The Weyburn Red Wings will host their 2017 Sports Dinner on Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Cugnet Centre at the Weyburn Comprehensive High School. Myrna McFadden will be providing a gourmet meal for the evening.
Headlining the event will be Darcy Tucker, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 1993 NHL entry draft by the Montreal Canadiens, 151st overall.
Always told he was too small and not fast enough, Tucker overcame these perceived obstacles and became a consummate professional ice hockey player who could play it any way — physical, skilled, defensive, offensive. In his first professional season in the American Hockey League he won the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Trophy and scored 93 points in 74 games. He played two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and then was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1998.
In 2000 he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for whom he played for nine seasons. In 2008 Tucker was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League. Tucker had six 20-goal seasons in the National Hockey League including a career-high 28 goals in the 2005-2006 season playing in 74 games.
Co-headlining the evening is Kelly Gruber. On April 16, 1989, Kelly Gruber was the first Blue Jay in history to hit for the cycle when he scored six RBIs and four runs. He also played in 158 of the club’s 162 games and played six positions. Gruber was nicknamed “Xanthos” by the media for his blonde hair and the ladies loved his luscious locks.
He was voted Toronto’s most eligible bachelor by his legions of mostly female fans.
Kelly Gruber led all third basemen with 31 HR, 118 RBIs and had 14 steals to cap it off. He was second in the AL in total bases with 303 and extra base hits with 73. He was fourth in voting for the MVP award, was voted an All Star and won both the Silver Slugger and the Golden Glove award based on his play at third base.
Gruber also won the 19th annual Super Stars Competition in Cancun, Mexico and was the first-ever baseball player to do so.
Tickets for the Red Wings Sports Dinner are on sale now. Single admission is $100, and corporate tables are $1,000. (These are eight seats with complimentary wine, closer to main stage).
