Denis Savard
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| Position | Centre |
| Shot | Right |
| Nickname(s) | Savvy |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg/12 st 2 lb) |
| Pro clubs | Chicago Blackhawks Montreal Canadiens Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | February 4, 1961 , Pointe Gatineau, PQ, CAN |
| NHL Draft | 3rd overall, 1980 Chicago Blackhawks |
| Pro career | 1980 – 1997 |
| Hall of Fame, 2000 | |
Denis Joseph Savard (born February 4, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1997. He is the current head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. Savard was born in Pointe Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
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[edit] NHL Playing Career
Denis Savard was drafted in the first round, 3rd overall, in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Black Hawks. He was the highest drafted player in Blackhawks' history, until the organization drafted Patrick Kane with the first overall pick in 2007. He began his career during the 1980–81 NHL season in which he had three assists in his first game. He then went on to set the Black Hawks' record (since broken) for most points by a rookie with 75.
He was known for his trademark move, the 'Savard Spin-o-rama' (a term actually coined by Danny Gallivan, referencing the move performed by Serge Savard [1]) , which entailed Savard whirling around with the puck in a full rotation allowing him to defeat defenders and goaltenders alike.
Savard had two separate stints with the Blackhawks. The first was from the 1980–81 season to the 1989–90 season. The second was from 1994–95 to 1996–97. During his absence from Chicago, he played for the Montreal Canadiens (1990–91 to 1992–93) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94 to 1994–95).
In 1990, Savard was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Defenceman and future team captain Chris Chelios and a second-round pick (Mike Pomichter) on June 29, 1990. Savard won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993. He was soon traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he played 2 seasons. On April 6, 1995 Savard was traded back to Chicago, for a 1996 sixth-round pick (Xavier Delisle).
In 1196 NHL games, Savard scored 473 goals and 865 assists, totalling 1338 points. He trails only Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita for total points in Chicago Blackhawks history. Five times during his career he scored at least 100 points and for seven straight years he had at least 30 goals. His highest point total of 131 came in 1987–88 and his highest goal total of 47 came in 1985–86. In 169 playoff games, he scored 66 goals and 109 assists for a total of 175 points.
Savard officially retired from professional hockey on June 26, 1997. On March 19, 1998, the Blackhawks retired his jersey number #18. Savard was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 13, 2000. Denis Savard has a cousin named Jean Savard who also played in the NHL. Despite the same last name and the same number (#18) as Serge Savard, the two are only distantly related.
[edit] Career Statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1977–78 | Montreal Juniors | QMJHL | 72 | 37 | 79 | 116 | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1978–79 | Montreal Juniors | QMJHL | 70 | 46 | 112 | 158 | 88 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 46 | ||
| 1979–80 | Montreal Juniors | QMJHL | 72 | 63 | 118 | 181 | 93 | 10 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 8 | ||
| 1980–81 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 76 | 28 | 47 | 75 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1981–82 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 80 | 32 | 87 | 119 | 82 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 52 | ||
| 1982–83 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 78 | 35 | 86 | 121 | 99 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 22 | ||
| 1983–84 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 75 | 37 | 57 | 94 | 71 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 1984–85 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 79 | 38 | 67 | 105 | 56 | 15 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 20 | ||
| 1985–86 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 80 | 47 | 69 | 116 | 111 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1986–87 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 40 | 50 | 90 | 108 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 1987–88 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 80 | 44 | 87 | 131 | 95 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 17 | ||
| 1988–89 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 58 | 23 | 59 | 82 | 110 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 10 | ||
| 1989–90 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 60 | 23 | 57 | 80 | 56 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 41 | ||
| 1990–91 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 28 | 31 | 59 | 52 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 35 | ||
| 1991–92 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 77 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 73 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 8 | ||
| 1992–93 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 63 | 16 | 34 | 50 | 90 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 1993–94 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 74 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 106 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994–95 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 31 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994–95 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 12 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 10 | ||
| 1995–96 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 69 | 13 | 35 | 48 | 102 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 1996–97 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 64 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 60 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| QMJHL Totals | 214 | 146 | 309 | 455 | 203 | 21 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 54 | ||||
| NHL Totals | 1196 | 473 | 865 | 1338 | 1336 | 169 | 66 | 109 | 175 | 256 | ||||
[edit] Coaching career
Shortly after his retirement as a player, Savard began a coaching career with the Blackhawks in December 1997. On November 27, 2006, Savard became the interim head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks after Trent Yawney was fired mid-season. He was commended for leading a young Blackhawks team to within 3 points of a playoff berth during his second season as coach. The Hawks finished just one victory away from the .500 mark in 2007–2008. The 40 wins in 2007–08 marked the first time the club had reached the 40 win mark in six years.
[edit] Coaching Record
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | OTL | Pts | Division Rank | Result | ||
| CHI | 2006–07 | 61 | 24 | 30 | 7 | (71) | 5th in Central | Missed Playoffs |
| CHI | 2007–08 | 82 | 40 | 34 | 8 | 88 | 3rd in Central | Missed Playoffs |
| CHI | 2008–09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 143 | 64 | 64 | 15 | 143 | |||
[edit] See also
- Retired NHL Players
- List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame
- Hockey Hall of Fame
- List of NHL statistical leaders
- List of NHL seasons
- List of NHL players with 1000 points
[edit] References
- "One on One with Serge Savard" by Kevin Shea, December 16, 2003, retrieved August 10, 2006
- Hockey draft central
[edit] External links
- Denis Savard's biography at Legends of Hockey
- Denis Savard's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
