Mike Blaisdell

Mike Blaisdell
Mike Blaisdell
Blaiser
Born January 18, 1960 (1960-01-18) (age 51)
Moose Jaw, SK, CAN
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for NHL
Detroit Red Wings
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Toronto Maple Leafs
Minors
Adirondack Red Wings (AHL)
Tulsa Oilers (CHL)
New Haven Nighthawks (AHL)
Baltimore Skipjacks (AHL)
Newmarket Saints (AHL)
Albany Choppers (IHL)
Other
Schwenninger ERC (DEL)
Durham Wasps (BHL)
Nottingham Panthers (BHL)
Sheffield Steelers (BISL)
NHL Draft 11th overall, 1980
Detroit Red Wings
Playing career 1980–2001

Michael Walter "Wally" Blaisdell (born January 18, 1960 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) is a retired professional ice hockey right winger who played in the NHL and later in the BHL. He was the 1st round draft pick (11th overall) in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft of the Detroit Red Wings. Blaisdell most recently was the head coach of the 2003–04 British Elite Ice Hockey League Champions, the Sheffield Steelers.

Contents

Professional career

Amateur and college hockey

In 1978 Blaisdell joined the Regina Pats of the WCHL (later the WHL for the end of the 1977-78 regular season and the playoffs.[1] In the final six games of the season, Blaisdell scored 5 goals and 5 assists, for 10 points and a 1.66 points per game average. He added 11 points in 13 playoff games. The following season, Blaisdell played 20 games at University of Wisconsin–Madison before returning to the Pats for the 1979–80 WHL season.

The NHL comes calling

In the 1980 NHL Entry Draft the Detroit Red Wings decided to pick Blaisdell with their 11th overall pick. They placed him in their farm team the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL and instantly saw his potential. After just 41 games, Blaisdell was called up to play for the Red Wings full time. In the 1981–82 season, Blaisdell really started to feel comfortable in the league and formed a solid unit with Mark Kirton and Paul Woods. He scored 23 goals and ended with 55 points that season as the Red Wings once again failed to reach the playoffs. He continued to chip in goals for the Red Wings and on June 13, 1983 was involved in a large trade to the New York Rangers with Willie Huber and Mark Osborne for Ron Duguay, Eddie Mio and Eddie Johnstone.

Most of Blaisdell's time with the Rangers was spent in and out of their farm teams; the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League and the New Haven Nighthawks of the AHL. He won the 1983-84 CHL Championship (Adams Cup) as a member of the Tulsa Oilers team coached by Tom Webster. Due to bankruptcy, the Tulsa Oilers suspended operations on February 16, 1984, and the team played only road games for final six weeks of 1983-84 season. Despite this adversity, the team went on to win the league's championship.[2] Blaisdell played in all nine playoff games, and lead the team in both goals (6 - tied with Bob Scurfield) and points (12 - tied with Gary Burns).[3]

After failing to find a role in the organization, he was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 7, 1985. He scored 15 goals and played some his best two-way hockey during the 1985–86 season but his playing time decreased the next year while splitting time with Pittsburgh's farm team the Baltimore Skipjacks. After that season, Blaisdell was signed as a free agent by the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 10, 1987 and only played in 27 games for the Leafs for the following two years which would be his last in the National Hockey League.

International play

Blaisdell decided this time would be better spent on the Canadian National Team during the 1990–91 season. Part-way through, he changed his mind and decided to see what else was out there. He joined the roster of Schwenninger ERC in West Germany's Bundesliga for three games and then the Albany Choppers of the IHL before heading across the pond joining the Durham Wasps of the British Hockey League where he instantly became a fans favourite. There he went on to score a record-breaking 74 goals in 1991–92 leading the Wasps to the second of their back-to-back championships. Blaisdell added 41 points the following season before deciding to try his hand at coaching with the Nottingham Panthers. After coaching for half the year, Blaisdell felt he still offered more when he was on the ice and decided to return to doing what he knew best; scoring goals. In the 1995–96 season, Blaisdell scored 35 goals to finish with 81 points on the season. Blaisdell slowly drew away from the league (by then called the Ice Hockey Superleague), but would continue to play in a few games here and there until 2001 when he played his last four games for the Sheffield Steelers before retiring.

Blaisdell is arguably[weasel words] one of the greatest ice hockey players to have ever played in Great Britain, with few players ever since, coming close to matching his 343 NHL games and 154 NHL points.

