Denis Savard

Denis Savard
Born	(1961-02-04) February 4, 1961 Pointe Gatineau, QC, CAN
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
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 Blackhawks
Playing career	1980–1997
Hall of Fame, 2000
Website	http://www.savard18.com

Denis Joseph Savard (born February 4, 1961) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1997, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. He has also served as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL, and now serves as an ambassador for the Blackhawks' organization.

NHL playing career

Denis Savard was drafted in the first round, 3rd overall, in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft 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 [1]), 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 famously traded to the Montreal Canadiens for defenceman and future team captain Chris Chelios and a second-round pick (Mike Pomichter). Savard won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993. He signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the summer of 1993, where he played 1½ seasons. 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. On March 19, 1998, the Blackhawks retired his jersey number #18. Savard was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 13, 2000.

Awards

• Member of one Stanley Cup winning team: 1993 with the Montreal Canadiens
• Selected to nine NHL All-Star Games: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1977–78	Montreal Juniors	QMJHL		72	37	79	116	22		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	Montreal Juniors	QMJHL		70	46	112	158	88		11	5	6	11	46
1979–80	Montreal Juniors	QMJHL		72	63	118	181	93		10	7	16	23	8
1980–81	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		76	28	47	75	47		3	0	0	0	0
1981–82	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		80	32	87	119	82		15	11	7	18	52
1982–83	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		78	35	86	121	99		13	8	9	17	22
1983–84	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		75	37	57	94	71		5	1	3	4	9
1984–85	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		79	38	67	105	56		15	9	20	29	20
1985–86	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		80	47	69	116	111		3	4	1	5	6
1986–87	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		70	40	50	90	108		4	1	0	1	12
1987–88	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		80	44	87	131	95		5	4	3	7	17
1988–89	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		58	23	59	82	110		16	8	11	19	10
1989–90	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		60	23	57	80	56		20	7	15	22	41
1990–91	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	28	31	59	52		13	2	11	13	35
1991–92	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	28	42	70	73		11	3	9	12	8
1992–93	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		63	16	34	50	90		14	0	5	5	4
1993–94	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		74	18	28	46	106		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		31	6	11	17	10		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		12	4	4	8	8		16	7	11	18	10
1995–96	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		69	13	35	48	102		10	1	2	3	8
1996–97	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		64	9	18	27	60		6	0	2	2	2
QMJHL totals				214	146	309	455	203		21	12	22	34	54
NHL totals				1196	473	865	1338	1336		169	66	109	175	256

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 interim head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks after Trent Yawney was fired mid-season. 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 Joel Quenneville, former coach of the Colorado Avalanche, recently hired as a scout for the Blackhawks' organization. In 147 games as coach, Savard posted a 65–66–16 record.

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
		G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Division rank	Result
CHI	2006–07	61	24	30	7	(71)	5th in Central	Missed playoffs
CHI	2007–08	82	40	34	8	88	3rd in Central	Missed playoffs
CHI	2008–09	4	1	2	1	(104)	2nd in Central	(fired)
Total		147	65	66	16	.496

Other

• Denis Savard has a cousin named Jean Savard who coincidentally also played for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1970s.
• Despite having the same number (#18) and last name as Montreal Canadiens' legend Serge Savard, the two are only distantly related.
• He is sometimes called "Savoir-Faire" referring to a fictional French Canadian mouse that was the archnemesis of the cartoon character Klondike Kat.

See also

• List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame
• List of NHL statistical leaders
• List of NHL players with 1000 points

References

• "One on One with Serge Savard" by Kevin Shea, December 16, 2003, retrieved August 10, 2006
• Hockey draft central

External links

• Denis Savard's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Denis Savard's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Keith Brown	Chicago Black Hawks first round draft pick 1980	Succeeded by Tony Tanti
Preceded by Trent Yawney	Head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks 2006-08	Succeeded by Joel Quenneville
Preceded by Darryl Sutter	Chicago Blackhawks captain 1988–89	Succeeded by Dirk Graham

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