Ralph Klassen - Junior Hockey Career

Junior Hockey Career

Klassen began down his path to a hockey career in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, where as a very talented young player with exceptional skating ability, he entered the major junior hockey ranks in the Western Canadian Hockey League at the young age of 15. The interesting footnote to this fact is that in major junior hockey in Canada, the majority of players are in the much older, bigger, 18-20 year old age group, and it is rare for a 15 year old player to toil at the this level. Major junior hockey is an entry point for players to potentially play professionally, as 19 and 20 year olds become eligible to be drafted by professional teams. Current Canadian Hockey Association rules prohibit players at age 15 from playing in the major junior hockey leagues, unless they are deemed "exceptional". Even in the 1970's it was unusual for 15 year old players to play at such a high level, but Klassen's hard skating, size and stick-handling skills were the pivotal factors to break into, and play consistently in an established league such as the Western Canadian Hockey League (WCHL), with the much older, experienced players. Klassen played his entire major junior career with the Saskatoon Blades of the WCHL, where as a forward rotating between the center and left-wing positions, he skated for five seasons. He posted his highest scoring production as a junior with the Saskatoon Blades at 77 total points including 23 goals, in 1973-74. He captained the Saskatoon Blades in 1974-75, and played for the National Canadian team at the World Junior Hockey Championships where Canada won a silver medal in 1975.