Tom Laidlaw

Thomas John Laidlaw (born April 15, 1958) is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman.[1][2]

Tom Laidlaw
Born (1958-04-15) April 15, 1958
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
NHL team New York Rangers
Played for New York Rangers
Los Angeles Kings
NHL Draft 93rd overall, 1978
New York Rangers
Playing career 1979–1991

Laidlaw started his National Hockey League career with the New York Rangers in 1980, arriving from Northern Michigan University.[1] He also played for the Los Angeles Kings.[2] He left the NHL after the 1990 season.[3] He played one season for the Phoenix Roadrunners of the IHL before retiring from hockey. Afterward, he became the colour commentator on Kings' radio broadcasts.[4] He currently runs a sports management company[5] in Rye Brook, New York.[6] Laidlaw is also a motivational speaker and frequently uses his mantra of living a "True Grit Life."[7] Laidlaw promotes the "True Grit Life" through public speaking engagements and weekly podcast episodes.[8]

Laidlaw competed on Survivor: Island of the Idols, the 39th season of the CBS series Survivor. He was the first Canadian-born person to be a contestant on the show.[9] He was voted out on Day 14, finishing in 16th place out of 20 contestants.

In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Laidlaw at No. 87 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team’s first 82 seasons.[10]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs


Amateur Regular season
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM
1978–79 Northern Michigan University CCHA 29102030137
1979–80 Northern Michigan University CCHA 398303883


Professional Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM +/– GP G A Pts PIM
1979–80 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 10000 1016727
1980–81 New York Rangers NHL 8062329100-1 1414518
1981–82 New York Rangers NHL 79318211046 1003314
1982–83 New York Rangers NHL 800101075-10 911210
1983–84 New York Rangers NHL 793151862-9 50008
1984–85 New York Rangers NHL 611111252-11 30224
1985–86 New York Rangers NHL 6861218103-2 702212
1986–87 New York Rangers/Los Angeles Kings NHL 741131469-14 50002
1987–88 Los Angeles Kings NHL 5711213473 50224
1988–89 Los Angeles Kings NHL 70317206330 112356
1989–90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 57189424 —————
1990–91 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 40112 —————
NHL totals 705 25 139 164 717 -4 69 4 17 21 78

Awards and honours
Chinguacousy Township Section 'A' Novice Champions [Bramalea Merchants] 1967-68 [11]
All-CCHA First Team 1978-79 [12]
All-CCHA First Team 1979-80 [12]
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1980 [13]

Survivor

Laidlaw was one of 20 castaways to compete on Survivor: Island of the Idols, the 39th season of the American reality competition show Survivor. At the start of the game, he was placed on the Lairo tribe, where he formed a bond with fellow tribemates Elaine Stott and Vince Moua. On Day Eight, Moua was voted out by the majority, despite Laidlaw's attempts to get tribemate Karishma Patel out of the game. On Day 12, Laidlaw and Stott were split up by the tribal swap; she was sent to Vokai while he remained on Lairo, where he was joined by five old Vokai members. On Day 14, Laidlaw again tried to get his tribe to vote out Patel, but the new members of the tribe, wary of Laidlaw's connections to his old tribemates, decided to vote him out instead.

References
  1. Allen, Kevin (2 December 2010). "College hockey becoming bigger pipeline to NHL". USA Today. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  2. Springer, Steve (22 November 1990). "Promising defence Is One Thing, Delivering It Puts Kings on Track". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  3. Allen, Kevin (12 October 1999). "Keeping NHL mayhem in check Key could be building more r-e-s-p-e-c-t". USA Today. Retrieved 15 December 2010. Laidlaw, who retired in 1990, saw the game changing even when he was playing.
  4. "Kings Hit an Early Bump in Road to the Cup, 6-5 NHL playoffs: Canucks score three times in third period, erasing a 5-3 lead in series opener. Courtnall has three goals and sets up the winner". Los Angeles Times. 5 April 1991. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  5. Dowbiggin, Bruce (2003). Money players: how hockey's greatest stars beat the NHL at its own game. M&S. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-55199-056-9.
  6. "Agent Details - Tom Laidlaw". National Hockey League Players' Association. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  7. Forfar, Ailish (9 September 2019). "Former NHL defenceman Tom Laidlaw to be on upcoming season of Survivor". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  8. Murphy, Mike (9 September 2019). "Former Ranger Tom Laidlaw is a cast member on the 39th season of Survivor". Blueshirt Banter. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  9. Adams, Abigail (9 September 2019). "How Ex-NHL Defenseman Tom Laidlaw Ended Up On Season 39 Of 'Survivor'". New England Sports Network. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  10. Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0470736194. Retrieved 2020-02-03.
  11. Bramalea Guardian circa 1967
  12. "CCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  13. "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
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