| Jim Dowd | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 25, 1968 Brick, NJ, USA |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) |
| Position | Center |
| Shot | Right |
| Played for | New Jersey Devils Vancouver Canucks New York Islanders Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers Minnesota Wild Montreal Canadiens Chicago Blackhawks Colorado Avalanche Philadelphia Flyers |
| NHL Draft | 149th overall, 1987 New Jersey Devils |
| Playing career | 1991–2008 |
James Thomas Dowd (born December 25, 1968) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for ten different teams over the course of 17 NHL seasons. Dowd, who won the 1995 Stanley Cup with the hometown New Jersey Devils, was the second New Jersey high school hockey player to make it to the NHL. He is also a frequent guest on NHL Live.
Contents |
Dowd helped Brick Township High School State Interscholastic Athletic Association ice hockey title for the 1985–1986 season.[1] In his senior year, he broke the national scholastic scoring record, finishing with a four year tally of 375 points: 189 Goals, 186 Assists. Dowd was an 8th round pick (149th overall) of the New Jersey Devils in the NHL Entry Draft. He went to Lake Superior State University in the fall of 1987. In his four years with the Lake Superior Lakers (in the CCHA), Dowd was a prolific scorer, earning selections to the NCAA West Second All-American and CCHA Second All-Star Teams in 1990 and the NCAA West First All-American and CCHA First All-Star Teams in 1991. He was also named the CCHA's "Player of the Year" in 1991.
After college, Jim Dowd joined the now-defunct Utica Devils (New Jersey's minor league affiliate) of the American Hockey League (AHL). He became the first New Jersey native to play for the New Jersey Devils when he made his NHL debut during the 1991–1992 season. He spent the 1991–92 season and the 1992–1993 season in the AHL, with single-game NHL appearances in both seasons. As a top scorer with the AHL's Albany River Rats (the Devils affiliate at the time) in the 1993–1994 season, Dowd made impressive appearances with the Devils, collecting 5 goals and 10 assists in 15 regular season games, and 2 goals and 6 assists in 19 games during their playoff run. The labor dispute shortened the 1994–95 NHL season, which was further shortened for Dowd when a shoulder injury and surgery caused him to miss 35 games. However, the highlight of Dowd's career with the Devils came in Game Two of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. With 1:24 left in regulation, he notched the game-winning goal, giving the Devils a 2–0 series lead over the Detroit Red Wings to take back home to New Jersey. The Devils completed the sweep at home for their first Stanley Cup Championship.
Less than six months after helping the Devils capture the Cup, Dowd was traded with a 2nd round 1997 draft pick to the Hartford Whalers on December 19, 1995, for Jocelyn Lemieux and a 2nd round 1998 draft pick. Later that same day, Hartford traded Dowd with Frantisek Kucera and the 2nd round 1997 draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Jeff Brown and a 5th round 1998 draft pick. Dowd would only play 38 regular season games and one playoff game for the Canucks. On September 30, 1996, the New York Islanders claimed Dowd in the NHL Waiver Draft. He only played in three games for New York, spending the rest of the 1996–1997 season with the International Hockey League's (IHL) Utah Grizzlies and AHL's Saint John Flames. Dowd signed with the Calgary Flames on July 10, 1997, as a free agent. In the 1997–1998 season, he played in 48 games in Calgary and another 35 regular season (and 19 playoff) games with the AHL Flames.
On June 27, 1998, Dowd was traded by Calgary to the expansion Nashville Predators for future considerations. For the second time in his career, he was traded before playing a single game, this time to the Edmonton Oilers with Mikhail Shtalenkov on October 1, 1998, for Éric Fichaud, Drake Berehowsky, and Greg de Vries. Dowd appeared in one game with the Oilers during the 1998–1999 season, spending the rest of the season with their AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. As a group two free agent, he re-signed with Edmonton on September 7, 1999, and played the 1999–2000 season with the Oilers appearing in an NHL career high 69 games.
The next chapter in Jim Dowd's career began on June 23, 2000, when the Minnesota Wild selected him during the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft. A couple of weeks later, Jim's wife Lisa gave birth to their first child. After nearly four seasons with the Minnesota Wild, Dowd was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on March 4, 2004 for a 4th round 2004 draft pick. After the season, Dowd became an unrestricted free agent and signed with Germany's Hamburg Freezers during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.