Coach Blaisdell

Blaisdell again returned to coaching in the 2001–02 season with the team he last stepped on the ice for, the Sheffield Steelers. He slowly learned what it took to coach a professional team over the next three years and finished the 2003–04 season with a record of 44–8–3 and a 0.821 win percentage. He led the Steelers to the league's best record and won the League Championship before retiring from hockey.

Awards

Career statistics

Player

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1980–81 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 41 10 4 14 8 12 2 2 4 5
1980–81 Detroit Red Wings NHL 32 3 6 9 10 - - - - -
1981–82 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 23 32 55 48 - - - - -
1982–83 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 18 23 41 22 - - - - -
1983–84 Tulsa Oilers CHL 32 10 8 18 23 9 6 6 12 6
1983–84 New York Rangers NHL 36 5 6 11 31 - - - - -
1984–85 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 64 21 23 44 41 - - - - -
1984–85 New York Rangers NHL 12 1 0 1 11 - - - - -
1985–86 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 66 15 14 29 36 - - - - -
1986–87 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 43 12 12 24 47 - - - - -
1986–87 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 10 1 1 2 2 - - - - -
1987–88 Newmarket Saints AHL 57 28 28 56 30 - - - - -
1987–88 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 18 3 2 5 2 6 1 2 3 10
1988–89 Newmarket Saints AHL 40 16 7 23 48 - - - - -
1988–89 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 9 1 0 1 4 - - - - -
1989–90 Canadian National Team Intl 50 12 18 30 40
1989–90 Schwenninger ERC Bund 3 1 0 1 0 - - - - -
1990–91 Albany Choppers IHL 6 2 0 2 0 - - - - -
1990–91 Durham Wasps BHL 18 36 35 71 114 - - - - -
1991–92 Durham Wasps BHL 36 74 52 126 86 - - - - -
1992–93 Durham Wasps BHL 13 23 18 41 46 - - - - -
1994–95 Nottingham Panthers BHL 11 7 10 17 60 - - - - -
1995–96 Nottingham Panthers BHL 52 35 46 81 124 - - - - -
1996–97 Nottingham Panthers BISL 7 2 2 4 6 - - - - -
1998–99 Nottingham Panthers BISL 3 0 1 1 0 - - - - -
2000–01 Sheffield Steelers BISL 4 0 1 1 0 - - - - -
NHL totals 343 70 84 154 166 6 1 2 3 10

Coach

    Regular season  
Season Team League G W L T OTL PCT Finished Playoffs
1993–94 Nottingham Panthers BHL 44 26 16 2 - .591 5th Semi-final
1994–95 Nottingham Panthers BHL 44 32 8 4 - .727 2nd Semi-final
1995–96 Nottingham Panthers BHL 36 19 12 4 - .528 4th Runners up
1996–97 Nottingham Panthers BISL 44 21 20 1 2 .477 4th Runners up
1997–98 Nottingham Panthers BISL 44 22 18 4 0 .500 5th Preliminary Round Group A
1998–99 Nottingham Panthers BISL 42 25 14 1 2 .595 3rd Runners up
1999–00 Nottingham Panthers BISL  ???  ???  ???  ???  ???  ??? - -
1999–00 Sheffield Steelers BISL  ???  ???  ???  ???  ???  ??? 1st Semi-final
2000–01 Sheffield Steelers BISL 48 35 9 0 4 .729 1st Winners
2001–02 Sheffield Steelers BISL 48 18 18 12 0 .375 3rd Winners
2002–03 Sheffield Steelers BISL 32 18 8 5 1 .563 1st Semi-final
2003–04 Sheffield Steelers EIHL 56 44 8 3 1 .786 1st Winners
2005–06 Nottingham Panthers EIHL 42 23 11 6 2 .548 3rd Preliminary Round Group B

References

External links

Awards
Preceded by
John Lawless
Dave Whistle
Dave Whistle
BIHWA Coach of the Year
1994–95
2000–01
2002–03, 2003–04
Succeeded by
Paul Heavey
Dave Whistle
Paul Thompson
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Mike Foligno
Detroit Red Wings first round draft pick
1980
Succeeded by
Murray Craven
Preceded by
Kevin Murphy
Nottingham Panthers Head Coach
1993–99
Succeeded by
Alex Dampier
Preceded by
Don McKee
Sheffield Steelers Head Coach
1999–04
Succeeded by
Rob Stewart
Preceded by
Paul Adey
Nottingham Panthers Head Coach
2005–06
Succeeded by
Mike Ellis

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