Craig MacTavish

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Craig MacTavish as captain of the Edmonton Oilers

Craig MacTavish (born August 15, 1958 in London, Ontario, Canada) is a former National Hockey League centre. He played 14 NHL seasons and parts of 3 more with the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues. He was an assistant coach with the Rangers and Oilers, and is currently (as of 2006) the head coach of the Oilers.

Career

MacTavish played two years of NCAA hockey with the University of Lowell, from 1977 to 1979. He was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft with their 9th pick, 153rd overall, and spent the next several years splitting time between the Bruins and various AHL teams. He finally made the Bruins for good in 1982-83 and played two full seasons with them.

Unfortunately, MacTavish's career was temporarily derailed when he spent a year in prison for vehicular manslaughter after he struck and killed a young woman while he was driving under the influence of alcohol. Because of this, he missed the 1984-85 NHL season. The Bruins, feeling he deserved a fresh start, offered to let him out of his contract with the club. MacTavish accepted the offer.

Widely viewed at the time as a personal favor from Edmonton general manager Glen Sather to his best friend, then-Bruins' general manager Harry Sinden, the Oilers took a chance on MacTavish and signed him for the 1985-86 season. The gamble turned out to be a good one, as he spent eight full seasons with the Oilers, winning four Stanley Cups and serving as team captain from 1992 to 1994. He was traded to the New York Rangers in 1994, just in time to help several other old Oilers mates win the Stanley Cup again. However, the next season he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent, and traded to the St. Louis Blues during the 1995-96 season. MacTavish completed his playing career as a Blue in 1997.

MacTavish joined the New York Rangers staff for the 1997-98 season as an assistant coach, remaining for two seasons. In 1999-2000, he joined the Edmonton Oilers as an assistant coach under head coach Kevin Lowe, and then was promoted to head coach himself when Lowe was moved to the general manager position.

Notable achievements

MacTavish's career NHL regular season totals include 1093 games played, with 213 goals and 267 assists for 480 points, and 891 penalty minutes. He played another 193 playoff games, scoring 20-38-58 with 218 PIM. He was most noted for his stellar defensive play and was also known as a good faceoff man. He won four Stanley Cups (3 with EDM, 1 with NYR) and, despite his low draft status, played in more NHL regular season games than any other player taken in his draft year. His teams only once failed to make the playoffs (92-93 Oilers, although the next year he played 66 games with the non-playoff Oilers). To many casual fans, he might be known as the guy who tore out the tongue of the opposing team's mascot (Harvey The Hound) in a 2003 game against the Calgary Flames. He was also the last North American professional hockey player to play without a protective helmet, having signed his first pro contract just before helmets were made mandatory for all new players. MacTavish was an All-Star in 1996.

See also

• List of NHL head coaches
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons