Although I am no longer in any official position with the Minnesota Chiefs, I am proud to be a continuing part of the organization and to be making this announcement on behalf of the Minnesota Chiefs Hall of Fame. A highly selective group that aims to select the very elite among those who have donned the Chiefs jersey, the Hall of Fame will be inducting two players this off-season, two players who very well may be the two greatest Chiefs of all time up until this point. Both played the vast majority of their careers with the franchise and, together, hold nearly every cumulative franchise record for skaters. Together, they played 800 games and were able to help lead the team to a long period of sustained success and, ultimately, to a Challenge Cup in Season 39. Each player retired as top ten point scorers not only in franchise history, for which they rank 1 and 2, but in SHL history.

First, we will introduce the indisputable greatest Chief of all time: defenseman Alonzo Garbanzo. Drafted by the Chiefs with the second overall selection in the Season 21 SHL Entry Draft, Garbanzo was a highly regarded prospect that would meet all expectations for him. And then some. He would go on to make an immediate debut in the SHL, scoring 28 points in his rookie season. That would just be the beginning for Garbanzo, who played 24 seasons in the SHL (second most in SHL history), all for the Minnesota Chiefs. In his long career, he would bud into a superstar, long considered the best defenseman in the SHL and even receiving a Scott Stevens Trophy nomination in Season 24, just his fourth season in the league. When it was all said and done, Alonzo Garbanzo received an unprecedented ten nominations for the award for best defenseman in the SHL from Season 24 to Season 40, winning the award a record five times.

His accolades hardly end there. He was a nine time First Team All-Star, being named eight times from Season 26 to Season 37. Clearly one of the most dominant players in the SHL, he registered 40+ points and 100+ hits nine times and has 1882 career blocked shots – more than 500 more than the second place Bubba Nuck. If that isn’t impressive enough, cut his shot block total in half and he would rank 31st all-time. His 765 assists rank first in SHL history, a highly impressive total considering no other player even has 600. Garbanzo’s 973 points rank third all-time and best among defensemen by more than 200. The one-time Ron Mexico winner as the SHL MVP has gone down as one of the very best players in SHL history and should easily make it into the SHL Hall of Fame in his first season of eligibility. While a Challenge Cup eluded him until later in his career, he had everything you look for in a player’s legacy – longevity, dominance, accolades, championships, and leadership. It is with great honor than I announce the retirement of Garbanzo’s number 2 jersey and his induction into the Minnesota Chiefs Hall of Fame.


In addition to Garbanzo, we have another player who left behind a great legacy as both an all-time great Chief and SHLer in Lord Pretty Flacko. Pretty Flacko came to the Chiefs by way of free agency after Season 27 after spending a couple seasons with the New England Wolfpack, who drafted him at 5th overall in the Season 25 SHL Entry Draft, before moved to the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline. The Chiefs traded for his rights after the season and the rest was history. He ended up playing 16 seasons for the Chiefs until his retirement after Season 43, ending his career as the second longest tenured player in franchise history. In his time with the Chiefs, he scored 361 goals, the most by any player in a Chiefs jersey, 441 assists, and 802 points, both second in Chiefs history behind Alonzo Garbanzo. Lord Pretty Flacko’s run from Season 30 through Season 36, in which he eclipsed 60 points five times and 70 points once, led the league in goals twice, points twice, and assists once, named First Team SHL All-Star four times, second team twice, and third team once was perhaps one of the most dominant stretches of play the SHL has ever seen, spanning seven seasons. In the thirteen seasons between Season 30 and Season 42, not once did he score less than 40 points.

Overall, Lord Pretty Flacko retired as the SHL’s ninth leading scorer with 856 points and the only player in the top ten to have played less than 1000 career games. His 388 goals currently rank sixth all-time, a true display of his goal scoring prowess at his peak. Although by the time Season 39 rolled around he was not quite the consistently dominant player he was just a few seasons prior, he was still a major part of the Chiefs’ Season 39 Challenge Cup victory, a victory that truly cemented his legacy both in Minnesota Chiefs and in SHL history. Expected to be inducted into the SHL Hall of Fame in his first season of eligibility this off-season, he truly is one of the best to lace up the skates in the SHL and his contributions in Minnesota will now be cemented with the retirement of his number 13 and induction into the Chiefs Hall of Fame.


The Minnesota Chiefs were truly lucky to not only have had these two all time greats but to have had them together for sixteen seasons, a number of them while each were at their absolute best. One could make the argument that, at each of their bests, there has never been a forward or defenseman who played at such a dominant level for such an extended period of time in the history of the SHL, let alone for the Chiefs. The Chiefs would like to thank Alonzo Garbanzo and Lord Pretty Flacko for their tremendous contributions to the franchise and make sure these two incredibly special players are never forgotten.

@ArGarBarGar @Baelor Swift