Drafted Into Obscurity < Wayne Groulx >

Promising careers, bright futures and undeniable talent. Are they guarantees for success? You certainly can't have one without the other if you want longevity playing at the highest level of hockey leagues on the planet. There is no room for compromise, but there is uncontrollable circumstance. No matter what kind of player you are, you have to bring it every night and keep proving it over and over. Many of the players written about in these series of blogs are victims of the aftermentioned circumstance.

One of the greatest major junior hockey players ever to don a jersey is another skater with great expectations who eventually succumbed to being Drafted Into Obscurity - Wayne Groulx.  


Groulx with the
OHL's Greyhounds

Although his physical stature might have been questioned, only standing 5'9" 175 lbs., no one could ever wonder about his ability to score goals. Groulx was a scoring machine. Over his four wildly successful years in the Ontario Hockey League, Groulx was able to accumulated 187 goals, including three straight seasons scoring over 130 points plus. Considered by many as the second-best Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound player ever in the 49-year history of the franchise, (the first being none other than the Great Gretzky) Groulx currently sits third overall in OHL career points with 477.

Being a superstar in major junior doesn't always punch your card to be a regular in the National Hockey League. In Groulx case, the Quebec Nordiques were such a deep and talented team in the mid-1980's that the franchise waited until midway through the ninth round, #172, of the 1983 NHL draft to select him.

1985-86 Muskegon Lumberjacks

Two years later in 1985, after Groulx was named the OHL MVP while leading his squad to the Memorial Cup semi's in fine fashion, he made his debut in the NHL. Most critics say Groulx got caught in a numbers game in Quebec. There were too many established players on that Stanley Cup contending team and it was virtually impossible for him to crack such a veteran laden lineup. Whatever the reason, Groulx would never been seen again playing at the highest level hockey again. Groulx continued to play in the Quebec farm system for the next three years, splitting time between the IHL and AHL while spending brief time on the Canadian National squad. From top junior performer to out of North American hockey in less than three years, Groulx was on a fast track to hockey obscurity.

By 1988, Groulx went to Europe to continue with his pro hockey career with a quick stop with a team in Division II in Finland. He eventually found a home in the Austrian league and played out his career over the next six years.

1994 World Championships - Austria

One interesting side note to his career, Groulx represented Austria at the 1992 B Pool World Championships. Groulx' 14 points in seven games led the Austrians to the tournament title and promotion to A Pool for the next year. In 1992-93, he helped Austria finish ninth out of twelve teams at the World tourney. He retired in 1994 after playing one last year in Austria.

Drafted Into Obscurity < Art Rutland >

Thumb through the sportspages, flick by the never-ending highlights and you're bound to miss the not-so famous players exposed in this hockey oddity blog. Young men who had dreams of skating under the bright lights of big city National Hockey League arenas. Promising careers that never panned out. Can't miss prospects who, for some reason or another, couldn't put it all together and ended up in pro hockey obscurity...

In this first installment of Drafted Into Obscurity we take a look at a sure-fire, can't miss Vancouver Canuck prospect Arthur Rutland.

Moving into the 1980's the Canucks were below-average franchise, struggling to find it's identity. The team suffered through some very lean, sub-500 years in the late 70's and ownership decided start on a major renovation by changing the entire look and feel from the cool green and blue hockey stick motif to a radical black, orange and yellow Hallowe'en "inspired" redesign.

The Canucks also needed an overhaul in the scoring department. The team was in desperate need of top-line help and Rutland was tagged by Vancouver in the fourth round of the 1979 NHL draft, 68th overall.

This would be a draft selection the Canucks orgnization would lament for years to come. Rutland was drafted one spot ahead of future Hall Of Famer and local Burnaby, BC boy Glenn Anderson. Anderson enshrined his name on five Stanley Cups (four with Edmonton, one with New York) and also represented Canada at the 1980 Olympics. The University of Denver standout totaled 1099 points in 1129 NHL games played, including almost joining the elite 500 NHL goal club by falling short by two at 498 - Anderson became a NHL legend.  

Rutland was just coming off a stellar four-year Ontario Hockey League (formely known as the OMJHL) career from 1976-1980. In 1978-79, while playing for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Art caught the attention of NHL scouts. Rutland put up an impressive 139 points, finishing third overall in league scoring.  Overall, Rutland contributed 365 points over his four seasons in the OHL despite playing on dismal teams that placed in the depths of the league.

But what Rutland might be most well-known for was sharing the bench with the possibly the greatest player the game of hockey has ever produced. In his second season with the Greyhounds, Rutland was teammates with incomprable Wayne Gretzky.

What could have been for Art Rutland? By 1982, the Vancouver Canucks made an improbable run to the Stanley Cup finals against the dynasty, power-house New York Islanders. Unfortunately, Rutland was never part of that memorable season. Rutland had made the Canucks opening roster out of camp in October of 1981 but never was able to stick and would never play at the NHL level again.


Art Rutland on 1981-82 Vancouver Canucks

He played just three seasons from 1980-1983 on the North American pro hockey circuit for the Canucks farm clubs. Rutland did show some promise while suiting up for the Central Hockey League’s Dallas Black Hawks in 1980-81. Rutland was a true playmaker leading the league by posting 65 assists. Surprisingly after playing so well, Rutland never got the call-up he was hoping for.

1982-83 Fredericton Express

He went on to play his final season of pro hockey in North America in 1982-83 with the Fredericton Express of the American Hockey League.



In 1983-84, Rutland headed to Europe, continuing his journey into hockey obscurity, skating for division II teams in Italy and Germany. Rutland would be a scoring phenom over seven of his final eight seasons of pro hockey. In all, Rutland played 267 games in Europe and contributed 834 points. These numbers equate to more than a three points per game pace over eight years.