Denis Savard

Last updated

Denis Savard
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2000
Bobby Hull! (4691880892).jpg
Savard in June 2010
Born (1961-02-04) February 4, 1961 (age 63)
Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Right
Played for Chicago Blackhawks
Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning
NHL draft 3rd overall, 1980
Chicago Black Hawks
Playing career 19801997
Website http://www.savard18.com

Denis Joseph Savard (born February 4, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1997, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2017 Savard was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. [1] Savard was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks and became the forefront of the team during the 1980s. He led the Blackhawks to the Conference Finals four times, losing each time, twice being to Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers. Savard is known for the spin' o rama move, a tactic in hockey used to create distance between the puck carrier and opponent. Savard won one Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. Savard also played with the Tampa Bay Lightning for two seasons before returning to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1994, and then retiring there in 1997. He has also served as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL, [2] and now serves as an ambassador for the Blackhawks' organization. Savard was born in Gatineau, Quebec [ citation needed ], but grew up in Montreal.

Contents

Playing career

As a youth, Savard played in the 1973 and 1974 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Verdun, Quebec. [3]

For the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, the Montreal Canadiens held the first overall pick and many fans hoped the Canadiens would use it to draft Savard. Instead, the Canadiens drafted Doug Wickenheiser and Savard was chosen third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks. He was the highest drafted player in Blackhawks' history, until the organization drafted Patrick Kane with the first overall pick in 2007. He began his career during the 1980–81 NHL season in which he had three assists in his first game. He then went on to set the Blackhawks' record (since broken) for most points by a rookie with 75.

He was known for his trademark move, the 'Savardian Spin-o-rama' (a term actually coined by Danny Gallivan, referencing the move performed by Serge Savard [4] ), which entailed Savard whirling around with the puck in a full rotation allowing him to defeat defenders and goaltenders alike.

Savard had two separate stints with the Blackhawks. The first was from the 1980–81 season to the 1989–90 season. The second was from 1994–95 to 1996–97. During his absence from Chicago, he played for the Montreal Canadiens (1990–91 to 1992–93) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94 to 1994–95).

On June 29, 1990, Savard was infamously traded to the Montreal Canadiens for star defenceman Chris Chelios and a second-round pick (Mike Pomichter), a transaction that has since been considered largely in Chicago's favor as Chelios would produce some of his best seasons as a Blackhawk while Savard's career was on the decline. [5] [6] Savard won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993, although Savard was kept out of much of the postseason due to a hairline fracture in his ankle, and was essentially an assistant coach by the clinching game five. [7]

He signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the summer of 1993, where he played a season and a half. On April 6, 1995, Savard was traded back to Chicago, for a 1996 sixth-round pick (Xavier Delisle). Savard's NHL career would end where it had started, with the Blackhawks.

In 1,196 NHL games, Savard scored 473 goals and 865 assists, totalling 1338 points. He trails only Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita for total points in Chicago Blackhawks history. Five times during his career he scored at least 100 points and for seven straight years he had at least 30 goals. His highest point total of 131 came in 1987–88 and his highest goal total of 47 came in 1985–86. In 169 playoff games, he scored 66 goals and 109 assists for a total of 175 points.

Savard officially retired from professional hockey on June 26, 1997. [8] On March 19, 1998, the Blackhawks retired his jersey number #18. [9] Savard was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 13, 2000.

Awards

NHL Accolades

(Regular Season)

(Playoffs)

Career statistics

   Regular season   Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGP G A Pts PIM GPGAPtsPIM
1977–78 Montreal Juniors QMJHL 7237791162213317200
1978–79 Montreal JuniorsQMJHL70461121588811561146
1979–80 Montreal JuniorsQMJHL72631181819310716238
1980–81 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 762847754730000
1981–82 Chicago Black HawksNHL80328711982151171852
1982–83 Chicago Black HawksNHL7835861219913891722
1983–84 Chicago Black HawksNHL753757947151349
1984–85 Chicago Black HawksNHL79386710556159202920
1985–86 Chicago Black HawksNHL80476911611134156
1986–87 Chicago BlackhawksNHL70405090108410112
1987–88 Chicago BlackhawksNHL80448713195543717
1988–89 Chicago BlackhawksNHL58235982110168111910
1989–90 Chicago BlackhawksNHL6023578056207152241
1990–91 Montreal Canadiens NHL7028315952132111335
1991–92 Montreal CanadiensNHL77284270731139128
1992–93 Montreal CanadiensNHL6316345090140554
1993–94 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL74182846106
1994–95 Tampa Bay LightningNHL316111710
1994–95Chicago BlackhawksNHL124488167111810
1995–96 Chicago BlackhawksNHL69133548102101238
1996–97 Chicago BlackhawksNHL64918276060222
NHL totals1,1964738651,3381,33616966109175256

