The Hockey Unknows : Dave Babych

David Michael Babych (born May 23, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently an assistant director of player personnel with the Vancouver Canucks.^[1] He played in two NHL All-Star Games and played for the Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings. He is the younger brother of former NHL player Wayne Babych. He was the first NHL player to wear the number 44 on a permanent basis.

Playing career

 

 

Winnipeg Jets

Considered a franchise talent after a standout junior career in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Portland Winter Hawks, Babych was selected second overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft by the Winnipeg Jets. At the time of his selection, Babych and his brother Wayne (taken 3rd overall in 1978) were the highest-drafted pair of brothers in NHL history, a record since broken by Pierre and Sylvain Turgeon and the Sedin twins (Daniel and Henrik). Babych stepped into the Jets lineup immediately as a teenager during the 1980–81 season, turning in a stellar rookie campaign in which he finished second on the club with 38 assists and led all Winnipeg blueliners with 44 points. Babych went on to lead all defenders on his team in scoring in each of his first 10 NHL seasons.

In 1981–82, Babych emerged as a star on a revitalized Winnipeg team which improved by 48 points with the addition of superstar rookie Dale Hawerchuk, setting franchise records for defencemen with 19 goals and 68 points in helping the Jets to their first-ever NHL playoff berth. Key to his improvement and development was the acquisition of veteran Serge Savard, a future Hall of Famer, to serve as his partner on the blueline. 1982–83 would be better yet, as he led the Jets with 61 assists and broke his own club record for defensive scoring with 74 points. He was also voted in as a starter for the Campbell Conference at the 1983 NHL All-Star Game.

Babych played in the All-Star game again in 1984, and turned in another excellent season, although he missed 14 games due to injury. In 1984–85, the Jets would have their best season ever, finishing fourth in the NHL with 96 points, and Babych - now forming a dynamic partnership on the blueline with former Norris Trophy winner Randy Carlyle - finished the year with 62 points to lead the team's defenders in scoring for the fifth consecutive season. He excelled in the 1985 playoffs, leading the team in scoring as they won their first-ever playoff series before being ousted by the Edmonton Oilers.

 

Hartford Whalers

Despite registering 16 points in his first 19 games to start the 1985–86 season, Babych was dealt to the Hartford Whalers for Ray Neufeld. Unpopular with Winnipeg fans at the time, the move would be a terrible one for the Jets as Neufeld was never more than a depth player for them and was out of the NHL by 1989, while Babych continued to excel for nearly another 15 years.

In Hartford, Babych continued his stellar play, finishing the season with 69 points - the second-highest total of his career - and was named the team's top defender. In 1986–87, he missed time with injury and finished with a career-low 41 points. However, he bounced back the following year to record another 50-point season, good for second on the Whalers in scoring. He was named the Whalers' top defender again in 1988–89, and led the team in playoff scoring with six points in four games. In 1989–90, he finished the year with 6 goals and 43 points, his 10th consecutive season over 40 points.

Babych suffered a serious wrist injury in 1990–91, requiring surgery shortly after the start of the season, causing him to miss 40 games. He then suffered a severely broken thumb almost immediately after his return, ruling him out for the rest of the campaign. He only appeared in eight games all season, recording six assists.

 

Vancouver Canucks

After missing almost all of the previous season to injury, Hartford exposed Babych in the 1991 NHL Expansion Draft, where he was selected by the Minnesota North Stars. However, he was almost immediately dealt to the Vancouver Canucks for Tom Kurvers.

While Babych was no longer the front-line defender he was earlier in his career, he continued to be a steady and valued contributor during his seven years in Vancouver, capable of showing flashes of his former offensive ability. Babych became the only defender in Canucks history to record a hat trick during the regular season, a feat he accomplished on November 22, 1991, against the Calgary Flames (Doug Halward also recorded a hat-trick for the Canucks in a playoff game). He finished the 1991–92 season with five goals and 29 points (second amongst Vancouver defenders, behind Jyrki Lumme), and was a key factor on a vastly improved Canuck team which won their division for the first time in 17 years. He also added eight points in 13 playoff games.

