Overview
Michael R. Rogers (born October 24, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played five seasons in the World Hockey Association, followed by seven seasons in the National Hockey League.
Playing career
Rogers was drafted by both the Vancouver Canucks (5th round, 77th overall) of the NHL and the Edmonton Oilers (4th round, 48th overall) of the WHA in 1974. He chose to start his professional career with the Oilers and was the Oilers' team-scoring champion in their third (1974–75) season. Rogers was traded to the New England Whalers, with whom he entered the NHL when the leagues merged for the 1979–80 NHL season. Rogers is one of four players to have scored 100 or more points in each of his first three NHL seasons, the others being Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Peter Stastny. The season saw him record 103 points on 38 goals and 65 assists to become the third Ranger in franchise history to record 100 points and the first in ten years (in the next four decades, only four other Rangers had done so). After the season ended, Rogers wanted to try something different.
He reflected in a 2020 interview: Twelve years was … enough. Ann and I wanted to travel; living in Calgary you want to get away in the winter. The hockey travel grind had started to get to me a little bit, too. So a lot of factors entered into the decision. I sat down with my wife and said: ‘Had a good run.’ I’d never say a bad thing about those 12 years but they’d kind of took a toll. I could’ve signed another contract after my last year in the NHL. But my stats weren’t what they’d been. I knew I wasn’t playing as well as I had and I didn’t want to be one of those guys that just hung on for the sake of it. He played one season with Ambrì-Piotta in the Swiss League, scoring 20 goals in 26 games before electing to return to Calgary to retire and spend time with his family. He later worked in the gas and oil industry.
Rogers was the colour commentator for the Calgary Flames on Calgary radio stations for 12 years before announcing his retirement on July 25, 2013.
Legacy
In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Rogers at No. 88 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team’s first 82 seasons. In 2016, he was inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.
See also
* List of NHL players with 100-point seasons
External links
* *2019 Interview with Rogers