Denis Savard

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Position Centre
Shot Right
Height
Weight
ft 10 in (1.78 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Pro Clubs Chicago Blackhawks
Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born February 4, 1961,
Pointe Gatineau, PQ, CAN
NHL Draft 3rd overall, 1980
Chicago Blackhawks
Pro Career 1980 – 1997

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

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. 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 1993–94) 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.

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.

    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 Black Hawks NHL 76 28 47 75 47 3 0 0 0 0
1981-82 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 80 32 87 119 82 15 11 7 18 52
1982-83 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 78 35 86 121 99 13 8 9 17 22
1983-84 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 75 37 57 94 71 5 1 3 4 9
1984-85 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 79 38 67 108 56 15 9 20 29 20
1985-86 Chicago Black Hawks 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


Current Head Coaches of the National Hockey League
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Northeast Southeast
Julien (New Jersey) Lewis (Boston) Hartley (Atlanta)
Nolan (NY Islanders) Ruff (Buffalo) Laviolette (Carolina)
Renney (NY Rangers) Carbonneau (Montreal) Martin (Florida)
Stevens (Philadelphia) B. Murray (Ottawa) Tortorella (Tampa Bay)
Therrien (Pittsburgh) Maurice (Toronto) Hanlon (Washington)
Western Conference
Central Northwest Pacific
Savard (Chicago) Playfair (Calgary) Carlyle (Anaheim)
Hitchcock (Columbus) Quenneville (Colorado) Tippett (Dallas)
Babcock (Detroit) MacTavish (Edmonton) Crawford (Los Angeles)
Trotz (Nashville) Lemaire (Minnesota) Gretzky (Phoenix)
A. Murray (St. Louis) Vigneault (Vancouver) Wilson (San Jose)
Preceded by
Trent Yawney
Head Coaches of the Chicago Blackhawks
2006 – present
Incumbent
Preceded by
Bob Pulford
Head Coaches of the Chicago Blackhawks
1997–1998 (Co-coach)
Succeeded by
Brian Sutter
Preceded by
Darryl Sutter
Chicago Blackhawks captains
1988–89
Succeeded by
Dirk Graham
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