Orest Kindrachuk

Athlete (1999)

Hockey

Orest Kindrachuk starred with the Saskatoon Blades, the first-ever to register 100 assists in a season, and went on to achieve success for 10 years in the National Hockey League, twice playing on Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Although he was born in Nanton, Alberta, Orest came to Saskatoon at an early age and played his first organized hockey with Victoria School in the Playground League. He played for the Black Hawks in the Kinsmen Peewee Hockey League, winning awards, and then graduated to the Nutana midgets. He was chosen to play for the Centennial Midgets, who represented Saskatchewan at the Canadian midget championships in 1965 where the team won a bronze medal.

Orest played part of four seasons with the Blades, scoring 49 goals and 100 assists and winning the most valuable player award while serving as captain in his farewell season in 1970-71.

His first professional experience was with San Diego; then Richmond, the main farm team of the Philadelphia Flyers. Orest played 508 games in the National hockey League, scoring 118 goals and 261 assists for 379 points. He was a strong playoff performer, shown here scoring his first Stanley Cup goal against the Atlanta Flames in 1974. The Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1973-74, beating Boston Bruins, four games to two, in the final. They repeated as Stanley Cup champions in 1974-75, beating the Buffalo Sabres, four games to two.

Orest was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a first-round draft choice in 1978, was named captain of the team, and later played briefly with Washington before injuries forced him to retire in the fall of 1981.

Orest lives in Medford Lakes, New Jersey, where he does some analyst work on Philadelphia Flyer games.