Elmer Benning was inducted into the Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Wall of Honour in 2024.
``Formed last year and considered to be the first organization of its kind in Canada, the Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation is set to induct 45 inaugural members to their Wall of Honour at a special unveiling banquet on July 30. Sanders’ name is naturally included among those 45.``
“The successful NHL teams are a product of scouting … the good players don’t just appear, you’ve got to pick them,” said the Edmonton-born Garth Malarchuk, in his 31st year as an amateur scout with the Toronto Maple Leafs and also very involved with the new Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation, which plans on first saluting four amateur bird-dogs at a fund-raising celebrity roast for Ron MacLean at the Okotoks Centennial Arena Sept. 30.
``The Hockey Hall of Fame rarely inducts scouts in its Builders category, but amateur and pro scouts play indispensable roles in shaping the success of top National Hockey League franchises, as well as their farm teams. The WCPHS Foundation started as an idea for cataloging the rich history of scouting in the western regions of Canada and honoring prominent scouts who helped shape its history across different eras.``
``It was an emotional event, honouring the oft-forgotten scouts charged with finding the next superstars after Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby or Paul Coffey and , just as importantly but much more difficult, the next Kelly Buchberger or Ryan Smyth, heart-and-soul guys on a team. Their jobs - no, their passion - took the scouts to hockey rinks around the world, sitting in high corners while missing family birthdays and anniversaries because they loved the game so much.``
``Scouting is the lifeblood of any hockey team, and scouts can live a solitary life. Hours upon hours of travelling from one rink to another, usually by car, often in bad weather. Watching more than 200 games a year, producing reports on hundreds of players, and the payoff is that maybe the team drafts one player from the group you monitored.
And while scouts do qualify for inclusion in the Hockey Hall of Fame, they’re usually overlooked. So an idea like this — believed to be the first of its kind in Canada — is a long time coming.``
``Barry Fraser, Lorne Davis and Kevin Prendergast among 45 scouts being honoured in the Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation's inaugural Wall of Honour``
``They spend the hockey season travelling to games and being away from their families all in the hopes of finding the next franchise-changing gem. But unlike many executives — some who got their start in scouting — or coaches, players, or even athletic trainers and media members who get recognized for their efforts by the Hockey Hall of Fame, scouts have not received the same treatment.``
``The Hockey Hall of Fame rarely inducts scouts in its Builders category, but amateur and pro scouts play indispensable roles in shaping the success of top National Hockey League franchises, as well as their farm teams. The WCPHS Foundation started as an idea for cataloging the rich history of scouting in the western regions of Canada and honoring prominent scouts who helped shape its history across different eras.``