Have the members of that 78-79 Wheat King team — arguably the best junior hockey team of all time in the WHL — ever had a reunion?

We haven’t had a reunion for that particular team, but we had a general Wheat King reunion here last year. Several of the guys came back — Brian Propp, Ray Allison, a few other guys. It was a great time.

What players from that team do you still keep in touch with?

I keep in touch with Propp pretty regularly. Ray (Allison) a little bit. Time and distance, you know, it’s hard to keep track of everybody. Still very fond memories of that group. A great group of guys.

Legend is that you played every minute of that final against Peterborough, a 2-1 Wheat King overtime loss. Is that possible?

That’s pretty close. You just do it. We had Kelly Elcombe, Mike Perovich and Don Dietrich all injured. We were beat up by the time we got there. A couple of forwards, too.

Has it ever happened since that four players from the same team were drafted in the first round top 18 players (Laurie Boschman ninth, Propp 14th, McCrimmon 15th, Allison 18th)?

I don’t know if it has happened, but don’t forget Perovich was the first pick of the second round, which today would be a first-round pick.

What’s your fondest memory from those three years in Brandon?

My first year, the Wheat Kings were trying to find their way. Dunc (McCallum) was the coach. The convergence of that team, the group of players, it just happened. That first year I was here we had danny bonar as an overage. Great players. Really good guys. Real close team. You just knew you were going to win games. Real special group of players.

You’d likely love to relive those days, eh?

Well, I wish I was 19 again. I’d like to be 30 again.

What do you regard as the real highlight of winning the Stanley Cup with Calgary in 1989?

I was lucky enough to make it to the finals with Philly in 1985, ’87 and then ’89 with Caglary, so it was the third try. For me personally, it was ‘wow, relief.’ Finally took that last step. When you win championships, you play on real good teams. I just saw Joel Otto (a Calgary Hitmen assistant coach) a few minutes ago. You might not see each other, but when you cross paths, it’s like it was yesterday.

What was the biggest difference between this year’s Wings team and last year’s Stanley Cup finalist?

We lost — due to the (salary) cap rule — we lost Samuelsson, Hudler went to Russia and we lost Hossa. But we still got a great core, great players. We just didn’t have the same depth as last year. Third year in a row we played about 100 games. The guys have been going hard the whole time. I don’t know if they got tired or not, but just didn’t have enough juice to get ’er done.

What would you do if Kelly asked you to move to Brandon to coach the Wheat Kings?

He’s got a sadistic side. He’d get me here and fire me, I think.

You played three years or more with five different teams — Boston, Philly, Calgary, Detroit and Hartford. Where did you have the best success?

I think the stretch in Philly and Calgary were really good years. Had some good years in Detroit, too. I spent five years in Philly and I thought those years in Philly we were a strong team. Propp was there, and Ray (Allison) was there for a couple of years when I first got there. The partnership with Mark Howe for three years was pretty good. And I played three years with Gary Suter in Calgary. That was also a very good partnership.

What do you remember about your first NHL goal?

That’s easy. It was in Edmonton. Game 11. Mom and Dad were there. Grandma and Grandpa. Kelly was there. The whole crew was there. I pinched, kept it in, put it down to the goal line. Peter McNab threw it out front and Eddie Mio was in net. I shot it and the rebound came back to me in the air and I hit it out of the air and it went into the net. Eddie Mio got sent to the minors the next day.

Why didn’t those two years coaching the Blades work out as well as you would have liked?

I wouldn’t go that far. Tim Cheveldae was an assistant. There was a culture issue. The first year, by January, we cleared out of all the older players. It was a hard year. That summer, our guys put in a great summer and came back the next year and were a different team. A great group of kids, with a huge improvement. I didn’t know it at the time, but Les Lazaruk told me we set a goals-against record for the franchise.

Why did you leave?

Because Don Hay phoned me up and asked me to go to Calgary. It was a really hard decision to leave. I loved it there. Jack Brodsky’s a good manager. I really enjoyed coaching there. Very fulfilling and rewarding, but I had a lot of respect for Donnie Hay.

Gretzky vs. you, one on one, both in your prime. What usually happened?

I was lucky. I played on teams that were quite successful against him. Then in Calgary, I was lucky enough to watch him score five goals in one game and all that fun stuff. I can’t say that we owned him, but I can say we survived it.

Tell me about your children and what are their goals?

Liam’s 13, living large. Spends a lot of time at the rink. Playing lacrosse right now. Just a great kid. Phones Grandpa all the time and gives him reports on all the games. Gives him a blow by blow. My daughter Carlin is graduating Grade 12 and she decided a year ago she wants to get into nursing. So she’s going to Wayne State in Detroit. It’s one of the best nursing schools in the country, so she’s all fired up. My wife Maureen has put up with all my malarkey all these years. She’s a great gal.

Where did you meet her?

Philly.

You must have plenty of money and could retire. How long do you plan to stay involved in the game?

I love doing what I’m doing, no question about that. I see myself doing it for a number of years yet.