Injuries limited Babych to just 43 games in 1992–93, but he bounced back in 1993–94 with 32 points, his highest total since 1990. He continued to play inspired hockey in the playoffs as Vancouver reached the Stanley Cup Finals, scoring the biggest goal of his career on June 9, 1994, in Game 5 of the Finals against the New York Rangers. After the Rangers came back from a 3–0 deficit to tie the game, Babych jumped into the rush and buried a pass from Pavel Bure to score the game-winning goal. It sparked a comeback in the series for Vancouver, who would narrowly lose the series in seven games.

Babych continued to toil steadily on the Canucks' blueline for another four seasons, although the team's fortunes went into decline. Most notable for Babych was a surprise offensive resurgence at the start of the 1995–96 campaign, which saw him amongst the league's highest-scoring defenders through the first month of the season.

 

 

Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings

With the Canucks well out of the playoff race at the end of the 1997–98 season, the team dealt Babych to the Philadelphia Flyers for a low draft pick in order to give him a chance to play for a contending team. However, Babych missed a substantial amount of time after breaking his foot blocking a slap shot soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, and the Flyers were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.

Babych continued to serve as a depth defender for the Flyers in 1998–99, before being dealt to the Los Angeles Kings at the trade deadline. He finished his final season with two goals and 8 points in 41 games between Philadelphia and Los Angeles. He had a brief stint in Switzerland in 2000 before retiring.

Babych finished his career with 142 goals and 581 assists for 723 points in 1195 NHL games, along with 970 penalty minutes. He added 21 goals and 41 assists for 62 points in 114 playoff games.

 

 

Retirement

Babych made his home in North Vancouver^{[disambiguation needed]}, British Columbia, following his retirement.^[1] In December 2009, he was hired to work in a part-time capacity with the Vancouver Canucks as an assistant specializing in defencemen to director of player personnel Dave Gagner.^[1]

 

 Lawsuit against the Flyers

Babych sued the Flyers and the team's orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Arthur Bartolozzi, in 2002, claiming that improper medical care for his 1998 foot injury shortened his career. Bartolozzi misdiagnosed the injury as a bone bruise rather than a fracture, and gave Babych painkillers so he could suit up for the first round of the playoffs. Babych claimed for many years that playing through the injury caused permanent damage which prematurely ended his career. Claiming that the Flyers and Bartolozzi had defrauded him, he sued for $2 million in lost wages. The Flyers were dismissed as a defendant before trial when a judge ruled there was no evidence of fraud on their part. While a jury found no evidence of fraud Bartolozzi's part either, it found that he failed to follow accepted standards of care and awarded Babych US$$1.02 million in lost wages and US$350,000 for pain and suffering in November 2002.^[2]

Personal life

Babych, who is of Ukrainian ancestry,^[3] was born in Edmonton, Alberta.
Dave and Wayne Babych are also brothers-in-law, as they married twin sisters. They have since divorced their first wives and started new families.
Babych had a small role in the movie Slap Shot 2.^[4]

STATS :

No suspension for Vancouver's Burrows

source : nhl.com

Vancouver Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows will not be suspended for Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round series against the Calgary Flames, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced. In Game 3 on Sunday, Burrows received an instigator penalty at 18:35 of the third period in an incident with defenseman Kris Russell.

Any instigator penalty in the last five minutes of a game carries an automatic suspension, subject to review by the Department of Player Safety, as outlined by Rule 46.22. The suspension can be lifted if the incident is deemed not related to the score, previous incidents in the game or prior games, retaliatory in nature, or "message sending."

Calgary leads the best-of-7 series, 2-1. Game 4 in Calgary is Tuesday.

Calgary Flames defeat Vancouver Canucks 4-2 in Game 3 of NHL playoffs

Calgary Flames Brandon Bollig, right, celebrates his goal with teammates TJ Brodie during first period NHL first round playoff hockey action against the Vancouver Canucks in Calgary, Sunday, April 19, 2015.

source : globalnews.ca

For a second straight game, the first-round playoff series between the Vancouver Canucks and
Calgary Flames had plenty of post-whistle scrums and third-period scraps.

But this time, Calgary ended up on top.

T.J. Brodie scored go-ahead goal with five minutes left in the first period and the Flames outplayed the Canucks thereafter in a 4-2 victory, giving them a 2-1 advantage in the series.

Brandon Bollig opened the scoring for Calgary at 6:35 of the first period, after a Mason Raymond shot bounced off Brad Richardson straight to him in the slot. But the Canucks were able to tie it up less than three minutes later, after Shawn Matthias was able to bury a loose puck past Jonas Hiller for his first career playoff goal.

