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Providence, RI (December 4, 2007): The late Steve Kraftcheck, who finished a brilliant American Hockey League career here with the Rhode Island Reds in the early 1960s, has been elected to the “Class of 2008” American Hockey League Hall of Fame. An outstanding defenseman, Kraftcheck joined the Cleveland Barons in 1949 and embarked on an AHL career that saw him become a perennial all-star. He garnered first-team all-star recognition four consecutive seasons in the AHL (1956-1960) and was chosen twice to the league’s second team (1955-56 and 1960-61.) He also appeared in 157 NHL games with Boston, the Rangers and Toronto. After a stint with the Rangers, he was reacquired by the Barons in 1953 as part of a deal that sent goaltender Johnny Bower to New York. Kraftcheck helped Cleveland win the Calder Cup in 1954 and in 1957. Kraftcheck was acknowledged as a true student of the game and was chosen to be player-coach of the Rochester Americans for parts of three seasons (1958-1961). In 1958-59 he captured the inaugural Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s outstanding defenseman. Most impressive, though, was his durability. He was a man who “played hurt.” In 877 of his teams’ games, he played in 839 (missing only 38) – an amazing percentage of nearly 96 percent. Acquired from Toronto in late 1962, Kraftcheck played two seasons for the Reds. In 1962-63 he helped lead the Reds to a first-place finish in the AHL’s Eastern Division. He retired while with the Reds in 1964 as the AHL's all-time leading scorer among defensemen with 453 points, and his record stood for more than 40 years. A native of Tinturn, Ont., Kraftcheck passed away in 1997 at age 68 here in Rhode Island, where he settled after hockey and worked at Kirkbrae Country in Lincoln. Kraftcheck will be inducted posthumously into the AHL Hall of Fame at the league’s All-Star Classic in Binghamton on January 27-28. Others to be enshrined as part of the “Class of 2008” are Noel Price, another outstanding blueliner, and Tim Tookey, the AHL’s fourth all-time leading scorer with 974 points. |
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