Denis Savard

Denis Savard
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2000
Born	February 4, 1961 Pointe Gatineau, QC, CAN
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Right
Played for	Chicago Blackhawks Montreal Canadiens Tampa Bay Lightning
NHL Draft	3rd overall, 1980 Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career	1980–1997
Website	http://www.savard18.com

Denis Joseph Savard (born February 4, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1997, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. He has also served as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL,^[1] and now serves as an ambassador for the Blackhawks' organization. Savard was born in Pointe Gatineau, Quebec, but grew up in Montreal, Quebec.

NHL playing career

For the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, the Montreal Canadiens held the first overall pick and many fans hoped the Canadiens would use it to draft Savard. Instead, the Canadiens drafted Doug Wickenheiser and Savard was chosen third overall 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 'Savardian Spin-o-rama' (a term actually coined by Danny Gallivan, referencing the move performed by Serge Savard ), 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).

On June 29, 1990, Savard was infamously traded to the Montreal Canadiens for star defenceman Chris Chelios and a second-round pick (Mike Pomichter), a transaction that has since been considered largely in Chicago's favor as Chelios would produce some of his best seasons as a Blackhawk while Savard's career was on the decline. Savard won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993. He signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the summer of 1993, where he played a season and a half. On April 6, 1995, Savard was traded back to Chicago, for a 1996 sixth-round pick (Xavier Delisle). Savard's NHL career would end where it had started, with the Blackhawks.

In 1,196 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. Five 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 inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 13, 2000.

Awards

• Member of one Stanley Cup winning team: 1993 with the Montreal Canadiens
• Selected to nine NHL All-Star Games: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996
• NHL Second All-Star Team: 1983

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
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 was named interim head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks after Trent Yawney was fired mid-season. He was commended for leading a young Blackhawks team to within 3 points of a playoff berth during his second season as coach. The Hawks finished just one victory away from the .500 mark in 2007–2008. The 40 wins in 2007–08 marked the first time the club had reached the 40 win mark in six years.

On October 16, 2008, just four games into the season Savard was fired as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. He was replaced by former Colorado Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville, who had been hired as a scout for the Blackhawks during the previous summer.^[2] In 147 games as coach, Savard posted a 65–66–16 record. Savard remains as an ambassador for the Blackhawks and received Stanley Cup rings in 2010 and 2013.

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
		G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Division rank	Result
CHI	2006–07	61	24	30	7	(71)	5th in Central	Missed playoffs
CHI	2007–08	82	40	34	8	88	3rd in Central	Missed playoffs
CHI	2008–09	4	1	2	1	(104)	2nd in Central	(fired)
Total		147	65	66	16	.496

Other

• Denis Savard has a cousin named Jean Savard who coincidentally also played for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1970s.
• Denis Savard is distantly related to Montreal Canadiens' legend Serge Savard, they shared the same number (#18), and in the 1990s Serge was general manager of the Habs when he acquired Denis from the Blackhawks.
• He is sometimes called "Savoir-Faire" referring to a fictional French Canadian mouse that was the archnemesis of the cartoon character Klondike Kat.

See also

• List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame
• List of NHL statistical leaders
• List of NHL players with 1000 points

References

1. "Blackhawks fire Savard, make Quenneville new coach". TSN.ca. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
2. "Blackhawks fire Savard after four games". TSN.ca. October 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-16.

• "One on One with Serge Savard" by Kevin Shea, December 16, 2003, retrieved August 10, 2006
• Hockey draft central

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database