Nov 22, 2008 - 6:19 AM
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Clark's ceremony is one of two the Maple Leafs have scheduled for this season. They also will honor the No. 93 of Clark's old linemate, Doug Gilmour, on January 31 before a contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Toronto has made a practice of only retiring uniform numbers of distinguished players who are deceased or have had their careers shortened due to tragic incidents. Bill Barilko (No. 5) and Ace Bailey (6) are the only two who have fallen under that category.
On Saturday, Clark will join other legends such as Turk Broda and Johnny Bower (1), King Clancy and Tim Horton (7), Borje Salming (21) and Frank Mahovlich and Darryl Sittler (27) as those who have had their numbers "honored."
"It's huge," Clark said. "I'm very humbled and honored to go up there with the guys whose banners are already up there under the roof."
Drafted first overall in 1985, Clark had three tours of duty with Toronto. The 42-year-old native of Kelvington, Saskatchewan played nine seasons with the club from 1985-94 and returned for another 2 1/2 campaigns from 1996-98 before ending his 15-year career with the Maple Leafs in 2000.
Clark enjoyed the best season of his career with the Maple Leafs in 1993-94, when he recorded personal bests of 46 goals and 76 points in 64 games. He served as captain from 1991-94, leading Toronto to the Western Conference finals twice.
"It was an excellent group of guys, and it all started when (general manager) Cliff Fletcher came to town," Clark said of his glory days with the team. "He started orchestrating the lineup that he wanted together. He got Pat Burns to coach the team and then was able to pull off a huge deal in getting Dougie (Gilmour)."
Clark was traded in June 1994, along with Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson and a first-round draft selection, to the Quebec Nordiques for Mats Sundin, Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner and a first-round pick. He was re-acquired from the New York Islanders in March 1996 but shipped to the Tampa Bay Lightning three years later.
After beginning the 1999-2000 campaign with Chicago, Clark was let go by the Blackhawks and signed with the Maple Leafs, recording two goals and two assists in his final 20 NHL games.
In 608 career contests with Toronto, Clark registered 260 goals, 181 assists and 1,535 penalty minutes, which ranks third on the franchise list. The cousin of former NHL coach Barry Melrose and enforcer Joey Kocur, he amassed 330 tallies, 564 points and 1,690 penalty minutes in 793 career contests with the Maple Leafs, Nordiques, Islanders, Lightning, Detroit Red Wings and Blackhawks.