 However, Calgary regained the lead with five minutes left in the period on Brodie’s goal and never let go. While Jonas Hiller and Eddie Lack both ended the game with 23 saves, the quality of Calgary’s chances were much higher throughout.

“I thought we had some great zone time, we had some great pressure on their d-men, we had pressure on Lack,” said Calgary coach Bob Hartley.

“Defensively, we kept the Sedins pretty quiet, and this is not an easy task.”

The first period was free of chippy play, two days after a late-game brawl led to Flames coach Bob Hartley being fined $50,000.

The same couldn’t be said for the rest of the game. There were several minutes of four-on-four action in the second period due to overlapping penalties.

The third period saw a Yannick Weber goaltending interference penalty immediately followed by a Dan Hamhuis minor for an illegal check to Sam Bennett, who had already scored a goal in the third to give Calgary a 3-1 lead.

Sean Monahan then scored eight seconds into the five-on-three powerplay, making the score 4-1.


Vancouver would narrow the gap to two with a Jannik Hansen goal with just over two minutes left in the game.

But the Canucks wouldn’t get any chances to narrow the lead after that – and the game ended with a flurry of fights and misconduct penalties.

“They did a good job on us, and we weren’t good enough,” said Canucks coach Willie Desjardins after the game.

“It wasn’t that we didn’t have our chances…we’re in their building on the road. We just took ourselves out of the game with penalties in the third.

“We weren’t good enough and we know that.”
Hamhuis’ hit to Bennett’s head is expected to be reviewed by the league, as will an instigator penalty by Alex Burrows in a fight with Kris Russell with 85 seconds to go.

The atmosphere in the Scotiabank Saddledome was raucous as Calgary hosted its first playoff game since 2009, when they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

But the arena wasn’t entirely filled with Flames fans, as a sizable number of Vancouverites travelled across the Rocky Mountains to support their side.

“It was unbelievable. We were in the locker rooms and could already hear them ‘go Flames go’,” said Hartley. “That momentum really carried us.”
Game 4 will be played Tuesday in Calgary.

Hockey Saves (VINE) - Pad Saves by Eddie Lack #Hockeypc

New Canuck Vey needed Vancouver as much as Vancouver needs him

source : faceoff.com

It’s silly to think now but Linden Vey’s second career NHL game in early November was then the Canucks’ lowest point of the season.

As Los Angeles was putting baby in the corner yet again on Nov. 9, dominating the Canucks in a 5-1 win, Vey, playing for the Kings then, orchestrated one of the more humiliating goals endured by the Canucks and their fans this past season.

As Dan Hamhuis crumpled over a puck like lit kindling, Vey accelerated by him and the Canucks defence as though they were rocking themselves to sleep in a nursing home. He feathered a pass — to himself — between Brad Richardson’s skates, and set up Jordan Nolan for a tap-in.

It was this flash of speed, youth, creativity and skill, none of which was seen often in a Canucks uniform last season.

“It was my second (NHL) game and a lot of my family was down (in L.A.) to watch,” Vey said. “My brother, my girlfriend were there. You always remember your first point and that was mine.

“It was a pretty special moment for me.”

Vey turns 23 Thursday, three weeks after the Canucks traded for him — and he needed Vancouver as much as Vancouver needs him.

It took Vey four long years to play for the Kings in a game after they drafted him in 2009. It says more about L.A.’s ridiculous depth down the middle then it does about Vey.

He did his part. He lit the CHL ablaze, finishing first in points with 116 in 2010-11. He then centred the best line in the AHL, playing between Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli. He put up 158 points in 191 AHL games. Heck, he was second on Manchester (New Hampshire) in points last year and he only played 56 per cent of its games.

What he hasn’t done yet is anything in the NHL, other than orchestrating a pair of pretty great goals in two games against the Canucks.

The Canucks are betting, rather heavily, that is about to change.

Forget the two-way, $735,000 qualifying offer Vey signed, because you can’t put a dollar sign on the opportunity the Canucks are about to hand him.

And that’s something Vey thinks about daily back on his family grain farm in Wakaw, Sask., his hometown of about 1,000 people.

“There are times when you wake up and you’re tired and sore,” Vey said. “It makes it a lot easier knowing you’re going to get a good opportunity. It’s up to me to make the most of it.”

You can’t measure the pressure coming his way.

