Dave Christian | |||||||||||||||||
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Born | Warroad, Minnesota, U.S. | May 12, 1959||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||||||||||||||||
Weight | 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||
Position | Right wing | ||||||||||||||||
Shot | Right | ||||||||||||||||
Played for | Winnipeg Jets Washington Capitals Boston Bruins St. Louis Blues Chicago Blackhawks | ||||||||||||||||
National team | United States | ||||||||||||||||
NHL Draft | 40th overall, 1979 Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||||||||||
Playing career | 1980–1996 | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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David William Christian (born May 12, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey forward. He played on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal during the 1980 Winter Olympics. Christian went on to play for five National Hockey League teams over a 15-season career, from 1980 to 1994.
Christian was born in Warroad, Minnesota, and grew up playing hockey, gridiron football, and baseball, as well as competing on the track and field team, for Warroad High School. He later attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, where he played for the North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey team and played in the 1979 national championship, but North Dakota lost the final to the University of Minnesota and Christian's future Olympic teammate, Neal Broten.
Christian is best known for being a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal in an event known as the Miracle on Ice during the 1980 Winter Olympics. He also played for the U.S. national team at the 1981 Canada Cup as well as the 1981 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments as an NHL rookie. His international career continued in the 1984 Canada Cup, 1989 Ice Hockey World Championship and 1991 Canada Cup tournaments.
Christian's professional hockey career started one week after the Miracle on Ice when he joined the Winnipeg Jets, who drafted him 40th overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. Christian set and still holds the record for the fastest goal by a player in his first NHL game, scoring just seven seconds into his first shift, electrifying the crowd. After a roller-coaster career in Winnipeg, where he scored 70 or more points in both seasons following the 1980 Olympics, he went on to play with the Washington Capitals where he led the team in assists his first season there, with 52. He also added 29 goals, and after the Capitals he would go on to play with the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, and St. Louis Blues, ending his NHL career with 340 goals and 433 assists in 1,009 NHL regular season games. He also made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals as a member of the Boston Bruins in 1990, losing to the Edmonton Oilers in five games.
Christian was named head coach and general manager of the United States Hockey League Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks near the end of the 1997–98 season and held the positions through the 1999–2000 season.
Christian comes from a family of hockey players. His father Bill and uncle Roger were members of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that won the gold medal. Another uncle, Gordon, was a member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that won the silver medal. Bill and Roger, along with Hal Bakke, were the founders of the Christian Brothers Hockey Company based in Warroad, which until 2009, made hockey sticks. [1] His nephew, Brock Nelson, currently plays for the New York Islanders.
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
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Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1976–77 | Warroad High School | HS-MN | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1977–78 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 38 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1978–79 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 40 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1979–80 | American National Team | Intl | 59 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1979–80 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 15 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1980–81 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 80 | 28 | 43 | 71 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1981–82 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 80 | 25 | 51 | 76 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
1982–83 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 55 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1983–84 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 29 | 52 | 81 | 28 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | ||
1984–85 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 26 | 43 | 69 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
1985–86 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 41 | 42 | 83 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | ||
1986–87 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 76 | 23 | 27 | 50 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||
1987–88 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 37 | 21 | 58 | 26 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 6 | ||
1988–89 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 34 | 31 | 65 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
1989–90 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 28 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1989–90 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 50 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 8 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | ||
1990–91 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 78 | 32 | 21 | 53 | 41 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 4 | ||
1991–92 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 78 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 41 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
1992–93 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 60 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1993–94 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 40 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1993–94 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1994–95 | Minnesota Moose | IHL | 81 | 38 | 42 | 80 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
1995–96 | Minnesota Moose | IHL | 69 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
NHL totals | 1,009 | 340 | 433 | 773 | 284 | 102 | 32 | 25 | 57 | 27 |
Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | United States | WJC | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
1980 | United States | OLY | 7 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 6 | |
1981 | United States | WC | 8 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 6 | |
1981 | United States | CC | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
1984 | United States | CC | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
1989 | United States | WC | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | |
1991 | United States | CC | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
Junior totals | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |||
Senior totals | 40 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 20 |
In the 1981 TV movie about the gold medal-winning hockey team entitled Miracle on Ice , Christian is played by Thomas F. Duffy.
In the 2004 Disney film Miracle , he is played by Steve Kovalcik.
Warroad is a city in Roseau County, Minnesota, United States, at the southwest corner of Lake of the Woods, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) south of Canada. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 census. Warroad had its own newspaper before it was incorporated in 1901.
The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's hockey tournament. Though the Soviet Union was a four-time defending gold medalist and heavily favored, the United States upset them and won 4–3.
Robert Lang is a Czech former professional ice hockey player. Drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the fifth round, 133rd overall, at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, Lang made his NHL debut with the team in the 1992–93 season. He has also played in the NHL for the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens and Phoenix Coyotes, with whom he retired with in 2010.
James Downey Craig is an American former ice hockey goaltender who is best known for being part of the U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Craig had a standout Olympic tournament, including stopping 36 of 39 shots on goal by the heavily favored Soviet Union in the 'Miracle on Ice', as the U.S. won 4–3, in what is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Two days later, the U.S. defeated Finland, 4–2, to clinch Olympic gold. Craig went on to play professionally in the National Hockey League for the Atlanta Flames, Boston Bruins, and Minnesota North Stars from 1980 to 1983. He was inducted into IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999.
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