Tag: Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation

Indigenous hockey celebration headed to Kelowna

KELOWNA (May 27, 2026) — The non-profit Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation is bringing its annual celebration of Indigenous hockey to Kelowna.

The second annual Celebrating Indigenous Hockey Legends dinner will be held at the Okanagan city’s Delta Grand Okanagan Resort on Sept. 29. That is the evening prior to Truth and Reconciliation Day in Canada.

The inaugural dinner was held at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina on Sept. 30. It was a huge success and, in fact, a documentary film has been produced of the event; it is to be shown on TSN+ at a date to be announced, while an edited version will go into regular rotation with other videos at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. It also will be available for viewing on the Foundation’s YouTube channel.

In Kelowna, with retired TSN play-by-play voice Dennis Beyak overseeing proceedings as the emcee, the evening’s entertainment will include a Hot Stove session featuring some of the Indigenous legends who will be in the house. Former NHLers Bryan Trottier, Ron Delorme and Jordin Tootoo are confirmed, as is Brigette Lacquette, who is the first First Nations woman to play for Canada’s national team and its Olympic team. Also confirmed is Wacey Rabbit, an assistant coach with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, who was recently inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame.

“We are excited to once again honour Indigenous hockey legends, this time in Kelowna on Sept. 29,” said Foundation president Erin Ginnell. “With Indigenous hockey legends such as Bryan Trottier, Jordin Tootoo, Brigette Lacquette and Ron Delorme already committed to the event it’ll give people in attendance the opportunity to listen to their stories and understand how they persevered to become great hockey players.

“It will be an entertaining and emotional evening with Indigenous leaders and hockey legends.”

Also included in the evening’s entertainment will be auctions featuring, among other things, autographed NHL sweaters from Indigenous players.

Banquet tickets — $200 each or $1,400 per table of eight — are available at the Foundation’s website (hockeyscoutsfoundation.com).

“This event is a great opportunity for members of our foundation — including many residents of the Kelowna area — to give back to the community in celebrating  the legacy of Indigenous hockey legends,” Garth Malarchuk, a Kelowna resident and the Foundation’s chairman of the board, said.

The Foundation was established in 2023 with part of its vision statement reading: “Our non-profit foundation is appreciative and indebted to the game of hockey and all that it has provided to our life’s experiences. Because of that we feel a strong obligation and commitment to give back to charities, communities and individuals who could benefit from our support and financial assistance.”

As was the case in Regina, some of the proceeds from the Kelowna banquet will be donated to area charities that have a particular focus on Indigenous youth and sports.

The Foundation also holds an annual Wall of Honour induction dinner in Okotoks, Alta., where it is housed in the Viking Rentals Centre, the home of the BCHL’s Oilers. The 2026 dinner, featuring 22 inductees, will have a ‘Behind the Mask’ theme and will salute the goaltending profession. It is scheduled for Aug. 28.

For further info, contact . . . 

Garth Malarchuk, WCPHSF chairman of the board

gmalarchuk@torontomapleleafs.com

Tim Lenardon, WCPHSF co-ordinator

timlenardon78@gmail.com

Gregg Drinnan, WCPHSF editor/historian

greggdrinnan@gmail.com

PHSF honours four with Ace Award

OKOTOKS, AB (April 1, 2026) — Four men who combined to spend more than 100 years working for NHL teams will share in the Ace Award when the non-profit Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation holds its annual Wall of Honour induction dinner in Okotoks on Aug. 28.

Lorne Davis, Del Wilson, Ted Hampson and Marshall Johnston will be honoured on an evening when 21 other scouts will be inducted into the Wall of Honour. Davis, Wilson, Hampson and Johnston were among the original inductees in 2024.

The Ace Award is presented in honour of the late Garnet (Ace) Bailey, a longtime NHL scout. He was the Los Angeles Kings’ director of pro scouting and was en route to their training camp when the plane he was on was hijacked and deliberately flown into the South Tower of New York City’s World Trade Centre on Sept. 11, 2001. The Ace Award is presented annually to an individual or individuals who are seen to have made outstanding contributions and efforts to the NHL scouting profession.

This year’s recipients are recognized by those in the scouting fraternity for their dedication to the profession and their willingness to help those who were working to follow in their footsteps.

“Congratulations to Lorne, Del, Ted and Marshall, all of whom deserve to be honoured with the Ace Award,” said Erin Ginnell, the Foundation’s president. “All four gentlemen are pillars in the scouting community, not only for their successes but by also being the great people that they have been over the many years of scouting.” 

Archie Henderson, a now-retired scout and a member of the Wall of Honour, chaired the selection committee.

“I went back and looked at the history of these guys; I would encourage hockey fans to do the same and look at what these guys did, not just in their scouting careers, but as players and executives,” Henderson said. “The number of championships they won . . . the number of teams they impacted is amazing.

