Hockey Statues

While on vacation I purposely tried to stay away from hockey as much as possible. But I was able to convince my travelling companions to go up to the Northlands area of Edmonton the night after the severe thunderstorm. That was the area supposedly hardest hit, so they wanted to go see the damage.

I agreed to drive them out that way knowing full well that we would somehow bump into this, much to their dismay:


On August 27th, 1989 the city of Edmonton erected this slightly bigger than life sized bronze statue of Wayne Gretzky just outside of what is now called Rexall Place.

The project was a bit controversial at the time. Gretzky had left for Los Angeles just one year earlier. The city and the fans wanted it done, but the Oilers did not at that time, probably thinking it was too early.

Thanks to the financial support of Molson Breweries the project went ahead. And since the city of Edmonton owned the Northlands Coliseum (Rexall Place's old name that to this day I always say out of nostalgic habit), there was no way for the Oilers to block the gesture.

Gretzky was on hand for the unveiling of the statue, as captured in this grainy newspaper clip:

That must be a real humbling/weird feeling looking up at a statue of yourself. All of which got me thinking: what other hockey statues are out there?

I've seen Rocket Richard in Gatineau and another outside of Olympic Stadium Park in Montreal. Then there's the famed Ken Dryden "thinker pose" statue at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Gordie Howe was recently immortalized at Joe Louis Arena. The Czechs honored the great Ivan Hlinka in 2008, while Denver University bronzed Murray Armstrong, a 8 year NHL veteran turned school coaching legend.

What other hockey statues are out there? Post about them in the comments section, if possible with a link to a photo or story about the statues.