Bob Halkidis

To say Bob Halkidis is a well traveled battler of hockey wars is an under statement. Its actually hard to remember that he began his career with the Buffalo Sabres organization.

Halkidis enjoyed relative stability while with the Sabres organization. He was drafted 81st overall in the 1984 NHL entry draft. Following a 3 year junior hockey career with the OHL's London Knights, Halikidis jumped directly to the National Hockey League. He finished the 1984-85 junior hockey season by being called up for 4 playoff games in which Halkidis did not look out of place.

Injury problems really interrupted Halkidis' development as a player. In 1985-86 Halkidis had made the Sabres team from training camp, but injuries limited him to just 37 games. The following season the Sabres felt Halkidis would be best served making up for lost development time by playing in the minor leagues rather than the AHL. He would return to the NHL in 1987-88, but injuries again would cause him to miss half of each of the next two seasons.

Halkidis was able to return to health in 1989-90 but found himself traded to the Los Angeles Kings. He would spend that season with three teams - the NHL Kings and the AHL Rochester Americans and AHL New Haven Night Hawks. It would be just the beginning of a whirlwind tour of hockey of many different levels.

Over the course of the 1990s, Halkidis found himself playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders. All together he was able to participate in 256 NHL games, scoring 8 goals and 40 points. However he also spent as much time in the minor leagues. He played in such cities as Phoenix (IHL), St. John's, Newfoundland, Milwaukee, Adirondack, Atlanta (IHL), Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, Carolina, Winston-Salem and Greensboro as well as in Finland, Germany, Russia and Britain!

Aside from his many travels, Bob will be remembered as a depth defenseman who was able to fill in with some physical exuberance when called upon. He had little in terms of tangible skills, but always gave an honest performance.

Nowadays Halkidis runs his own training consulting business.