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 St. Louis Blues
New York Rangers
NHL Draft 5th overall, 1973
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 1973–1983

John Arthur Davidson (born February 27, 1953) is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey executive and former player, who serves as President of Hockey Operations and alternate governor for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a goaltender, he played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers, notably helping the Rangers reach the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals.

Davidson is also well known as a long-time hockey broadcaster, and was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame with the 2009 Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his contributions to broadcasting.[1]

Playing career

Growing up in western Canada, he played his junior hockey in Calgary, Alberta. He was drafted fifth overall in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, and became the first goalie in NHL history to jump directly from major junior to the NHL.

St. Louis Blues

Davidson stepped right into the NHL and split duties with veteran Wayne Stephenson during his rookie year and posted slightly better numbers. Just before the start of Davidson's second season in the league, the Blues dealt Stephenson to the Philadelphia Flyers, making Davidson the Blues' starting goaltender. Davidson played 40 games for the Blues but his goals against average rose from an impressive 3.08 as a rookie to 3.66 in his second year. That summer, the Blues packaged Davidson with Bill Collins and shipped him to the New York Rangers for Jerry Butler, Ted Irvine and Bert Wilson.

New York Rangers

In New York, Davidson was to share the crease with Hall of Famer Ed Giacomin, who had tended goal for the Rangers for the ten previous seasons. However, early in the year, the Rangers shocked their fans by placing Giacomin on waivers where he was claimed by the Detroit Red Wings, making Davidson the undisputed starting goaltender for the team. Davidson played a career-high 56 games for New York that year, a total he was unable to ever match due to a string of injury issues in the years to come. He helped lead 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 the inspiration for the song "Double Vision" from 1978's album Double Vision by Foreigner. Members of the band who were Rangers fans were watching a Stanley Cup playoff game between the Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres. Davidson was shaken up when a shot hit his 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 Network's hockey coverage staff in 1983, and was the color commentator for Rangers games from 1986–87 to 2005–06, partnering with Sam Rosen.[6][7] He is 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.[8]

Most notably, when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup, the highest-rated game in MSG Network history he stated:[9][10]

No more 1940, it's gone!

He was recognized before the Rangers-Islanders game on January 31, 2014, for thirty years of service with the MSG Network. They did a special called "This One Will Last a Lifetime: 30 Years of Sam Rosen", which was announced at intermission as a present to him by longtime partner and friend John Davidson.

Davidson has also contributed to NHL coverage on various national television networks (including CBC, Fox, ESPN/ABC, NBC/OLN, SportsChannel America, and Global). He served as the lead color commentator, partnering with lead play-by-play announcer Mike Emrick, for the NHL on Fox from 1994–1999 and again for the NHL on NBC and NHL on OLN from 2005–2006. Eddie Olczyk, a studio analyst, took over the color commentator position in the 2006–2007 season after he left broadcasting to become president of the St. Louis Blues.[11]

Davidson became 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.

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

Executive career

Davidson was named president of the St. Louis Blues on June 30, 2006.[11] He left the Blues after agreeing to a buyout of his contract on October 9, 2012.[12]

He was then named president of the Columbus Blue Jackets on October 24, 2012,[13] and held this position until his resignation on May 17, 2019.[14]

On May 17, 2019, Davidson was named as president of the New York Rangers.[15][16][17] On May 5, 2021, Davidson was fired as president and alternate governor (along with general manager Jeff Gorton) of the Rangers after failing to make the playoffs.[18]

On May 20, 2021, the Blue Jackets announced that Davidson would return to Columbus as President of Hockey Operations and alternate governor. Davidson agreed to a five-year contract with the Blue Jackets.[19][20]

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

Source:[22]

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 — — — 2,760 142 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 — — — 3,970 157 8 2.37 — 13 6 6 1 780 39 0 3.00 —
1971–72 Calgary Centennials MC — — — — — — — — — 2 0 2 — 118 9 0 4.58 —
1972–73 Calgary Centennials WCHL 63 — — — 3,735 201 2 3.30 — — — — — — — — — —
1973–74 St. Louis Blues NHL 39 13 19 7 2,300 118 0 3.08 .902 — — — — — — — — —
1974–75 St. Louis Blues NHL 40 17 15 7 2,360 144 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 3,207 212 3 3.97 .880 — — — — — — — — —
1976–77 New York Rangers NHL 39 14 14 6 2,116 125 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 1,848 98 1 3.18 .899 2 1 1 — 122 7 0 3.44 .901
1978–79 New York Rangers NHL 39 20 12 5 2,232 131 0 3.52 .873 18 11 7 — 1,106 42 1 2.28 .922
1979–80 New York Rangers NHL 41 20 15 4 2,306 122 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 — 1,862 77 1 2.48 .918

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 from the original on February 25, 2008.
  5. ↑ John Halligan Blueshirt Bulletin February 2008 issue
  6. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (1994-06-16). "TV SPORTS; Albert Bobs but He Doesn't Bend (Published 1994)". New York Times. p. B12. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  7. ↑ Kalinsky, George (2004). Garden of Dreams. New York: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang. ISBN 1-58479-343-0.
  8. ↑ "Lester Patrick Trophy". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  9. ↑ Conroy, Thomas (2019-08-28). "Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup Win Has Lasted a Lifetime". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  10. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (1994-06-16). "TV SPORTS; Albert Bobs but He Doesn't Bend (Published 1994)". New York Times. p. B12. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  11. 1 2 Sandomir, Richard (2006-07-05). "Davidson Gets His Chance to Run a Team (Published 2006)". Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  12. ↑ "Blues part ways with team president John Davidson | KSTP TV - Minneapolis and St. Paul". kstp.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-23.
  13. ↑ "Premium Access | BlueJackets Xtra". Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  14. ↑ Davidson, John (May 17, 2019). "Thank You, Columbus". NHL.com. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  15. ↑ "John Davidson Named Rangers President". NHL.com. May 17, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  16. ↑ "John Davidson Returning to Rangers to Be Team President". New York Times. Associated Press. 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  17. ↑ Kreda, Allan (2019-05-23). "Back With the Rangers, John Davidson Has Unfinished Business (Published 2019)". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  18. ↑ "Rangers fire GM, prez; name Drury to both roles". ESPN.com. May 5, 2021.
  19. ↑ "CBJ announce return of John Davidson as President of Hockey Operations". NHL.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  20. ↑ Whyno, Stephen (2021-05-20). "Davidson returns to Blue Jackets as president of hockey ops". AP News. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  21. ↑ Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. p. 100. ISBN 978-0470736197. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Davidson's stats". The Goaltender Home Page. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
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