John Davidson (ice hockey)

John Davidson
Born (1953-02-27) February 27, 1953
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for New York Rangers (NHL)
Springfield Indians (AHL)
New Haven Nighthawks (AHL)
St. Louis Blues (NHL)
Denver Spurs (CHL)
NHL Draft 5th overall, 1973
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 1973–1983

John Arthur Davidson (born February 27, 1953 in Ottawa, Ontario), is the president of hockey operations of the Columbus Blue Jackets 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. On June 4, 2009, it was announced that Davidson would be honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame with the 2009 Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his contributions to broadcasting.[1]

Biography

Playing career

Growing up in western Canada, he played his minor hockey in Calgary, Alberta. He was drafted fifth overall in 1973, and 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.[2] Davidson was the first, and one of only two, NHL players to wear the number 00; after Martin Biron briefly wore the number in 1995, the league banned the use of the number.[3]

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 Stanley Cup Playoff game between Davidson's New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres. Members of the band were fans of the Rangers. 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."[4][5]

Broadcasting career

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.", became one of the most prominent color commentators in the sport, 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.[6]

Davidson (like his former MSG Network 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 Global). Davidson would serve as the primary number-one color commentator, partnering with play-by-play announcer Mike Emrick, for the NHL on Fox from 1994–1999 and again for the NHL on NBC from 2005–2006. Eddie Olczyk, a studio analyst, would take over the color commentator position in the 2006–2007 season after Davidson left broadcasting to take over as President of the St. Louis Blues.

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 video game NHL 97.

NHL on VersusNHL.comNHL on NBCNHL on NBCThe NHL on ABCFox Broadcasting CompanyThe NHL on ABCHockey Night in CanadaHockey Night in CanadaMSG (TV network)MSG (TV network)

Davidson co-authored the book Hockey for Dummies with sportswriter John Steinbreder.

Management career

Davidson was named President of Hockey Operations for the Blues on June 30, 2006. He left the Blues after agreeing to a buyout of his contract on October 9, 2012.[7] He was then named President of Hockey Operations for the Columbus Blue Jackets on October 24, 2012.[8]

Achievements

Playing

Broadcasting

  • CableACE – "Outstanding Live Event Coverage" (1994)
  • New York Emmy – "Outstanding On-Camera Achievement" (1995, 2001)
  • Lester Patrick Trophy – "Contribution to American hockey" (2004)
  • Foster Hewitt Memorial Award; Hockey Hall Of Fame (2009)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1969–70 Lethbridge Sugar Kings AJHL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1969–70 Calgary Centennials WCHL 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0.00 — — — — — — — — — —
1970–71 Lethbridge Sugar Kings AJHL 46 — — — 2760 142 3 3.09 — 9 — — — 540 23 1 2.56 —
1970–71 Calgary Centennials WCHL — — — — — — — — — 1 0 0 0 19 1 0 3.16 —
1971–72 Calgary Centennials WCHL 66 — — — 3970 157 8 2.37 — 13 6 6 1 780 39 0 3.00 —
1971–72 Calgary Centennials M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 2 0 2 — 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 .902 — — — — — — — — —
1974–75 St. Louis Blues NHL 40 17 15 7 2360 144 0 3.66 .887 1 0 1 — 60 4 0 4.00 .846
1974–75 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 .880 — — — — — — — — —
1976–77 New York Rangers NHL 39 14 14 6 2116 125 1 3.54 .896 — — — — — — — — —
1976–77 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 .899 2 1 1 — 122 7 0 3.44 .901
1978–79 New York Rangers NHL 39 20 12 5 2232 131 0 3.52 .873 18 11 7 — 1106 42 1 2.28 .922
1979–80 New York Rangers NHL 41 20 15 4 2306 122 2 3.17 .885 9 4 5 — 541 21 0 2.33 .927
1979–80 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 .832 — — — — — — — — —
1981–82 New York Rangers NHL 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1.00 .966 1 0 0 — 33 3 0 5.45 .769
1981–82 Springfield Indians AHL 8 3 4 0 437 24 0 3.30 — — — — — — — — — —
1982–83 New York Rangers NHL 2 1 1 0 120 5 0 2.50 .909 — — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 301 123 124 39 17,109 1004 7 3.52 .887 31 16 14 — 1862 77 1 2.48 .918

"Davidson's stats". The Goaltender Home Page. Retrieved 2017-09-28.

References

  1. ↑ Kreiser, John (June 4, 2009). "Davidson Overwhelmed to be Hall-of-Famer". NHL.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  2. ↑ "John Davidson". All Time Roster. New York Rangers. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  3. ↑ Kay, Jason (29 November 2013). "Top 10 weird and wonderful goalie numbers: From Bryzgalov to Puppa | The Hockey News". The Hockey News. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  4. ↑ John Halligan NY Rangers Website Archived 2008-02-25 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ John Halligan Blueshirt Bulletin February 2008 issue
  6. ↑ "Lester Patrick Trophy". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  7. ↑ http://kstp.com/sports/stories/S2794546.shtml?cat=7
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
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