NAME: Stacey Wakabayashi
UNIVERSITY: Alberta
CATEGORY: Student-Athlete
SPORT: Men’s Hockey
YEARS ACTIVE: 1984-1989
HIGHLIGHTS:
Canada West all-time leader in points (250)
University of Alberta’s all-time leader in goals (107), and assists (143)
Named the most outstanding player in CIAU hockey (1989)
Three-time Canada West First Team All-Star (1987, 1988, 1989)
Recipient of the Wilson Challenge trophy as Alberta’s top male athlete (1989)
BIOGRAPHY:
Over his five years as a student-athlete at the University of Alberta, Stacey Wakabayashi dominated Canada West men’s hockey as few ever have.
Wakabayashi played forward for the Golden Bears from 1984-85 to 1988-89, racking up 107 goals, 143 assists and 250 points to finish his career as the conference’s career leader in all three categories. Three decades later, he is still the top point-scorer in Canada West history, while remaining first all-time in Alberta men’s hockey history for goals and assists.
Alberta advanced to the CIAU championship tournament in four of Wakabayashi’s five seasons, winning the 1986 University Cup after finishing second in 1985. Wakabayashi was also part of two Canada West championship-winning teams, (1985 and 1989) with the Golden Bears.
In his final season, 1988-89, Wakabayashi was the top scorer in Canadian university hockey, and received nearly every award possible, from the CIAU’s outstanding player (Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy) to the University of Alberta’s outstanding male athlete (Wilson Challenge Trophy). He also was selected as an All-Canadian, earned a third consecutive Canada West First Team All-Star selection, and for a second straight season was recognized as the most sportsmanlike player in Canada West hockey (UBC Alumni Trophy). To top things off, The Hockey News named Wakabayashi its 1988-89 CIAU Player of the Year.
Wakabayashi grew up in the British Columbia interior, and won a WHL championship in 1983-84 with the Kamloops Junior Oilers before enrolling at the University of Alberta. In 1987, Wakabayashi represented his country in international hockey, helping Team Canada win the Spengler Cup and capture bronze at the Winter Universiade.
After graduating from the U of A with an education degree, Wakabayashi entered the teaching profession and returned to his native British Columbia. Since 2006 he has worked in Prince George for the Provincial Outreach Program for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, serving currently as a teacher consultant.
Wakabayashi was inducted in the University of Alberta Sports Wall of Fame in 2004.