Dresden Kings to Retire Shawn Babcock’s Jersey January 6

He was one of the greatest players to ever pull on a Dresden Jr. Kings jersey, now, his jersey will hang in the rafters at Lambton-Kent Memorial Centre in Dresden after the Kings retire his #5 jersey January 6.

Shawn Babcock will be honoured in a ceremony occuring before the Dresden Kings Alumni night game against the Kingsville Comets January 6.

Shawn Babcock played for the Dresden Kings in 1977 as a 15 year old, before moving up the junior hockey ranks and being a 3rd round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers. That season the Oilers selected Paul Coffey, followed by Babock, before they selected Jari Kurri.

According to Dave Cameron President of the Dresden Kings organization, Babcock brough many attributes to the ice, “He was one of those guys who tore up the ice when he was making those long strides, you could hear the ice shatter. He only played one year with the Junior Kings, he learned from a lot of great guys. One of his great attributes was dropping the mitts.”

Babcock is a Dresden Minor Hockey product, and also a Dresden Sports Hall of Fame inductee. After a brief professional hockey career, Shawn Babcock became the youngest captain in Kingston, Ontario fire department history. After his playing career ended, Babcock returned to Kingston, where he’d finished his junior career, to become an assistant coach with the OHL’s Frontenacs before jumping to the fire department.

Joe Park’s number was the first retired by the Dresden Kings.