Mike Rogers

Michael R. Rogers (born October 24, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played five seasons in the World Hockey Association, followed by seven seasons in the National Hockey League.

Playing career

Rogers was drafted by both the Vancouver Canucks (5th round, 77th overall) of the NHL and the Edmonton Oilers (4th round, 48th overall) of the WHA in 1974. He chose to start his professional career with the Oilers and was the Oilers' team-scoring champion in their third (1974–75) season.

Rogers was traded to the New England Whalers, with whom he entered the NHL when the leagues merged for the 1979–80 NHL season.

Rogers is one of four players to have scored 100 or more points in each of his first three NHL seasons, the others being Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Peter Stastny.

The season saw him record 103 points on 38 goals and 65 assists to become the third Ranger in franchise history to record 100 points and the first in ten years (in the next four decades, only four other Rangers had done so).

After the season ended, Rogers wanted to try something different. He reflected in a 2020 interview:

Twelve years was … enough. Ann and I wanted to travel; living in Calgary you want to get away in the winter. The hockey travel grind had started to get to me a little bit, too. So a lot of factors entered into the decision. I sat down with my wife and said: ‘Had a good run.’ I’d never say a bad thing about those 12 years but they’d kind of took a toll. I could’ve signed another contract after my last year in the NHL. But my stats weren’t what they’d been. I knew I wasn’t playing as well as I had and I didn’t want to be one of those guys that just hung on for the sake of it.

He played one season with Ambrì-Piotta in the Swiss League, scoring 20 goals in 26 games before electing to return to Calgary to retire and spend time with his family. He later worked in the gas and oil industry.

Rogers was the colour commentator for the Calgary Flames on Calgary radio stations for 12 years before announcing his retirement on July 25, 2013.

Legacy In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Rogers at No. 88 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team’s first 82 seasons. In 2016, he was inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1971–72 Calgary Centennials WCHL 66 27 30 57 19 13 2 4 6 2 1972–73 Calgary Centennials WCHL 67 54 58 112 44 6 8 5 13 2 1973–74 Calgary Centennials WCHL 66 67 73 140 32 14 13 16 29 6 1974–75 Edmonton Oilers WHA 78 35 48 83 2 — — — — — 1975–76 Edmonton Oilers WHA 44 12 15 27 10 — — — — — 1975–76 New England Whalers WHA 36 18 14 32 10 17 5 8 13 2 1976–77 New England Whalers WHA 78 25 57 82 10 5 1 1 2 2 1977–78 New England Whalers WHA 80 28 43 71 46 14 5 6 11 8 1978–79 New England Whalers WHA 80 27 45 72 31 10 2 6 8 2 1979–80 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 44 61 105 10 3 0 3 3 0 1980–81 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 40 65 105 32 — — — — — 1981–82 New York Rangers NHL 80 38 65 103 43 9 1 6 7 2 1982–83 New York Rangers NHL 71 29 47 76 28 1 0 0 0 0 1983–84 New York Rangers NHL 78 23 38 61 45 1 0 0 0 0 1984–85 New York Rangers NHL 78 26 38 64 24 3 0 4 4 4 1985–86 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 20 9 15 24 28 — — — — — 1985–86 New York Rangers NHL 9 1 3 4 2 — — — — — 1985–86 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 33 15 28 43 14 — — — — — 1985–86 Edmonton Oilers NHL 8 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 1986–87 HC Ambrì–Piotta NDA 26 21 14 35 26 — — — — — WHA totals 396 145 222 367 109 46 13 21 34 14 NHL totals 484 202 317 519 184 17 1 13 14 6

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1981 Canada WC 6 0 1 1 4 Senior totals 6 0 1 1 4