Height: 5-8
Weight: 165
Shoot: L
Born: 28 Jun 1943, Fort William ON
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | Los Angeles | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Los Angeles | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Mich.-Balt. | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Cincinnati | |||||||||||
| Phoenix | ||||||||||||
| Totals (2 teams) | ||||||||||||
| 1976-77 | San Diego | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
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Veneruzzo Sharks' First Star • by Walt Marlow • The Hockey Spectator • January 12, 1973
The Sharks are generally regarded as a solid hockey team, well balanced, but lacking in individual stars. The deficit, if indeed it is a deficit, may well be vanishing. Gary Raymond Veneruzzo, a product of Canada's Thunder Bay territory, is dedicated to proving he belonged in the major leagues long before the WHA emerged. As the Sharks headed into the new year, Veneruzzo — a player who believes in himself — had been averaging a goal a game over the past 13 and is seemingly headed for his best year ever. Thirty-eight games into the season, he was leading the club in goals with 23, a pace that in all likelihood will surpass the 41 he hit with Denver of the Western League last season. "Yeah, I guess you could say I'm off to a pretty good start," volunteered the much-traveled 29-year-old left winger who has lived in relative obscurity despite the game's mass expansion movement over the past six years. "I went up to the St. Louis Blues for a cup of coffee (two games) last season," he recalled. "They insisted that I play the right side, that I wasn't there to score goals; just check my man. Then they said that I had to go back, that I wasn't a right winger, I didn't need them to tell me that, It's tough for me to play the right side. Back in Denver it was the same thing: you just stay there, we're short of right hand shots. The Blues never would give me a really good chance. I don't know why, but I think they wanted more of the rougher type, bigger guys. And that's not my kind of game." Admittedly, it hasn't been easy for Veneruzzo to generate sympathy. In addition to these 41 goals, he also counted 45 assists. Off those statistics, you could hardly call him a bad right winger. Unselfishly, he attributed the good year in large measure to Ron Buchanan, now with the Cleveland Crusaders. "We're a good club," he says. "We could go all the way." A graduate of the Fort William (Jr) Canadians, Veneruzzo was first owned by the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs let him go when he indicated he was going to attend Denver University and major in physical education and geography. "Somewhere along the way I was sidetracked," he said. "Rudy Migay of Toronto's farm team in Tulsa suggested that I go to the Leafs training camp. The Maple Leafs had me for three years, then St. Louis drafted me and I was owned by them for five years. But I can't complain, Hockey's been good to me. And now, with the WHA, it's even better." Few hockey players go through a career without injuries, and Veneruzzo is no exception. He's had three broken ankles, a couple of concussions and a separated shoulder. The Shark who'll emerge the hero In the second half of the season, he says, is his roomie, Joe Szura, who, through 38 games, had a mere four goals and 15 assists. "He's too good a hockey player for that kind of record," admonished Veneruzzo. "Lady Luck's not with him, He shoots at an empty net and the puck hits something. But he's gonna come on strong." Veneruzzo figures he's good for another 10 years in the game, then it's back to Thunder Bay area and home. Meanwhile, he's quite happy in Southern California. |
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1975-76 (by Dan Proudfoot)
Like so many others, Gary Veneruzzo was designated as a career minor leaguer before the WHA was established. Too small, too slow, too timid were some of the labels applied to people like Veneruzzo. In three WHA years, however, Veneruzzo has played against many former NHL stars — company supposedly too classy for him — and has continued scoring as he did in lesser leagues. Two years ago he shot 39 goals for Los Angeles Sharks. Last season it was 33 goals with the Michigan Stags, Baltimore Blades bouncing franchise. Veneruzzo is only 32, so he shouldn't slow down now. |
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1976-77 (by Dan Proudfoot)
Whenever Gary Veneruzzo has had the opportunity to settle down for awhile, he's proven to be a capable scorer and all-round player. Problem is, he's among the most unfortunate of WHA nomads who never seem to land on a team that offers any security. ... Cincinnati Stingers picked up Veneruzzo in a dispersal draft of Baltimore players in the summer of 1975 and then, a few months later, traded him to Phoenix. "All this hasn't been as tough on me as on my kids," Veneruzzo says. "I have a boy, 11, and a boy, 7, and it hasn't been good for their schooling. I hope the road ends here." Veneruzzo did his best to assure some stability for himself, getting 22 goals and 26 assists in 1975-76. |
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