments, Marleau gives credit to those he surrounded himself with.

“You don’t get to play as many games as I did, or get to the NHL, without a huge support,” Marleau admitted at the induction ceremony.

“The legacy, I think for me, [is] the people I’ve met and have helped me along the way are the ones that make the journey worthwhile.”

Cory Sarich played a total of five seasons in the WHL, sharing time with both the Saskatoon Blades and Seattle Thunderbirds. After racking up 104 points in 169 Western League appearances, Sarich took his talents to the National League.

Sarich’s NHL career spanned 15 seasons with stops in Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Calgary, and Colorado. In 2004, the Saskatoon, Sask. local hoisted the Stanley Cup as a member of the 2004 Champions, Tampa Bay Lightning.

Kelowna Rockets alumnus Travis Moen rounds out the list of SHHOF player inductees. A product of Swift Current, Sask., Moen skated in 181 games with the Rockets, accruing 58 points.

He then made the move to the NHL, playing a total of 747 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, and Dallas Stars.

Moen’s professional career is highlighted by a Stanley Cup Championship, won during his tenure with the Ducks. The third-line forward was an integral piece to the Ducks championship roster, scoring three game-winning goals during their post-season campaign.

This included the Cup-clinching goal in Game 5 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals against the Ottawa Senators.

Tim Tisdale’s tale of agony turned triumph is one that could not go unmentioned by Hockey Saskatchewan and the SHHOF.

Tisdale, a member of the Swift Current Broncos from 1986-89, was present when four of his teammates were killed after the team’s bus hit a patch of black ice and rolled into a ditch on the Trans-Canada Highway in December 1986. Pushing through his feelings of anguish and in honour of his fallen friends and teammates, Tisdale returned to the Broncos for a total of three seasons.

Two years after the tragedy, Tisdale and the Broncos found themselves participants in the 1989 Memorial Cup. It was there when Tisdale scored an emotional overtime goal in the final to capture the Memorial Cup for the Broncos.

“Together, we sort of wanted to be able to win that championship. For us, to have a little bit of closure but just to show the tribute to them as well,” Tisdale shared via video at the induction ceremony.

Tisdale was also selected in the 12th round, 250th overall at the 1988 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers.

Dayton, Ohio’s Brad Meier is being celebrated by the SHHOF at the conclusion of his storied officiating career. After making the move from Dayton to Saskatoon, Sask., Meier balanced a passion for officiating with his full-time job as a firefighter with the Saskatoon Fire Department. Quickly rising up the junior hockey officiating ranks, Meier became a WHL Official in 1987. For the next 12 years, he would be a friendly face across Western League barns.

And, in 1998, Meier would get the long-awaited call from the NHL – an offer to become a minor league referee for the NHL. By 2000, the former WHL official had earned his full-time NHL referee status and was calling games in hockey’s biggest venues. In a 24-season span, Meier officiated a total of 1,459 regular season and 89 Stanley Cup Playoffs games. His resume includes calling the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Rus., the 2017 Stanley Cup Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators, and three NHL Outdoor Games.

Meier retired from his life of officiating in 2022.

“I remember when I got hired and guys were telling me, ‘Don’t blink. It’ll be over so quick.’ And I thought they were all crazy, and it did go by fast. It was hard to believe that it went by that quickly,” Meier said.

The SHHOF also celebrated the success garnered by Team Saskatchewan’s U17 roster during the 1995 Canada Winter Games. Led by recent SHHOF inductees, Patrick Marleau and Cory Sarich, a total of 19 WHL alumni were featured on Saskatechewan’s roster when the team, who were heavy underdogs, won the country-wide tournament.

Marleau and Sarich were joined by League alumni Jim Currie, Cam Severson, Jeremy Rondeau, Trevor Wasyluk, Derek Schutz, Joey Tetarenko, Murray Brookbank, Brian McGregor, Gerad Adams, Chad Hinz, Marty Standish, Ross Mahoney, Aren Miller, Donnie Kinney, Dylan Kemp, Kevin Kellett, and Scott Buhler.

Team Saskatchewan was the lone team to stay undefeated (5-0-1) in the round-robin. Marleau and Co. went on to beat Team Quebec in the semi-finals, followed by Team Alberta in the gold-medal game.