John Davidson (ice hockey)

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For other persons named John Davidson, see John Davidson (disambiguation).

John Davidson (born February 27, 1953 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), is the president of hockey operations of the St. Louis Blues and a former goaltender for the St. Louis Blues (1973–75) and New York Rangers (1975–83) of the National Hockey League. He is also well-known as a long-time hockey broadcaster.

Growing up in western Canada, he played left wing until age 16, when he was moved to goaltender. Drafted fifth overall in 1973, he became the first goalie in NHL history to jump directly from major junior to the NHL. While his hockey career was fraught with many significant injuries, he is perhaps best remembered (as a player) for leading the Rangers to the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals on an injured left knee. His jersey numbers were 35, 00 and 30[1].

After retiring due to injury, he joined MSG's hockey coverage staff in 1983, and was the color commentator for Rangers games from 1986–87 to 2005–06. Davidson, often known by the nickname "J.D.", has become one of the most prominent color analysts in sports, and his hockey insight is so well respected that he currently sits on the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee. Long-time network TV partner Mike Emrick also sits on that committee, and the two shared the 2004 Lester Patrick Trophy for service to hockey in the U.S. [2]

Davidson (like his former MSG booth-mates Sam Rosen and Al Trautwig) has also contributed to NHL coverage on various national television networks (including CBC, FOX, ABC, ESPN, NBC and Versus when it was the American version of the Outdoor Life Network (OLN)). The following timeline is a list of all season-long hockey coverage he has done, such as in-game commentary and post-game analysis shows. It does not include special events such as the Winter Olympics or Canada Cup. Davidson was known as a broadcaster for his signature phrase of "Oh baby!". He was also featured in full motion videos shot for the EA Sports videogame NHL 97.

Davidson was named President of Hockey Operations for the Blues on June 30, 2006. He has committed to building a strong American base for the once-proud franchise.

Contents

[edit] Achievements - playing

[edit] Achievements - broadcasting

  • CableACE - "Outstanding Live Event Coverage" (1994)
  • New York Emmy - "Outstanding On-Camera Achievement" (1995, 2001)
  • Lester Patrick Trophy - "Contribution to American hockey" (2004)

[edit] Statistics - Regular season

   
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1969–70 Calgary Centennials WCHL 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0.00
1970–71 Lethbridge Sugar Kings AJHL 46 3760 142 3 3.09
1971–72 Calgary Centennials WCHL 66 3970 157 8 2.37
Edmonton Oil Kings WCHL 2 0 2 0 118 9 0 4.58
1972–73 Calgary Centennials WCHL 63 3735 201 2 3.30
1973–74 St. Louis Blues NHL 39 13 19 7 2300 118 0 3.08
1974–75 St. Louis Blues NHL 40 17 15 7 2360 144 0 3.66
Denver Spurs CHL 7 4 2 1 420 27 0 3.86
1975–76 New York Rangers NHL 56 22 28 5 3207 212 3 3.97
1976–77 New York Rangers NHL 39 14 14 6 2116 125 1 3.54
New Haven Nighthawks AHL 2 119 5 0 2.52
1977–78 New York Rangers NHL 34 14 13 4 1848 98 1 3.18
1978–79 New York Rangers NHL 39 20 12 5 2232 131 0 3.52
1979–80 New York Rangers NHL 41 20 15 4 2306 122 2 3.17
New Haven Nighthawks AHL 4 1 3 0 238 16 0 4.02
1980–81 New York Rangers NHL 10 1 7 1 560 48 0 5.14
1981–82 New York Rangers NHL 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1.00
Springfield Indians AHL 8 3 4 0 437 24 0 3.30
1983–83 New York Rangers NHL 2 1 1 0 120 5 0 2.50
NHL CAREER TOTALS 301 123 124 39 17109 1004 7 3.52
Minor league CAREER TOTALS 199 11800 581 13 2.95

[edit] Trivia

Davidson was accidentally the inspiration for the title song of the 1978 hit album Double Vision by the rock group Foreigner. Members of the band were watching a 1978 Stanley Cup Playoff game between Davidson's New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres the team members of the band were fans of when Davidson was shaken up when an unknown member of the Sabres took a hard shot that hit Davidson's goalie mask. As he was recovering announcers Jim Gordon and Bill Chadwick said Davidson was suffering from "Double Vision"[1],[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ John Halligan NY Rangers Website
  2. ^ John Halligan Blueshirt Bulletin February 2008 issue

[edit] External links

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New York Rangers
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Stanley Cup Finals (10)
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Minor League Affiliates
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St. Louis Blues first-round draft picks
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