the numbers that always defined Cliff Ronning were his height of 5'8" inches and size at 165 pounds.
His all life Ronning faced detractors and experts who said many years ago he would never make it in the NHL, because he was too small. No matter how impressive his offensive numbers were in junior, international or minor pro hockey, he was always told he was not big enough for the National Hockey League.
The shifty centre believes the constant criticism actually helped him become the great NHL hockey player he became more so than hinder him.
"It did the opposite. If anything, I'd like to thank those people who said that. That's what kept me wanting to keep proving things," he said. "If no one said anything, I probably wouldn't have that feeling I have to keep proving myself."
Ronning had hands soft enough to stickhandle in a phone booth. He also has great first-step speed, which he utilizes in a variety of ways to help his teammate, most notably by turning on a dime while carrying the puck to buy him extra time. Ronning has a knack of finding the hole in the open ice and he is effective at distracting a goalie by using his speed to buzz around a net. He’s also tremendously poised, and despite his size, was never afraid to zip in and out of the high traffic areas. Ronning was particularly dangerous on the power play, where he loved to come off the wall and curl into the slot where he would either pass to the corners or slip in further to unleash his weak but accurate shot.
In Vancouver, Ronning immediately was given the opportunity to succeed. He finished the season with 12 points in 11 games before leading all Vancouver skaters in goals and points in the playoffs.
The following year, 1991-92, he finished second in Canucks scoring with 71 points. In the following post-season, he again led all Vancouver skaters with playoff goals, and finished just one point out of the scoring lead.
1992-93 proved to be Ronning's finest individual season. He scored a career high 29 goals and 85 points, finishing second to Pavel Bure in the team scoring race.
The 1993-94 regular season was a disappointment for both Ronning and the Canucks.
Both the Canucks and in particular Ronning rectified their poor regular season showing in the playoffs. The team went on an unexpected playoff run, finishing just one goal shy in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. Ronning's 5 goals and 15 assists during that post season may be overshadowed by the likes of Bure, Trevor Linden, and Geoff Courtnall, but Ronning was a significant contributor to that magical post season run. The hometown hero added boyhood spunk to his already established reputation as a playoff warrior. John Davidson, colour man on the MSG/ESPN television broadcasts, was so impressed that he called Ronning "one of the top three forwards in the finals, perhaps Vancouver's best." In a match up that featured the likes of Bure, Linden, Mark Messier, Adam Graves and Alexei Kovalev, that is an impressive compliment.
The man everyone said was too small to play in the NHL is better remembered as the shifty, creative, and dauntless warrior who always brought everything he could, particularly in the playoffs when he raised his game to another level.
