Saturday, October 26, 2013

Archibald headlines inaugural HOF class

Press Release

 Dave Archibald headlines the inaugural class that will enter the brand-new Chilliwack Sports Hall of Fame in a ceremony that will be held at Prospera Centre Oct. 26 during the intermission of a Chilliwack Chiefs game.

Archibald will be inducted in the player category.

Longtime basketball coach Joe Ogmundson goes in as a builder and the Turbo junior baseball team from the mid-1990s becomes the first team inducted.

The Turbo team went to five straight national championship tournaments, starting in 1993. They finally broke through in 1997, winning it all in Oshawa, Ontario.

The team was loaded with Chilliwack talent —  including Bob Armstrong, Noel Sharmam, Chris Fitzsimmons, Clayton Beck — with many of those players still living locally. They remain the only Chilliwack team to have ever captured that national title.

Ogmundson has a diverse coaching resume dating back to the 1970s, but he is best known for his work as the girls basketball coach at Chilliwack secondary school. Ogmundson has fashioned the program into a consistent winner, one that has produced countless collegiate players.

Last year’s roster for the national contender University of the Fraser Valley Cascades included four CSS grads — Courtney Bartel, Alexa McCarthy and Nicole and Sarah Wierks. The Wierks sisters and Bartel are back for another run at a CIS title this year, forming the core of the UFV team.

Archibald is the best hockey player Chilliwack has ever produced.

He came up through Chilliwack Minor Hockey, played as a 14-year-old in the Western Hockey League and ended up getting drafted by the National Hockey League’s Minnesota North Stars.

Archibald logged 323 games with the North Stars, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders, finishing his playing career in 1999-00 with a 21 game stint in Sweden.

He also played nationally for Canada, winning silver at the 1991 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and the 1992 Winter Olympics.

“All of these inductees are extremely worthy and we are excited that they will be the first class to enter the Chilliwack Sports Hall of Fame,” said Judy Fitzsimmons, CSHOF president. “We hope Chilliwack will help us to honour them at the Oct. 26 induction ceremony.”

A CSHOF website will be launched soon. Keep checking the Progress sports section over the next two weeks for updates and full features on each inductee.

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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