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Leafs broadcaster guest speaker at Hockey Hall of Fame ceremony in Penticton

Induction ceremony will be held at South Okanagan Events Centre July 22
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Longtime Toronto Maple Leafs broadcaster Jim Ralph will be the guest speaker at the B.C. Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Penticton.

The ceremony will be held at the South Okanagan Events Centre on July 22.

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From 1978 to 1989, Ralph, now 60, played hockey in the Ontario Hockey League and the American Hockey League. During his time with the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67s, he set a franchise record with 107 wins. This record was also a league record for 26 years.

He was drafted by the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks in the 1980 NHL Entgry Draft.

“After drafting Jim Ralph, the Chicago Blackhawks did the unconscionable and didn’t play him in the NHL, so he roved the minors for seven years and went into broadcasting and public speaking,” said B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame chair Jim Hughson. “We all should be glad he did.”

Ralph, who played his last professional season in 1988-89, went on to work for TSN and Global Television for the next seven years before joining the Leafs radio broadcasts.

“Jim Ralph is a hockey lifer who loves the game and loves to tell stories about it,” said Hughson. “His impersonations of the legends of the game and his takes on years in the game are fantastic and will give all hockey fans a good laugh.”

The event in Penticton will see the 2020 inductees get inducted into the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame. Among the inductees are the 2012 national champion Penticton Vees, NHL official Jay Sharrers, retired NHL defencemen and five-time international gold-medal winning blueliner Eric Brewer and 11-year Vancouver Canuck player Mattias Ohlund, as well as the 2002 Memorial Cup-winning Kootenay Ice and legendary junior hockey builder, the late Ray Stonehouse, who was president of the Pacific Junior Hockey League.

The induction evening will be held almost exclusively in the Hall of Fame, with a reception where fans can meet inductees and view the displays. Tickets are on sale through the South Okanagan Events Centre box office in Penticton and through valleyfirsttix.evenue.net.

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John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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