Dave Lewis (ice hockey)

Dave Lewis
Dave Lewis celebrating Columbus Day with the crew of the USS Doyle.
Born July 3, 1953
Kindersley, SK, CAN
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for New York Islanders
Los Angeles Kings
New Jersey Devils
Detroit Red Wings
NHL Draft 33rd overall, 1973
New York Islanders
WHA Draft 32nd overall, 1973
Alberta Oilers
Playing career 19731987

David Rodney Lewis (born July 3, 1953 in Kindersley, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) defenceman and coach. He was most recently an assistant coach of the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL. He has both Canadian and American citizenship.

Playing career

Lewis began his playing career with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Canada Hockey League. He was drafted by the New York Islanders in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft, third round, thirty-third overall. He played sixteen seasons with the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, and Detroit Red Wings, scoring 36 goals and 224 points in 1,008 games.

Coaching career

After his playing career ended with the Red Wings in the 1988 season, he stayed with the team as an assistant coach. He helped Detroit win 3 Stanley Cups in the 1997, 1998, and 2002 season playoffs. When Scotty Bowman retired in 2002, Dave Lewis was named head coach of the Red Wings. In two seasons, he guided the Red Wings to two 48-win campaigns, including a Presidents' Trophy. In the playoffs, however, he had a record of 6–10. After the lockout ended, his contract was allowed to expire on June 30, 2005. He was re-hired by the Red Wings on August 9, 2005, as a scout.

On June 29, 2006, Lewis was named the 27th head coach of the Boston Bruins. His one and only season with the Bruins was not successful, as they finished with a 35–41–6 record, missing the playoffs for the second year in a row, and a last place finish in the Northeast Division. In June 2007, Lewis was fired as coach of the Bruins by General Manager Peter Chiarelli, because of the team's highly inconsistent play throughout the season.[1]

He subsequently signed on as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Kings for the 2007–2008 season. On August 4, 2008, it was announced he would not return for the 2008–2009 season.

On November 5, 2010, Lewis, whose maternal grandparents were from Ukraine, was hired as the coach of the Ukrainian national team,[2] though his association with that team was short-lived.[3]

On June 7, 2011, Lewis was hired as the assistant coach of the Carolina Hurricanes.[4] Lewis was fired along with head coach Kirk Muller and assistant coach John MacLean on May 5, 2014

On December 15, 2014, he was hired as the head coach of the Belarusian national team. The contract is for one year with possibility of extension up to the 2018 Olympics.

Playing statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1971–72 Saskatoon Blades WCHL 52 2 9 11 69
1972–73 Saskatoon Blades WCHL 67 10 35 45 89
1973–74 New York Islanders NHL 66 2 15 17 58
1974–75 New York Islanders NHL 78 5 14 19 98 17 0 1 1 28
1975–76 New York Islanders NHL 73 0 19 19 54 13 0 1 1 44
1976–77 New York Islanders NHL 79 4 24 29 44 12 1 6 7 4
1977–78 New York Islanders NHL 77 3 11 14 58 7 0 1 1 11
1978–79 New York Islanders NHL 79 5 18 23 43 10 0 0 0 4
1979–80 New York Islanders NHL 62 5 16 21 54
1979–80 Los Angeles Kings NHL 11 1 1 2 12 4 0 1 1 2
1980–81 Los Angeles Kings NHL 67 1 13 14 98 4 0 2 2 4
1981–82 Los Angeles Kings NHL 64 1 13 14 75 10 0 4 4 36
1982–83 Los Angeles Kings NHL 79 2 10 12 53
1983–84 New Jersey Devils NHL 66 2 5 7 63
1984–85 New Jersey Devils NHL 74 3 9 12 78
1985–86 New Jersey Devils NHL 69 0 15 15 81
1986–87 Detroit Red Wings NHL 58 2 5 7 66 14 0 4 4 10
1987–88 Detroit Red Wings NHL 6 0 0 0 18
WCHL totals 119 12 44 56 158
NHL totals 1008 36 188 224 953 91 1 20 21 143

Coaching record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish W L Win % Result
DET2002–03 824820104110 1st in Central 04.000Lost in Conference Quarter-Finals
DET2003–04 824821112109 1st in Central 66.500Lost in Conference Semi-Finals
DET Total 1649641216219 610.375
BOS2006–07 8235416765th in Northeast
BOS Total 823541676
Total 246131822112295 2 Division Titles 610.375 0 Stanley Cups

Personal

Lewis's paternal grandfather, Roland Lewis, was a native and lifelong resident of Little Bass River, Nova Scotia.

See also

References

  1. TSN : NHL – Canada's Sports Leader
  2. Merk, Martin (2010-11-05). "Lewis to coach Ukraine". IIHF.com. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  3. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=565091 'Canes add Brind'Amour, Lewis to coaching staff
  4. Williams, Terrell (2011-07-06). "Hurricanes Announce Coaching Changes". hurricanes.nhl.com. Retrieved 2011-07-06.

External links

Preceded by
Mike Murphy
Los Angeles Kings captain
198183
Succeeded by
Terry Ruskowski
Preceded by
Scotty Bowman
Head coach of the Detroit Red Wings
200205
Succeeded by
Mike Babcock
Preceded by
Mike Sullivan
Head coach of the Boston Bruins
2006–07
Succeeded by
Claude Julien