Aside from Zack Kassian, the youngest player to score at least 10 goals for the Canucks last year was Jannik Hansen and he’s 27 years old. When you search for Canucks in their early 20s it’s like a lost generation. Vancouver needs Vey to change that.

Can he?

Well, Canucks GM Jim Benning scouted him, and believes he’s ready to be a third-line centre. And the new general manager should probably still be getting the benefit of the doubt in that talent-
evaluation area.

But it’s coach Willie Desjardins who knows Vey best.

He coached him for three years in Medicine Hat and Vey became critical to his uptempo attack. That just may happen again here for the Canucks, because if they don’t have a third line that can score, this is going to be another a long, long season.

The coach left for the NHL the off-season before Vey blew up for his 116 points. But even though Desjardins was moving on to be an associate coach for the Dallas Stars, he didn’t forget Vey.

“The funny thing is, even though he wasn’t my coach any more he was still very impactful that year,” Vey said.

“I spent a lot of time with him that summer. He sat me down and told me that was the year I had to really focus on training.

“It was probably the first year that I actually dedicated to working out.”
Watching Vey in Manchester, Benning believed he was the one driving the play when he was on a line with Toffoli and Pearson.

This is probably the most compelling evidence that Vey is ready to succeed in the NHL. Both Pearson and Toffoli had massive post-seasons and were integral to the Kings’ Stanley Cup run.

“It was exciting to watch them and see them get that opportunity,” Vey said. “I played with them for two years and it shows me that I could probably contribute the same way.”

The Canucks sure hope so.

Hockey memories - Mark Messier game winning goal of Stanley cup 1994 #nhl #hockey #playoffs #memories #stanleycup

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Player of the day : Dave Babych #player #defense #day #hockey #icehockey

David Michael Babych (born May 23, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently an assistant director of player personnel with the Vancouver Canucks.^[1] He played in two NHL All-Star Games and played for the Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings. He is the younger brother of former NHL player Wayne Babych. He was the first NHL player to wear the number 44 on a permanent basis.

Playing career

 

 

Winnipeg Jets

Considered a franchise talent after a standout junior career in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Portland Winter Hawks, Babych was selected second overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft by the Winnipeg Jets. At the time of his selection, Babych and his brother Wayne (taken 3rd overall in 1978) were the highest-drafted pair of brothers in NHL history, a record since broken by Pierre and Sylvain Turgeon and the Sedin twins (Daniel and Henrik). Babych stepped into the Jets lineup immediately as a teenager during the 1980–81 season, turning in a stellar rookie campaign in which he finished second on the club with 38 assists and led all Winnipeg blueliners with 44 points. Babych went on to lead all defenders on his team in scoring in each of his first 10 NHL seasons.

In 1981–82, Babych emerged as a star on a revitalized Winnipeg team which improved by 48 points with the addition of superstar rookie Dale Hawerchuk, setting franchise records for defencemen with 19 goals and 68 points in helping the Jets to their first-ever NHL playoff berth. Key to his improvement and development was the acquisition of veteran Serge Savard, a future Hall of Famer, to serve as his partner on the blueline. 1982–83 would be better yet, as he led the Jets with 61 assists and broke his own club record for defensive scoring with 74 points. He was also voted in as a starter for the Campbell Conference at the 1983 NHL All-Star Game.

Babych played in the All-Star game again in 1984, and turned in another excellent season, although he missed 14 games due to injury. In 1984–85, the Jets would have their best season ever, finishing fourth in the NHL with 96 points, and Babych - now forming a dynamic partnership on the blueline with former Norris Trophy winner Randy Carlyle - finished the year with 62 points to lead the team's defenders in scoring for the fifth consecutive season. He excelled in the 1985 playoffs, leading the team in scoring as they won their first-ever playoff series before being ousted by the Edmonton Oilers.

 

Hartford Whalers

Despite registering 16 points in his first 19 games to start the 1985–86 season, Babych was dealt to the Hartford Whalers for Ray Neufeld. Unpopular with Winnipeg fans at the time, the move would be a terrible one for the Jets as Neufeld was never more than a depth player for them and was out of the NHL by 1989, while Babych continued to excel for nearly another 15 years.

In Hartford, Babych continued his stellar play, finishing the season with 69 points - the second-highest total of his career - and was named the team's top defender. In 1986–87, he missed time with injury and finished with a career-low 41 points. However, he bounced back the following year to record another 50-point season, good for second on the Whalers in scoring. He was named the Whalers' top defender again in 1988–89, and led the team in playoff scoring with six points in four games. In 1989–90, he finished the year with 6 goals and 43 points, his 10th consecutive season over 40 points.

