Orest Michael Kindrachuk ( eng. Orest Michael Kindrachuk ) - Canadian hockey player of Ukrainian origin, center forward.
 Orest Kindrachuk | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | attack | |
| Growth | 178 cm | |
| Weight | 79 kg | |
| Grab | left | |
| Nickname | Baby o Ernie | |
| Citizenship |  Canada  USA | |
| Was born | September 14, 1950 (68 years) | |
| NHL draft | without draft | |
| Clubs | ||
| ||
Content
Early years
Born in a Ukrainian family in the Canadian province of Alberta. Name Orest was in honor of his uncle. For a long time he could only speak Ukrainian. He began playing hockey at the age of three. In his youth, he planned to study for a doctorate at Saskechevan University .
Career
He started playing in student clubs Saskatoon Blades , San Diego Gulls and Richmond Robins , but he achieved real fame in the camp of the Philadelphia "pilots", where he moved as a free agent in 1972. “At that time, I wanted to become a doctor more than a hockey player, and my chances of getting into the NHL were slim, because there were many fewer teams than there are today,” Kindrachuk recalled later. - I skated well for amateurs, but always remembered that my youth was not eternal, the peak of fizuhi would pass sooner or later, so I decided to get a higher education and stumble with hockey. Do you know what the chip is? If I had been to the draft a year earlier, I would have been grabbed by some super-duper elite club and a goodie Stanley. In the end, the “pilots” dragged me to their training camp. Call it fate. ” Kindrachuk immediately became an important part of the team, playing in one of the top three attacks with the legendary Dave Schultz and Don Saleski. The terrible trinity became one of the key elements of two consecutive Philadelphian victories in the Stanley Cup in the mid-70s. And the best season number 26 is recognized by many experts as the season 76/77, when he scored 26 goals and made 49 assists, playing in the third link.
In 1978, after 6 glorious years in Philadelphia, Kindrachuk was traded to Pittsburgh along with Tom Bladon and Ross Lonsberry, where he was immediately chosen as the new captain. “It’s a great honor for me,” Orest said modestly about his appointment, having spent all his Pittsburgh seasons in this post.
Started Orest in Pittsburgh well, gaining 60 points in the first season. Unfortunately, the old hip injury recurrence in the 1979/80 championship did not allow Kindrachuk to replenish his productive piggy bank, but still he scored 46 points in 52 games.
In 1981, he signed a contract with the Washington Capitals , but due to numerous sporting ills he was forced to end his playing career after just 4 games.
Life after hockey
After leaving hockey, Kindrachuk worked in the insurance and packaging industries in Philadelphia. In August 2012, he became a US citizen.
Links
- Kindrachuk, Orest - statistics on The Internet Hockey Database (eng.)
- Orest Kindrachuk at www.hockey-reference.com
- Orest Kindrachuk on Legends of Hockey
- Kindrachuk, Orest - profile on the NHL website
- Orest Kindrachuk's biography
- Greatest Hockey Legends
- Bogdan, Orest and Grechkosiy