[VIDEO] Cliff Ronning: A 7-minute look At #7, the small, courageous Canucks star who defied all odds

CambieKev

Scout. Future Considerations, Dobber Prospects.
Aug 26, 2019
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The Lost Shifts Ep. 3: Cliff Ronning, the undersized and under-appreciated Canucks star - Vancouver Is Awesome



When one thinks about the most noteworthy players in Vancouver Canucks history, few ever look past the names that adorn the rafters of Rogers Arena and the Ring of Honour. Many are left out of the fanbase's collective remembrance. As the years progress, the fan favorites of each generation begin to become obscure to their children and their grandchildren. Alas, history is selective, and everything that is not catalogued for present and future audiences will start to become forgotten over time despite how vivid that information is today.

Too many players who were at one time integral to the Canucks have become underappreciated and underrated in terms of their talent and ability. Some have remained in the public eye as ambassadors for the Canucks. Those players who have remained active in the local community should be applauded for their efforts to give back to their neighbors. However, this unfortunately does not prevent their on-ice stories from slowly slipping from the consciousness of the general populace.

Even the team's most skilled supporting cast members may eventually only be remembered in name, whereas in an ideal scenario, visuals and stories would preserve their legacies.

Thus, today we present a look at one of the offensive leaders of the early 1990s Canucks who defied all odds to play in the National Hockey League: Cliff Ronning. He was an underdog of the highest order, constantly battling naysayers at a proud height of five-foot-seven inches and a weight anywhere from 155 to 170 pounds (Frank Orr, Toronto Star, 21 Jan 1987). Although undersized players remain uncommon in the current NHL, the league has become much more hospitable to those who lack the size or strength to overcome the game's most monstrous behemoths.

This is Episode III of The Lost Shifts featuring Ronning's performance from Game 3 of the 1992 Smythe Division Final against the Edmonton Oilers.

Read the full article at Vancouver Is Awesome: The Lost Shifts Ep. 3: Cliff Ronning, the undersized and under-appreciated Canucks star - Vancouver Is Awesome

I am @CambieKev on Twitter. I write for Nucks Misconduct, Last Word On Hockey, Pass It To Bulis, and now scout with the Dobber Prospects team.

Enjoy the video!

 
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WADEugottaBELAKthat

Nikishin turning heads.
Nov 21, 2003
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Great contribution. Growing up as a Flames fan, I always thought that Ronning’s skill-set was not appreciated enough. He had all-star impact and upper-echelon creativity and movement. Fun to watch. Thanks for this.
 

mattihp

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Aug 2, 2004
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I remember when the preds came into the league. Ronning was a big exclamation mark for me when I had a look at how Ville Peltonen and Kimmo Timonen would fare in the NHL! He was slick and smart and sold the preds system to his team mates it seemed.

He had leader written all over him.
 

Kranix

Deranged Homer
Jun 27, 2012
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One of my favorite players in the 90s even though he was on the vile canucks.
 

JianYang

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
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Ronning did well in an era that wasn't made for him.

He would look even better in today's era. I think he played with mogilny during his final year with the Canucks, and mogilny ended up with a monster year.

After ronning left, mogilny never really came close to that season for his remaining years as a canuck.
 

JianYang

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
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As a short guy I LOVED Ronning growing up and was PUMPED when he was an Islander for a minute.

I just looked up his hockeydb and saw this.

I have zero memory of ronning playing for either LA or the islanders.
 

RandV

It's a wolf v2.0
Jul 29, 2003
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I don't remember what specifically happened, think it was just a matter of UFA dollars, but it's a damn shame the Canucks lost him/let him go. I don't mean to bring a discussion on Messier into here, there's the other thread for that, but a big reason the Canucks went after first Gretzky then Messier is because they had some amazing wingers but a huge gaping hole at center. And here we are just letting a great local kid walk in free agency 2 years before, who'd go on to have another 8 good seasons in him. Kind of like how we let Igor Larionov go a few years before that.

So Linden aside in the transition season between Ronning and Messier Canucks had Mike Ridley as their best center, though can't recall what happened to him as he went from 75 games and 50 points in the 1996-97 season to playing 4 games on the Manitoba Moose in 97-98 and that was it. He was 34 at the time so must have been a career ending injury?
 

Smart Alek

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Jul 13, 2002
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Always a fun player to watch, and when he first came to the Canucks, one of the best late-season acquisitions in living memory.
 

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