Coaching career

Shortly after his retirement as a player, Savard began a coaching career with the Blackhawks in December 1997. On November 27, 2006, Savard was named head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks after Trent Yawney was fired mid-season. [10] He was commended for leading a young Blackhawks team to within 3 points of a playoff berth during his second season as coach. The Hawks finished just one victory away from the .500 mark in 2007–2008. The 40 wins in 2007–08 marked the first time the club had reached the 40 win mark in six years.

On October 16, 2008, just four games into the season Savard was fired as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. He was replaced by former Colorado Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville, who had been hired as a scout for the Blackhawks during the previous summer. [11] In 147 games as coach, Savard posted a 65–66–16 record. Savard remains as an ambassador for the Blackhawks and received Stanley Cup rings in 2010, [12] 2013 and 2015. [13]

Coaching record

TeamYear Regular season Post season
GWLOTLPtsDivision rankResult
Chicago Blackhawks 2006–07 6124307555th in Central Missed playoffs
Chicago Blackhawks 2007–08 8240348883rd in CentralMissed playoffs
Chicago Blackhawks 2008–09 412132nd in CentralFired
NHL totals147656616

Personal life

Savard has a cousin named Jean Savard who also played for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1970s. He also shared the same number as Serge Savard, who is unrelated to him. They shared the same number (#18), and in the 1990s Serge was general manager of the Habs when he acquired Denis from the Blackhawks.

Savard is sometimes called "Savoir-Faire" referring to a fictional French Canadian mouse that was the archnemesis of the cartoon character Klondike Kat. [14]

Savard is mentioned in The Bear , a Hulu comedy-drama series set in Chicago. In a flashback from the first season episode "Ceres", Mikey Berzatto (played by Jon Bernthal) claims to have run into Savard at a party the night after his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

See also

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References

  1. "100 Greatest NHL Players". NHL.com. January 27, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  2. "Blackhawks fire Savard, make Quenneville new coach". TSN.ca. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
  3. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  4. "Legends of Hockey - Spotlight - One on One with Serge Savard". Archived from the original on September 2, 2006. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  5. "CNNSI.com - NHL Hockey - Say It Ain't So: Montreal Canadiens - Saturday March 03, 2001 10:17 AM". Archived from the original on August 3, 2001. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  6. "THE CHELIOS TRADE – Worst in Canadiens History". intentionaloffside.com. July 10, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  7. "Celebrating the '93 Montreal Canadiens and Canada's last Cup".
  8. Strom, Rich (March 17, 1998). "Saying Thanks To No. 18". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  9. "BLACKHAWKS RETIRED NUMBERS". NHL.com. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  10. "CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS FIRE COACH TRENT YAWNEY, HIRE DENIS SAVARD". thehockeynews.com. November 27, 2006. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  11. "Blackhawks fire Savard after four games". TSN.ca. October 16, 2008. Archived from the original on October 19, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
  12. "WHERE ARE THEY NOW? DENIS SAVARD". ourhistory.canadiens.com. October 21, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  13. Stubbs, Dave (June 16, 2018). "Savard, Hull, Esposito, Mikita reconnect with Blackhawks". NHL.com. Retrieved June 16, 2018. His Stanley Cup rings are a hit, the one from his 1961 championship almost looking like a Cracker Jack prize next to the 2015 boulder that he and his fellow ambassadors were given.
  14. "Blogging the 2014 Blackhawks Convention: Day 2". NHL.com. July 20, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
Preceded by Chicago Black Hawks first round draft pick
1980
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks
200608
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chicago Blackhawks captain
1988–89
Succeeded by