Babych suffered a serious wrist injury in 1990–91, requiring surgery shortly after the start of the season, causing him to miss 40 games. He then suffered a severely broken thumb almost immediately after his return, ruling him out for the rest of the campaign. He only appeared in eight games all season, recording six assists.

 

Vancouver Canucks

After missing almost all of the previous season to injury, Hartford exposed Babych in the 1991 NHL Expansion Draft, where he was selected by the Minnesota North Stars. However, he was almost immediately dealt to the Vancouver Canucks for Tom Kurvers.

While Babych was no longer the front-line defender he was earlier in his career, he continued to be a steady and valued contributor during his seven years in Vancouver, capable of showing flashes of his former offensive ability. Babych became the only defender in Canucks history to record a hat trick during the regular season, a feat he accomplished on November 22, 1991, against the Calgary Flames (Doug Halward also recorded a hat-trick for the Canucks in a playoff game). He finished the 1991–92 season with five goals and 29 points (second amongst Vancouver defenders, behind Jyrki Lumme), and was a key factor on a vastly improved Canuck team which won their division for the first time in 17 years. He also added eight points in 13 playoff games.

Injuries limited Babych to just 43 games in 1992–93, but he bounced back in 1993–94 with 32 points, his highest total since 1990. He continued to play inspired hockey in the playoffs as Vancouver reached the Stanley Cup Finals, scoring the biggest goal of his career on June 9, 1994, in Game 5 of the Finals against the New York Rangers. After the Rangers came back from a 3–0 deficit to tie the game, Babych jumped into the rush and buried a pass from Pavel Bure to score the game-winning goal. It sparked a comeback in the series for Vancouver, who would narrowly lose the series in seven games.

Babych continued to toil steadily on the Canucks' blueline for another four seasons, although the team's fortunes went into decline. Most notable for Babych was a surprise offensive resurgence at the start of the 1995–96 campaign, which saw him amongst the league's highest-scoring defenders through the first month of the season.

 

 

Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings

With the Canucks well out of the playoff race at the end of the 1997–98 season, the team dealt Babych to the Philadelphia Flyers for a low draft pick in order to give him a chance to play for a contending team. However, Babych missed a substantial amount of time after breaking his foot blocking a slap shot soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, and the Flyers were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.

Babych continued to serve as a depth defender for the Flyers in 1998–99, before being dealt to the Los Angeles Kings at the trade deadline. He finished his final season with two goals and 8 points in 41 games between Philadelphia and Los Angeles. He had a brief stint in Switzerland in 2000 before retiring.

Babych finished his career with 142 goals and 581 assists for 723 points in 1195 NHL games, along with 970 penalty minutes. He added 21 goals and 41 assists for 62 points in 114 playoff games.

 

 

Retirement

Babych made his home in North Vancouver^{[disambiguation needed]}, British Columbia, following his retirement.^[1] In December 2009, he was hired to work in a part-time capacity with the Vancouver Canucks as an assistant specializing in defencemen to director of player personnel Dave Gagner.^[1]

 

 Lawsuit against the Flyers

Babych sued the Flyers and the team's orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Arthur Bartolozzi, in 2002, claiming that improper medical care for his 1998 foot injury shortened his career. Bartolozzi misdiagnosed the injury as a bone bruise rather than a fracture, and gave Babych painkillers so he could suit up for the first round of the playoffs. Babych claimed for many years that playing through the injury caused permanent damage which prematurely ended his career. Claiming that the Flyers and Bartolozzi had defrauded him, he sued for $2 million in lost wages. The Flyers were dismissed as a defendant before trial when a judge ruled there was no evidence of fraud on their part. While a jury found no evidence of fraud Bartolozzi's part either, it found that he failed to follow accepted standards of care and awarded Babych US$$1.02 million in lost wages and US$350,000 for pain and suffering in November 2002.^[2]

Personal life

Babych, who is of Ukrainian ancestry,^[3] was born in Edmonton, Alberta.
Dave and Wayne Babych are also brothers-in-law, as they married twin sisters. They have since divorced their first wives and started new families.
Babych had a small role in the movie Slap Shot 2.^[4]

STATS :