Becker, Darell

BORN 15 APRIL 1958 IN CANADA, Becker played Junior A for the Penticton Vees in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League (1975, '76), then moved to the Kelowna Buckaroos ('77) where he became good mates with Craig Hutchinson. His scoring average was 1.7 points per game, and in 1978 he played 28 games for the Prince George Mohawks in the Cariboo Hockey League for an average 1.25 points per game. He played Junior A until 1979, Intermediate A at 20, then played for EV Fussen in Barvaria.

Becker moved to Melbourne Australia for the NIHL in 1980-1. He played for the renamed Oakleigh Golds (formerly Aces) on a roster coached by Roy Sargent that included many locals such as Ian Holmes, Terry Theobald, Paul Styles, Mark Roker, Barry Koski and Paul Groves in net. Max McKowen was trainer. Each season from 1981, Becker had six overseas player contracts to fill with the Oakleigh Gold Stars and later the Melbourne Jets. In the local league, he played 36 games for Hakoah winning state MVP, the President's Medal, in his first season.

In Adelaide in '83, Becker played for the local Blackhawks, as well as the Adelaide Flyers, the Slapshot '83 Champions. Thirteen year-old, Rob Heggie, on loan to the Flyers bench for the Slapshot series, remembers Becker as "by far the best player in the tournament with incredible hands... A huge tenacity and the heart of a lion. After the game he got a right-handed stick and shaved off the labels with a plane and wrote: 'Rob, you helped me and the Flyers win this tournament thank you for everything,' signed Darell Becker. He then had every single team member sign the stick, and I mounted it on my wall for 12 years. Darell inspired me to return to Canada and play Junior A. What a great man he is". [5]

In Sydney he played for the Sydney Icemen formed after the demise of the NIHL, on the eve of the inaugural State Superleague in 1982. He returned for the televised Slapshot 84 series with the Icemen, and made Centre of the All-star team with Hutchinson and Jeff Taylor on the wings. The Icemen lost to Canberra Knights in the Superleague final, but that year at Iceland Dandenong, Becker won the Goodall Cup representing New South Wales.

In the 1985 season, he played for the Canberra Knights with Dave Bernhardsson, where it was not unusual for him to pick up 5 points. He was a high-speed skater capable of expert maneuvering. The team led by Russ Johnson, with others such as Dean Pollock, Chuck Naish and Tom Korhonen, could comfortably outshoot their closest rivals by as much as 45-27. The Knights lost to Canadian teams early that season and later played New Zealand's Manu'wai Warriors. Former Warriors captain, Ritchie Hita, remembers Becker as a fabulous player and skater. "We got taken to the cleaners that day," he said. "A very gifted player who deserves that special honour". [2]

Becker moved to Perth where he coached the local A-grade Bombers in which Hutchinson played. Nearly three-quarters of Australia's national team for the 1987 IIHF Worlds in Perth were born overseas, but Becker did not play. Next year, the national team emphasis switched to youth, as if to console those capable of playing in the new D-Pool, but born locally. Eight under-20 players competed in the Thayer Tutt tournament in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and so did Becker. "He's a natural bona-fide scorer," observed Coach Dan Reynolds, "it's something you can't make. Darell led the scoring at our recent training camp in Bendigo and his experience should benefit our young forwards".

Three assists in Eindhoven were Becker's, and he had also represented Australia that year against Teen Ranch Allstars and the University of Iowa Cyclones in the President's Bicentennial series in Canberra. It was preparation for the 1989 Worlds in Sydney, although he did not compete. But he played every hockey state except Queensland.

Today, Becker is a Summer fishing guide in Summerland BC. [1] Dave McLelland, who officiated in the BCHL Junior-A league when Becker played, recalls he was "a solid guy all around," and John Botterill has described him as "one of the most skilled players I have ever had the privilege to play with and against!" [3] Similarly, former Bombers netminder, David Turik, considers Becker "the finest forward I played against in Australia. [He] played the game hard and correct and was a champion bloke off ice, as well". [4]