In celebration of its 50th anniversary year, the British Columbia Hockey League announced last week its all-time top-50 players, as chosen by fan balloting over the last two months. Ten players were chosen from each decade of the league’s existence.

Forward Bill ‘Spider’ Muckalt and goaltender Brad Thiessen were the only former Merritt Centennials to make the top-50 list. All told, eight past Cents were on the original ballot of 133 players that fans got to vote for. The other Centennials were Ed Beers, Ken Stroud, Rob Polmantuin, Frank Biller, Joe Rybar and Brandon Wong.

Muckalt spent two memorable seasons with the Cents (1992-4). In 114 games, he scored 45 goals and added 54 assists for 99 points. He is best remembered for his electrifying speed, his spectacular rushes down the sideboards, and his deft stickhandling.

Originally from Surrey, Muckalt went on to play four stellar years at the University of Michigan (102 goals, 123 assists) before enjoying parts of five seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild. In 256 NHL games, he amassed 40 goals and 57 assists for 97 points.

Thiessen, from Aldergrove, wrapped up a superb three-year career in the BCHL by playing the better part of the 2005-6 season in a Cents’ uniform. In 49 games for Merritt, he went 22-21-4 with a 92.20 save percentage. Following three years at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, Thiessen was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL. He has been the Pen’s farm system for the past five years, playing in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The BCHL top-50 list is an impressive one, with a number of notable players who went on to star in the NHL, including Greg Adams, Glenn Anderson, Doug Lidster, Andy Moog, Ryan Walter, Geoff Courtnall, Brett Hull, Mark Recchi, Cliff Ronning, Scott Gomez, Paul Kariya, Willie Mitchell, Brendan Morrison, Duncan Keith, Shawn Horcoff, Travis Zajac and Kyle Turris.