Dave Taylor (ice hockey)

Dave Taylor
Born	December 4, 1955 Levack, ON, CAN
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Right
Played for	Los Angeles Kings
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	210th overall, 1975 Los Angeles Kings
WHA Draft	113th overall, 1975 Houston Aeros
Playing career	1977–1994

David Andrew Taylor (born December 4, 1955) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Los Angeles Kings from 1977–94.^[1] Following his playing career, he served as the Kings' general manager from 1997 to 2006, and currently serves as Vice President of Hockey Operations with the NHL's St. Louis Blues.

Playing career

Taylor played collegiate hockey at Clarkson University, where he still holds the school record for career points (251) goals (98) and assists (153) as well as single season goals (41) assists (67) and points (108) in the 1976–77 campaign; in comparison, opposing teams scored a combined 127 goals on Clarkson that year.^[2]

Taylor was a member of the Triple Crown Line along with centre Marcel Dionne and left winger Charlie Simmer. All three scored more than 100 points in the 1980–81 season with the Kings; Taylor scored 112 points that season (with Dionne and Simmer scoring 135 and 105 points, respectively).^[3] He holds the Kings record for games played with 1,111 and served as team captain from 1985-1989.^[4]

Taylor is the lowest-drafted player to net 1,000 career points, drafted in the 15th round (210th overall) of the 1975 NHL draft. The Los Angeles Kings have retired #18 in his honor.^[5]

Front office

Taylor was hired as the General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings in 1997 and held the position until 2006, when a front office reshuffling saw him assume the position of Director of Amateur Development. With a record of 290-261-74-31, Taylor was the winningest GM in Kings’ history.^[6] He later moved to the Dallas Stars and served as the team's Director of Player Personnel for three seasons.

Taylor was hired by the St. Louis Blues on July 1, 2010, as Vice President of Hockey Operations.

Personal

Taylor has dealt with stuttering since childhood. The speech disorder once forced him to drop a college class when he discovered that an oral presentation would be required. When interviewed after games early in his professional hockey career, Taylor would attempt to conceal his stuttering by faking hyperventilation as a means of providing him with fluency. Taylor credits Los Angeles-based Speech-Language Pathologist Vivian Sheehan for assisting him in his triumph over stuttering.^[7]

Taylor and his wife Beth currently reside near Los Angeles with their two daughters, Jamie and Katie.^[8]

Awards and honors

Award	Year
All-ECAC First Team	1976–77
AHCA East All-American	1976–77

• Selected to four NHL All-Star Games: 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1994
• NHL Second All-Star Team selection: 1981
• Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy winner: 1991
• King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner: 1991

Playing statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1973–74	Onaping Falls Huskies	NOJHL		45	67	76	143	—		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	Clarkson Golden Knights	ECAC		32	30	24	54	—		—	—	—	—	—
1975–76	Clarkson Golden Knights	ECAC		31	26	33	59	—		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	Clarkson Golden Knights	ECAC		34	41	67	108	—		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	Fort Worth Texans	CHL		7	2	4	6	6		—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		64	22	21	43	47		2	0	0	0	5
1978–79	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		78	43	48	91	124		2	0	0	0	2
1979–80	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		61	37	53	90	72		4	2	1	3	4
1980–81	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		72	47	65	112	130		4	2	2	4	10
1981–82	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		78	39	67	106	130		10	4	6	10	20
1982–83	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		46	21	37	58	76		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		63	20	49	69	91		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		79	41	51	92	132		3	2	2	4	8
1985–86	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		76	33	38	71	110		—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		67	18	44	62	84		5	2	3	5	6
1987–88	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		68	26	41	67	129		5	3	3	6	6
1988–89	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		70	26	37	63	80		11	1	5	6	19
1989–90	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		58	15	26	41	96		6	4	4	8	6
1990–91	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		73	23	30	53	148		12	2	1	3	12
1991–92	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		77	10	19	29	63		6	1	1	2	20
1992–93	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		48	6	9	15	49		22	3	5	8	31
1993–94	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		33	4	3	7	28		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1111	431	638	1069	1589		92	26	33	59	149

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1983	Canada	WC		10	1	4	5	4
1985	Canada	WC		10	3	2	5	4
1986	Canada	WC		10	3	4	7	12
Senior totals				30	7	10	17	20

See also

• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

References

1. "Dave Taylor - Stats - NHL.com". NHL. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
2. "Dave Taylor Named Clarkson University Trustee". Clarkson University. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
3. "Triple Crown Line still resonates with Kings fans". NHL. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
4. "Dave Taylor player profile". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
5. "Kings Retired Numbers". Los Angeles Kings. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
6. Dave Taylor Vice President of Hockey Operations http://blues.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=63247
7. The Stuttering Foundation - Dave Taylor http://www.stutteringhelp.org/famous-people/dave-taylor
8. Dave Taylor Vice President of Hockey Operations http://blues.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=63247

External links

• Dave Taylor's career statistics at EliteProspects.com
• Dave Taylor's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database