The Manitoba Hockey Hall Of Fame has announced their inductees for the 2026 class.
Flin Flon will be well represented as Ken Baumgartner will be one of 6 players inducted, as the product of the Flin Flon Minor Hockey system played 696 career games in the NHL with five different teams.
After finishing his junior career with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL which included a Memorial Cup, Baumgartner was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 12th round and 245th overall in the 1985 NHL Draft.
Baumgartner never played a single game for the Buffalo Sabres and he made his NHL debut for the Los Angeles Kings in 1987. Ken would also play for the New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and wrapping up his career with the Boston Bruins in 1999.
Baumgartner ended up playing in 696 career games with plenty of trips to the penalty box amassing 2,242 penalty minutes while serving as the NHL Players Association Vice President. He finished his career with 13 career goals.
Following his playing career Ken earned an MBA from Harvard University.
The 1968/69 Flin Flon Bombers are also being inducted into the team category.
This was a dominant power house of the WCHL finishing with a record of 47-13 and went on to beat the Edmonton Oil Kings for the President’s Cup. Flin Flon then went on to knock off the ST Thomas Barons for the National Championship the James Piggot Cup.
The roster was packed with incredible players led by former NHL Hall Of Famer Bobby Clarke.
The home town product was the Team Captain and led the team in points with 137 in just 60 games.
Flin Flon had plenty of other weapons including the Riverton Rifle, Reggie Leach. Leach was a massive offensive contributor and only suited up for 22 games that season but put up 46 points including 36 goals.
7 players from that team were born in Flin Flon and other key contributors included forwards Brian Marchinko, Steve Andrascik, Wayne Hawrysh, Defensemen Murray Anderson, Ron Wilson and stand out netminders Cal Hammond and Ray Martyniuk.
The team was coached by Paddy Ginnell who coached the Bombers for 7 seasons in the WCHL winning the League Championship twice including the 1968-69 season.
Ginnell was also player for the Flin Flon Bombers and was part of the Memorial Cup winning team in 1957. He would scout for the ST Louis Blues of the NHL for a number of seasons when his coaching career ended.
Paddy was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall Of Fame in 2009 as a builder.
This year’s induction ceremony has not announced a date, but an announcement is expected before Fall.