“The one word I would use to describe the four of them is ‘passion’ . . . they had to have passion for hockey and the game of life to do what they did. They were iconic, not just in scouting but in all different facets and levels of North American and international hockey.”

Davis, who died in 2007 at the age of 77, was an NHL scout for more than 40 years — 29 of those with the Edmonton Oilers and 10 with the St. Louis Blues. He also worked with the New York Rangers and the WHA’s Houston Aeros. During his time with the Oilers, he helped the organization win five Stanley Cup titles. He also won a Stanley Cup as a player with the 1952-53 Montreal Canadiens. He has been a member of the Regina Sports Hall of Fame since 2003.

Wilson, who died in 2015 at the age of 88, was a scout with the Montreal Canadiens for 47 years, during which time they won 18 Stanley Cup titles. He also was an owner and general manager of the Regina Pats, and a founder of what now is the Western Hockey League. The Del Wilson Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the WHL’s top goaltender. He is a member of the Regina and Saskatchewan sports halls of fame, and the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame.

Hampson didn’t go scouting until ending his playing career at the age of 44. He started his scouting career with NHL Central Scouting, before moving on to the St. Louis Blues (21 years), Colorado Avalanche (2) and Vancouver Canucks (10). He was 85 when he retired in 2022. He is a member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.

Johnston, 84, moved from the New Jersey Devils’ coaching staff to become director of player personnel in 1983, a role he filled through nine seasons. He then spent nine seasons with the Ottawa Senators as director of player personnel and then general manager. He followed that with three seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and 11 as director of pro scouting for the Carolina Hurricanes, winning the Stanley Cup with them in 2006. He has been inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame — he was a regular on Canada’s national team in the mid-1960s — and the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2025, the Ace Award was presented to two veteran scouts — Mike Penny and the late Barry Fraser. The initial recipients, in 2024, were former team executive and long-time play-by-play man Dennis Beyak and Gregg Drinnan, a sports journalist for more than 40 years.

You are able to follow the PHSF and its happenings at its website — hockeyscoutsfoundation.com.

For further information, contact:

Garth Malarchuk

PHSF chairman of the board

GMalarchuk@torontomapleleafs.com

Gregg Drinnan

PHSF editor/historian

greggdrinnan@gmail.com

Scouts foundation undergoes name change; gets registered charity status

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OKOTOKS, AB (March 10, 2026) — The Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation has undergone a name change.

With an eye to the future and as it moves to expand its footprint, the non-profit organization’s board of directors has changed its name to Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation (PHSF).

“Our foundation has grown and evolved since its inception so that expansion to other areas in North America and possibly Europe was inevitable,” said PHSF president Erin Ginnell. “Transforming to the Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation will allow us to continue to honour and help scouts with a global reach and also continue to give back to the game by reaching a wider range of people and organizations in need.”

The PHSF is in only its third year of existence, having introduced itself to the world with its inaugural dinner on July 30, 2024, in Okotoks. That dinner provided the Foundation with the seed money to have its Wall of Honour video display installed in the Viking Rentals Centre, the home of the BCHL’s Okotoks Oilers.

The Foundation inducted 44 past and present-day scouts into the Wall of Honour in 2024 and added 30 more at its second annual banquet in 2025. The third annual banquet, in Okotoks on Aug. 28, will include the induction of 21 honourees.

As well, the PHSF is to play host to its second annual Celebrating Indigenous Hockey Legends banquet on Sept. 29, one day before Truth and Reconciliation Day, this time in Kelowna.

“Transitioning from a Western Canada focus to a broader global identity has always been central to our vision,” said PHSF vice-president Ross Mahoney. “From the beginning, our goal has been to build an organization with international reach and impact.

“With our Foundation officially established as the Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation, we are proud to be expanding our efforts beyond Western Canada. We are actively supporting initiatives in Eastern Canada and laying the groundwork for continued growth into the United States.”

The name change reflects the Foundation’s desire to grow into a national and, eventually, an international entity.

There already is a move afoot aimed at establishing a PHSF chapter in Eastern Canada. An organizing committee is in the works, while discussions are ongoing involving the location of a Wall of Honour.

While revealing its name change, the PHSF also announced it has been designated a registered charitable organization by the Canada Revenue Agency. The Foundation, which had been operating under Alberta’s Societies Act, had applied to the CRA early in 2025.

“Obtaining our charity status with the CRA took considerable time and effort, but it will be well worth the wait and expense,” said Garth Malarchuk, the PHSF’s chairman of the board. “It significantly enhances our fundraising capabilities and provides our foundation with greater opportunities to deliver meaningful financial assistance to individuals, communities, and charitable organizations in support of sports initiatives, as well as medical and educational needs.”

The PHSF’s website remains at the same address — hockeyscoutsfoundation.com — and there always is more organizational information available there.

For further information, contact:

Garth Malarchuk

PHSF chairman of the board

GMalarchuk@torontomapleleafs.com

Gregg Drinnan

PHSF editor/historian

greggdrinnan@gmail.com