Wayne Babych

BIO

Wayne Babych grew up in Edmonton, and his athletic prowess first shone through in baseball, and he pitched a perfect game at the age of fifteen. When the scouts came to see him pitch, they saw him hit four homeruns in addition to throwing 100 mph fastballs. Despite offers from professional baseball clubs, hockey became the name of Wayne’s game; while still playing at the junior level, he came close to besting fellow Ukrainian Canadian Bill Mosienko’s record for lightning-quick goals, scoring three in twenty-five seconds. Wayne was drafted third overall by the St. Louis Blues, and became the first player in that franchise’s history to net more than fifty regular season goals. The sharpshooter went on to score goals for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Quebec Nordiques, and Hartford Whalers, where he played with his brother Dave towards the end of his professional career that was cut short by injury. Wayne twice represented Canada in international play.

After retiring, Wayne spent decades supporting youth hockey development in Canada, including in remote indigenous communities. He coached and managed the first all-aboriginal hockey team, the Southeast Thunderbirds, to play in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

A grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Wayne recalls his father Edward telling him “Remember where you came from” as a kid, and he has done just that. Wayne has twice visited Ukraine together with his brother Dave, to put on skills clinics for young players and mentor coaches. Even during the pandemic, Wayne was instrumental in organizing Canadian Friends of Hockey in Ukraine’s shipments of equipment to children’s teams in small-town Ukraine.

Plans were in the works for the Babych brothers’ return to Ukraine prior to the war breaking out. They still plan on returning to their ancestral homeland after victory is won to help rebuild hockey in Ukraine.