Dowd was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Chicago Blackhawks on August 5, 2005.
On March 9, 2006, Dowd was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a fourth round draft pick. His brief tenure with the Avalanche ended after the 2005–06 season, with Dowd again becoming a free agent.
On November 2, 2006, after left winger Dan LaCouture cleared waivers, the Devils signed Dowd to a one-year contract. The contract paid Dowd the NHL minimum of $450,000. "It's great. You should see the smile on my face," Dowd said via phone. "I've tried to come back every time I became a free agent. I'd call New Jersey, but the timing was never right." [1] When Dowd returned to the Devils, he was forced to wear jersey #12, as John Madden wore #11.
He went on to score 4 goals as well as have his first career multi-goal game, which came against the Florida Panthers. After the season ended with a loss to the Senators in the Second Round of the Playoffs, questions arose about the futures of such Devil's veterans as Dowd and Rasmussen. Jim Dowd had been scratched several times in favor of Rod Pelley, so he probably knew he would not be as welcome the following year. On September 11, Dowd announced that GM Lou Lamoriello and the Devils were uninterested in offering him a contract. He then mentioned that he would attend the Philadelphia Flyers Training Camp to try and make the Flyers. He has become a solid PK and defensive center for the Flyers, scoring his first goal with the Flyers against the Devils. However, he was released after the last game of the Flyers' 2008-09 preseason, along with Bryan Berard, to allow rookie development. (notably Danny Syvret and Darroll Powe)[2] It is unknown when he retired.
Jim Dowd's Shoot for the Stars Foundation held its 11th Annual Shore High School All-Star Hockey Game on August 9, 2008 at the Red Bank Armory. The Monmouth All-Stars defeated the Ocean County, New Jersey All-Stars 6–5 in Overtime, with proceeds benefiting Jeremy Zalinsky, a 6-year-old Brick Township resident afflicted with pontine glioma, a cancerous tumor of the brain stem. The Ocean County All-Stars took a 2–1 series advantage, having won 5–1 two years ago. Monmouth County won last year's event 5–2. The All-Star Games and other events hosted by Shoot for the Stars have raised thousands of dollars for local families in need due to catastrophic illnesses. He also coaches ice hockey for the Red Bank Generals, a travel organization in his home state of New Jersey.
In September 2011, Dowd appeared at Mother Teresa Regional School in Atlantic Highlands, as part of a fundraiser benefiting the American Red Cross. He spoke to students and players from the school, as well as shooting around with them before signing autographs.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1987–88 | Lake Superior State University | CCHA | 45 | 18 | 27 | 45 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Lake Superior State University | CCHA | 46 | 24 | 35 | 59 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Lake Superior State University | CCHA | 46 | 25 | 67 | 92 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Lake Superior State University | CCHA | 44 | 24 | 54 | 78 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Utica Devils | AHL | 78 | 17 | 42 | 59 | 47 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 1991–92 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Utica Devils | AHL | 78 | 27 | 45 | 72 | 62 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 10 | ||
| 1992–93 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 58 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 15 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 | ||
| 1994–95 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 1995–96 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 28 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 38 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1996–97 | Utah Grizzlies | IHL | 48 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 24 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1996–97 | New York Islanders | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 35 | 8 | 30 | 38 | 20 | 19 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 10 | ||
| 1997–98 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 48 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 51 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 82 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 8 | ||
| 1999–00 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 69 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 45 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2000–01 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 68 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 82 | 13 | 30 | 43 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 78 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 31 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 55 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 14 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2004–05 | Hamburg Freezers | DEL | 20 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 60 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 18 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 20 | ||
| 2006–07 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 66 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 73 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 41 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| NHL totals | 728 | 71 | 168 | 239 | 390 | 99 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 50 | ||||
| Preceded by Darby Hendrickson |
Minnesota Wild captain October 2001 |
Succeeded by Filip Kuba |
| Preceded by Brad Bombardir |
Minnesota Wild captain February 2004 |
Succeeded by Andrew Brunette |