Height: 6-3
Weight: 170
Shoot: L
Born: 15 Nov 1944, Montreal PQ
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| Edmonton | ||||||||||||
| Indianapolis | ||||||||||||
| Totals (3 teams) | ||||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Indianapolis | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
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The Splendid Splinter - Ron Buchanan • by Doug Clarke • The Hockey Spectator • December 1, 1972
He's been called, at one time or another, The Splendid Splinter of hockey, The Sorcerer, The Kid, Mr. Wizard and The Thin Man. His name is Ron (Bucky) Buchanan and it is this elongated 6-3, 178-pound version of Rumpelstiltskin on skates who is making things happen for the Cleveland Crusaders. Sure, the Crusaders have Gerry Pinder, Gary Jarrett and Paul Shmyr, the renegades from the National Hockey League, and they are contributing the way they were expected to contribute, but it is Buchanan who has won the hearts of Crusader fans with his electrifying play so far this season. Buchanan, another one of those "no-name" players from the Western Hockey League when he arrived in Cleveland, has arrived as a legitimate star. If they whisper in revered tones about the work of goaltender Gerry Cheevers around the league, so too are they beginning to appreciate The Splendid Splinter. And well they might. Buchanan has been the Crusaders' top scoring threat since the outset of the campaign and with two successive sparkling nights back to back last week against Minnesota (three assists) and Ottawa (four goals and one assist). Bucky has 11 goals and 16 assists for the year to catapult him right into the thick of the battle for league scoring honors with 27 points. Buchanan, who as the center is the ringleader of the rejuggled Unstoppables, does not appear to have any preference as to who are his linemates. Mr. Wizard, while playing with Jarrett and Skip Krake on the wings, has been the magnet which has made this line the most productive Crusaders' line. But with Krake suffering torn knee ligamerits inthe Minnesota game, Buchanan has had Bob Dillabough as his right winger and that combination produced three of Bucky's goals in his four-goal outburst against Ottawa. Buchanan's scoring burst has put him already within nine goals of the goal he set for himself in training camp. "I had a lucky game," said The Thin One of his hat trick. "I may never get a game like this the rest of my career." The Unstoppables, who stayed in first place as a result of the 6-3 victory over Ottawa, have been fortunate so far avoiding serious injuries, but when they do crop up, such as Krake's, there has always been someone ready to step in and fill the vacancy. Dillabough, normally a penalty killer, was impressed with Buchanan's easy, flowing style of skating. "I think I'm going to like playing with Bucky," he chortled after setting up his center iceman three times. |
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1975-76 (by Dan Proudfoot)
When Buchanan discovered, to his dismay, that he didn't enjoy living in Edmonton, where he was traded last season by Cleveland Crusaders, Racer GM Jim Browitt got busy. Several teams wanted Buchanan, including a determined NHL pitch, but Browitt outhustled them all to arrange a transfer. Buchanan's talents as a center were beyond dispute, after 10 years as a professional, and the dividends were obvious almost immediately after his arrival in Indianapolis. Buchanan, Heatley and Whitlock formed Racers' best forward unit, with Buchanan's intelligent playmaking the key. |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander Complete Hockey Handbook, 1975-76 (by Reyn Davis)
Had the distinction of scoring the first goal in two Coliseum openings in 1974 in a brief stint with the Edmonton Oilers ... Fired first goal in Nick Mileti's $30-million Coliseum, home of the Cleveland Crusaders, the team which only days earlier had traded him to Edmonton ... Then scored the first goal in the opening of Edmonton's $20-million Coliseum ... Retained by the Racers after he left Edmonton, requesting a trade back to an American-based team ... Brought much needed offensive punch to Indianapolis, averaging almost a point per game ... Centered what Indiana pundits called "the Lifeline", because it did most of the producing, playing between Murray Heatley and Bobby Whitlock ... Spent a night on a metal hospital bed wondering if he would ever walk again after a severe back injury that left him temporarily paralyzed in January 1974 ... Makes his home in Indianapolis. |
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