Chris Nilan
| Chris Nilan | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 9, 1958 Boston, MA, USA |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb) |
| Position | Forward |
| Played for | Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers Boston Bruins |
| NHL Draft | 231st overall, 1978 Montreal Canadiens |
| Playing career | 1979–1992 |
Christopher John Nilan (born February 9, 1958) is a retired professional ice hockey player. Nilan played 688 NHL regular season games as a right-wing for the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers between 1980 and 1992. He won the Stanley Cup in 1986 with Montreal. Known as "Knuckles," he was famous for his propensity to fight.
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[edit] Playing career
Nilan grew up in Massachusetts where he idolized Bobby Orr and dreamt of playing for the Boston Bruins. He played his youth hockey with the Parkway (West Roxbury, MA) team of the Greater Boston Youth Hockey League (GBYHL), sponsored by the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC). He later played college hockey for the Northeastern University Huskies, from 1976 to 1979, averaging 3.5 penalty minutes per game in his final collegiate season.
Nilan was selected 231st overall in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft, and was best known as a tough-guy for the Montreal Canadiens in the mid 1980s. One of only nine players in NHL history to have recorded more than 3,000 career penalty minutes, he holds the records of highest penalty minute average per game at 4.42 minutes per game, as well as the record for most penalties in a single game. It was March 31, 1991, when Hartford played at Boston. Nilan was penalized a record ten penalties; six minors, two majors, one misconduct and one game misconduct, for a total of 42 penalty minutes.
Seriously hobbled by repeated injuries, Nilan missed over two hundred games in his final five seasons, and retired after the 1992 season. Highlights of his career include winning the Stanley Cup in 1986 while with the Canadiens, being named to play for Team USA in the 1987 Canada Cup and his controversial all-star selection to the 1991 NHL All-Star Game by his then-coach Mike Milbury (Nilan missed the game with a broken left ankle), which led to changes in how players are selected for all-star games.
[edit] Post career
Nilan returned to the Boston area and went into the insurance business after retirement. He spent three years as community relations consultant for John Hancock Insurance[citation needed] before returning to hockey as a coach. He was initially hired as an assistant coach of the New Jersey Devils on August 3, 1995, and remained in that position until May 1996, before becoming a head coach for the Chesapeake Icebreakers of the ECHL.
In 2009, Nilan was arrested in Braintree, Massachusetts for shoplifting after attempting to leave a Lord & Taylor store wearing a pair of Tommy Bahama swim shorts underneath the shorts he wore in. Nilan struggled with store security before police officers managed to subdue him. "I just wanted to save a few bucks," he told police.[1]
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1979–80 | Montreal Canadiens | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 50 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1980–81 | Montreal Canadiens | 57 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 262 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1981–82 | Montreal Canadiens | 49 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 204 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 | ||
| 1982–83 | Montreal Canadiens | 66 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 213 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 1983–84 | Montreal Canadiens | 76 | 16 | 10 | 26 | 338 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 81 | ||
| 1984–85 | Montreal Canadiens | 77 | 21 | 16 | 37 | 358 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 81 | ||
| 1985–86 | Montreal Canadiens | 72 | 19 | 15 | 34 | 274 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 141 | ||
| 1986–87 | Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 266 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 75 | ||
| 1987–88 | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 209 | |||||||
| 1987–88 | New York Rangers | 22 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 96 | |||||||
| 1988–89 | New York Rangers | 38 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 177 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 38 | ||
| 1989–90 | New York Rangers | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 59 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | ||
| 1990–91 | Boston Bruins | 41 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 277 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 62 | ||
| 1991–92 | Boston Bruins | 39 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 186 | |||||||
| 1991–92 | Montreal Canadiens | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 74 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | ||
| NHL totals | 688 | 110 | 115 | 225 | 3043 | 111 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 541 | |||
[edit] Awards and achievements
- 1991 NHL All-Star Game (injured, did not play)
- Played for Team USA in 1987 Canada Cup tournament
