DENIS SAVARD

'Denis Joseph Savard' (born February 4, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1997. He is the current head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. Savard was born in Pointe Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

Contents

NHL Playing Career

Career Statistics

Coaching Career

See also

References

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 'Savard 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).
In 1990, Savard was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Defenceman and future team captain Chris Chelios and a second-round pick (Mike Pomichter) on June 29, 1990. Savard won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993. He was soon traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he played 2 seasons. On April 6, 1995 Savard was traded back to Chicago, for a 1996 sixth-round pick (Xavier Delisle).
In 1196 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. Six 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 also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 13, 2000. Denis Savard had a cousin named Jean Savard who also played in the NHL. Despite the same last name and the same number (#18) as Serge Savard, the two are not related.

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 became the new head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks after Trent Yawney was fired mid-season. After a great start under Savard, the team dropped many of their remaining games. The Blackhawks went 24-30-7 under Savard in the 2006-2007 season.

   

Team     Season  Wins Losses OT/SO   

Chicago  2006-07  24    30    7    

Chicago  2007-08    

NHL coaching record - 24-30-7   

See also

★ Retired NHL Players

★ List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame

★ Hockey Hall of Fame

★ List of NHL statistical leaders

★ List of NHL seasons

★ 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