1978-79 BWK Series — Day 12 — Roberts was Brandon’s forgotten man

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This article was published 09/08/2021 (1765 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If there’s a mystery man on the 1978-79 Brandon Wheat Kings, it’s Larry Roberts.

The Winnipegger came into the Western Hockey League as a top prospect after scoring more than 70 goals in his final season at the under-18 level, and contributed 20 goals and 33 assists in 70 games with the Calgary Wranglers during the 1977-78 season.

In an obscure bit of Wheat Kings trivia, he was the only player acquired by the team that season who joined them full time.

Brandon picked Roberts up on Oct. 18, 1978 from the Billings Bighorns, who had acquired him in the summer as part of a three-team deal with the Calgary Wranglers. Brandon traded the rights to 17-year-old Regina product Darren Babyck to the Pats, with Regina shipping 18-year-old John Eger to Billings.

Roberts became a depth player on Brandon’s championship team with 18 points in 55 games, and was traded to the Seattle Breakers the next season for 17-year-old winger John Strait, on Nov. 19, 1979. 

After playing 26 games with the Breakers, he disappears off online hockey databases for good.

Roberts didn’t stay in touch with anyone from the championship team, and four decades later, some of his former Brandon teammates don’t remember him well. 

RICK KNICKLE: “He looked like a beer-league guy but he had hands. He could do things and play. He played 55 games. He was one of those utility guys that you have to have in junior. John McPhee played 25 games and we called some guys up from the Travellers … Larry was your typical fourth-liner except he didn’t fight. He had 26 penalty minutes, which is a surprise, because everyone else had a lot … He could shoot a pretty good puck. I’m surprised he didn’t score more but he didn’t play enough.”

DON GILLEN: “Larry Roberts was a good guy. He was quite a talent before he came to Brandon and he wasn’t in very good shape. He was one of those guys who was always rounding into shape. He was a smart hockey player, but just because of the type of team we had, he didn’t end up getting a lot of opportunities.”

GREGG DRINNAN (Brandon Sun): “Larry Roberts sometimes got grief for not playing hard, but it wasn’t that he was not playing hard, it was just the way he looked. I remember people talking when I was a kid about Gordie Howe — not to compare Larry Roberts to Gordie Howe — but Gordie Howe didn’t always look like he was going 100 per cent but he was certainly working hard.”

STEPHEN PATRICK: “(Larry) had a lot of talent in minor hockey. The two best kids at that age group in Winnipeg at 15 were Dave McDonald and Larry Roberts. Larry could score and he had great hands but I don’t think his skating improved from 15 to 18.”

TIM LOCKRIDGE: “Larry was a pudgy little guy. He came from Winnipeg and he didn’t play in the third period a lot. He was a nice, easy-going guy.”

WES COULSON: “(Larry) was kind of a role player.”

KELLY McCRIMMON: “I don’t know where Larry was from and I don’t know where he went after. He was on the team all year and didn’t play very much.”

DAVE STEWART: “I think (Larry) was another guy who kept to himself.”

DAVE CHARTIER: “Larry was another good guy. He had raw talent. I got along with him fairly well.”

GREGG DRINNAN: “Because of his style, (Larry) was one of those players that afterwards, you were always asking yourself ‘Boy, there’s got to be more there to give.’ I don’t think he was as driven as some of them, and he just was who he was. What you saw was what you got.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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