Retro Rewind: Ray Ferraro

Originally published in Prospects Hockey in 2006

By Lucas Aykroyd

Wayne Gretzky never got 100 goals in one major junior season. Neither did Mike Bossy, Joe Sakic, or Sidney Crosby. But Ray Ferraro, though less celebrated than those other forwards, potted 108 in 1983-84 with the Brandon Wheat Kings as a 19-year-old. Considering no one has even come close to touching that WHL single-season record since Kyle Reeves scored 89 times for the Tri-City Americans in 1990-91, Ferraro’s place in history seems pretty secure.

“I played all 72 games and never got hurt,” said the former star center from Trail, BC. “And I had two great linemates. Stacy Pratt had unbelievable hands, and Dave Curry was a little guy who could really scoot and move the puck. Our power play was terrific. I think I scored 15 shorthanded goals. The WHL was not the kind of tight-checking league that it later became. So somebody could set a new record, but everything would have to go right for him.”

Things fell into place for Ferraro from an early age. At five, he started playing hockey on his father’s backyard rink, and he listed “NHL player” as his future career in his Grade One scrapbook. He had an innocent love of the game, not even realizing it was his draft year when he racked up 132 points in 40 games with the BCJHL’s Penticton Knights at age 17 and went 88th overall to the Hartford Whalers.

When Ferraro found out Portland would host the 1983 Memorial Cup, he accepted an offer to join the Winter Hawks, who emerged as champions. “Pat LaFontaine was playing for Verdun, and Kitchener brought a very good team. I had an OK tournament and scored in the final game. I was overwhelmed by the whole thing. To this day, it’s the only team award I’ve ever won in hockey.”

Ferraro was initially disappointed when Portland dealt him to Brandon in the off-season, along with four other players, in exchange for hot prospect Blaine Chrest. But the 192-point season he enjoyed, the camaraderie with teammates like Ron Hextall, and the friendship he forged with Wheaties GM Les Jackson made it all worthwhile. Brandon had seen tough times with unsettled ownership and poor on-ice performance, but the team had rebounded beautifully by the time the 5-9, 200-pounder graduated to the NHL.

Highlights of Ferraro’s 18-season NHL career with six clubs included two 40-goal campaigns, playing in the 1992 NHL All-Star Game, and knocking off the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins with the New York Islanders in 1993. Today, he’s a commentator for NBC Sports and married to Cammi Granato, the former captain of the American women’s Olympic hockey team.