- Bruce Landon
Bruce Landon (born
October 5 , 1949, in London,Ontario ) is a retired professionalice hockey goaltender who is the longtime general manager and owner of theSpringfield Falcons of theAmerican Hockey League .Playing career
Following a successful junior career with the
Peterborough Petes of theOntario Hockey League , Landon was selected in the fourth round of the 1969 amateur draft by theLos Angeles Kings of theNational Hockey League . He played three seasons for their minor-league affiliate Springfield Kings, backing up futureHockey Hall of Famer Billy Smith as the Kings won the AHL'sCalder Cup championship in 1971. In 1973, Landon signed with the upstartWorld Hockey Association 'sNew England Whalers and was the team's backup goaltender for five seasons. His best season was 1976, where despite a losing record provoked by the Whalers' anemic offense, he had a goals against average of 3.47, good for 9th place in the high scoring WHA.He had a second stint with Springfield at the start of the
1977–78 WHA season , but suffered a career-ending knee injury in practice and retired at age 28.Landon finished his WHA career with 50 wins, 50 losses and 9 ties in 122 games, recording two shutouts and a 3.46 goals against average.
Hockey executive
After his retirement, Landon was hired by the
Springfield Indians as an executive and broadcaster, and won the AHL'sKen McKenzie Award as the individual who best promoted his team in 1979 and theJames C. Hendy Memorial Award in 1981 as the league's top executive. In 1982, Landon became the general manager of the Springfield AHL team, and has remained in that position ever since, leading the Indians franchise to its final two Calder Cup championships in 1990 and 1991.When the Indians were sold to out-of-town interests in 1994 and moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, Landon put together an investment group to secure an expansion franchise from the AHL, the
Springfield Falcons . He has been the president, general manager and owner of the Falcons since then.See also
*
Springfield Indians
*Springfield Falcons
*New England Whalers External links
*
* [http://www.falconsahl.com/ Springfield Falcons home page]
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