JOHN FERGUSON, SR.

'John Bowie Ferguson Sr.' (September 5, 1938 - July 14, 2007) was a professional ice hockey player. Ferguson played as a left-winger for the Montreal Canadiens from 1964 to 1971.

Contents

Early years

Playing career

Post-Playing career

Later years and death

References

See also

External links

Early years

Ferguson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on September 5, 1938. His father died when he was 9, and he was raised by his mother near the Pacific National Exhibition grounds. Ferguson loved horses and hung around Hastings Park as a child. Aside from his interest in horses and hockey, he also played lacrosse. Ferguson's hockey career began as a stickboy for the Vancouver Canucks, then of the Western Hockey League.

Playing career

Ferguson played his junior hockey in Western Canada, with the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in 1956-57, and 1958-1959.
In 1959-1960, he was playing professionslly with the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League. In 1960, he moved to the American Hockey League and the Cleveland Barons.
In 1963-64, he was promoted to the Canadiens as an "enforcer" to protect captain Jean Beliveau from aggressive defenders--merely twelve seconds into his first NHL game, he was in a fight with "Terrible" Ted Green of the Boston Bruins; Ferguson won the fight.^[1]
During his playing career, he won the Stanley Cup five times: in the years 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, and 1971, and always earned more than 100 penalty minutes in a regular season.

Post-Playing career

In 1972, he became the assistant coach of Team Canada who beat the Soviet team in the Summit Series. In the years to follow, he became the head coach and later general manager of the New York Rangers. He was fired from that job in 1978, at which time he became the General Manager of the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association and, starting in 1979, the National Hockey League. He worked for the Ottawa Senators in the early 1990s and was a Special Consultant to the General Manager of the San Jose Sharks.

Later years and death

Ferguson lived in Windsor, Ontario in his later years to be close to horses. He served as GM for the Windsor Raceway in 1988.
In September 2005, Ferguson was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died on July 14, 2007. Ferguson was survived by his wife Joan and children John (general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs), Catherine, Chris and Joanne. ^[2].

References

1. Ferguson earned five Stanley Cups John McGourty
2. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=213602&hubname=nhl

See also

★ Notable families in the NHL

External links

★

★ Profile at Legends of Hockey

★ "Tough exterior, soft heart" (Winnipeg Sun column on the passing of John Ferguson, Sr.)