Height: 5-8
Weight: 175
Shoot: L
Born: 24 Dec 1941, Dryden ON
| 
| 
|
Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| Edmonton | ||||||||||||
| Totals (2 teams) | ||||||||||||
| Totals: |
|
Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1975-76 (by Reyn Davis)
Leads the league in guts ... A great skater — backwards ... Blocks shots with a masochistic fashion, endearing himself to coaches, goaltenders and fans and amazing other defensemen ... Said to have no threshold of pain ... Almost unbeatable on his left side, but has been victimized to the inside ... Found the 1974-75 season a little tougher than most (100 stitches), with Paul Shmyr gone so much of the time ... Ripped his leg open, needing 38 stitches, but was back on the ice before the game was over ... Made of coal dust, jack pine, and rock |
|
One of Life's Little Ironies • by Rich Passan • The Hockey Spectator • May 4, 1973
Life is full of ironies that defy belief. One such irony deals with Wayne Muloin, the gutty little defenseman for the Cleveland Crusaders. Muloin was one of the few hockey players who was not drafted by the World Hockey Association, even though he had a few years of National Hockey League experience. The season before, Muloin had enjoyed a fine year with the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League. The Barons were the development club for the Minnesota North Stars, who owned Muloin's contract. Last summer, Muloin was visited by Parker MacDonald, who was signing minor league players for the North Stars. Wayne verbally agreed to terms, but didn't put pen on paper for some unexplained reason. Instead, he took a 10 day vacation in Penticton, British Columbia. When he returned, he received a telephone call from his agent. "He told me he had four WHA teams interested in me," Muloin recalled. The cities were Ottawa New York Chicago and Cleveland. "He asked me which one I wanted to play for and I immediately said Cleveland." said Muloin, who cited the Crusaders management as one of the major reasons for his choice. "That's the best holiday I ever took," the long haired backliner said. "If I hadn't taken it, I might have signed with the North Stars. And, of course, languished again in the minors. Now he's in the big time. "I've always felt I could play in the big time," said the 5-8, 170 pounder. It's been said of Muloin that he may be 5-8 and 170 but he plays more like he's 6-1 and 200. Just ask enemy forwards. He has a patent on the crowd pleasing hip check. "I picked that up in junior hockey," Wayne said. "Butch Barber was my partner with Edmonton and we took turns picking off guys that way." "It's an art that was beginning to die. People like to see it," Muloin went on. "You get a lot of noise banging a guy against the boards, but the people seem to enjoy the hip check more." He has been so effective with it, teammates Paul Shmyr and Ray Clearwater have picked it up and used it occasionally. If not delivered correctly, the hip check can backfire. Like last season with the Barons in the opening round of the Calder Cup playoffs against the Baltimore Clippers. Muloin lined up the Clips' Dunc Rousseau for one of his specialties and got more of his back into the check and sprained his sacroiliac. He was through for the playoffs. In fact, he was in such great pain, it took him 20 minutes just to straighten up after the game. He had to be showered and dressed as the injury immobilized him. Muloin plays the game in a tireless and fearless fashion that frightens some people. When he broke a bone in his foot in early March while stopping a shot, a former coach said "I'm surprised he hasn't been injured earlier than this, the way he plays the game." Countered Wayne: "Hard work makes up for a lot of mistakes." Another Muloin trademark is his uncanny shot blocking ability. As a matter of fact, that's how he sustained the broken foot. "Being shorter, I can get down to the ice a little quicker," said Muloin, who drops straight down rather than throwing his body parallel to the ice. "It comes natural to me. It's the only way I can stop a shot. The puck doesn't scare me. I'm not afraid of it hitting my face because I can usually tell where it will hit me. The reason I go straight down is so I can bounce back up on my skates quicker." Muloin is not noted as a dirty hockey player; thus, engages in few, if any, fights. "When I hit somebody, I don't high stick him," said the 31-year-old blueline patrolman. "I guess that's why they leave me alone." He prefers it that way. |
_______________________________________
Home • Book • Credits & Legal Stuff
(c) Scott Surgent