Jim Dowd (ice hockey)

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size= 250px
team= Free agent
former_teams = New Jersey Devils
Vancouver Canucks
New York Islanders
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Philadelphia Flyers
league = NHL
position = Center
shoots = Right
height_ft = 6
height_in = 1
weight_lb = 190
nationality = USA
birth_date = Birth date and age|1968|12|25|mf=y
birth_place = Brick, NJ
draft = 149th overall
draft_year = 1987
draft_team = New Jersey Devils
career_start = 1991

James Thomas "Jim" Dowd (born December 25, 1968, in Brick Township, New Jersey) is a player in the National Hockey League (NHL), currently an unrestricted free agent. His high school hockey success and his 1995 Stanley Cup victory with the state's NHL team has made him a local hero in his home state amongst younger hockey players. Throughout an extensive NHL career, he has proven his ability to be a role player on teams with more skilled players.

Early life, high school and college

As a junior, Dowd helped Brick Township High School capture the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Associationice hockey title for the 1985–1986 season. [Yannis, Alex. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE6DE1231F93AA25751C1A965958260 "HOCKEY; No Weak Links for Devils, Including 2 Newest Players"] , "The New York Times", December 19, 1993. Accessed October 11, 2007. "The only New Jersey native on the Devils, Dowd was drafted in the seventh round in 1987 out of Brick High School, but he went to Lake Superior State, where he scored 91 goals and led the team to the national title in the 1987–88 season."] In his senior year, he broke the national scholastic scoring record, finishing with a four year tally of 375 points: 189 Goals, 186 Assists. Dowd was the 8th round pick (149th overall) of the New Jersey Devils in the NHL Entry Draft on June 13, 1987. He went to Lake Superior State University in the fall of 1987. In his four years with the Lake Superior Lakers (in the CCHA), Dowd was a prolific scorer, earning selections to the NCAA West Second All-American and CCHA Second All-Star Teams in 1990 and the NCAA West First All-American and CCHA First All-Star Teams in 1991. He was also named the CCHA's Player of the Year in 1991.

Post-college and professional hockey

New Jersey Devils and the Stanley Cup

After college, Jim Dowd joined the now-defunct Utica Devils (New Jersey's minor league affiliate) of the American Hockey League (AHL). He became the first New Jersey native to play for the New Jersey Devils when he made his NHL debut during the 1991–1992 season. He spent the 1991–92 season and the 1992–1993 season in the AHL, with single-game NHL appearances in both seasons. As a top scorer with the AHL's Albany River Rats (the Devils' new affiliate) in the 1993–1994 season, Dowd made impressive appearances with the Devils, collecting 5 goals and 10 assists in 15 regular season games, and 2 goals and 6 assists in 19 games during their playoff run. The labor dispute shortened the 1994–95 NHL season, which was further shortened for Dowd when a shoulder injury and surgery caused him to miss 35 games. However, the highlight of Dowd's career with the Devils came in Game Two of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. With 1:24 left in regulation, he notched the game-winning goal, giving the Devils a 2–0 series lead over the Detroit Red Wings to take back home to New Jersey. The Devils completed the sweep at home for their first Stanley Cup Championship, earning Dowd a treasured spot on the Stanley Cup.

Late 90s

Less than six months after helping the Devils capture the Cup, Jim Dowd was traded with a 2nd round 1997 draft pick to the Hartford Whalers on December 19, 1995, for Jocelyn Lemieux and a 2nd round 1998 draft pick. Later that same day, Hartford traded Dowd with Frantisek Kucera and the 2nd round 1997 draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Jeff Brown and a 5th round 1998 draft pick. Dowd would only play 38 regular season games and one playoff game for the Canucks. On September 30, 1996, the New York Islanders claimed Dowd from the Canucks in the NHL Waiver Draft. He only played in three games for New York, spending the rest of the 1996–1997 season with the International Hockey League's (IHL) Utah Grizzlies and AHL's Saint John Flames. Dowd signed with the Calgary Flames on July 10, 1997, as a free agent. In the 1997–1998 season, he played in 48 games with the NHL Flames and another 35 regular season (and 19 playoff) games with the AHL Flames.

On June 27, 1998, Dowd was traded by Calgary to the expansion Nashville Predators for future considerations. For the second time in his career, he was traded before playing a single game, this time to the Edmonton Oilers with Mikhail Shtalenkov on October 1, 1998, for Éric Fichaud, Drake Berehowsky, and Greg de Vries. Dowd appeared in one game with the Oilers during the 1998–1999 season, spending the rest of the season with their AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. As a group two free agent, he re-signed with Edmonton on September 7, 1999, and played the 1999–2000 season with the Oilers appearing in an NHL career high 69 games.

Recent NHL career

The next chapter in Jim Dowd's career began on June 23, 2000, when the Minnesota Wild selected him during the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft. A couple of weeks later, Jim's wife Lisa gave birth to their first child: James Thomas Dowd Jr., 8 lb. 10 oz., 21". After nearly four seasons with the Minnesota Wild, Dowd was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on March 4, 2004 for a 4th round 2004 draft pick. After the season, Dowd became an unrestricted free agent and signed with Germany's Hamburg Freezers during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

Dowd was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Chicago Blackhawks on August 5, 2005.

On March 9, 2006, Dowd was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a fourth round draft pick. His brief tenure with the Avalanche ended after the 2005–06 season, with Dowd again becoming a free agent.

On November 2, 2006, after left winger Dan LaCouture cleared waivers, the Devils signed Dowd to a one-year contract. The contract paid Dowd the NHL minimum of $450,000. "It's great. You should see the smile on my face," Dowd said via phone. "I've tried to come back every time I became a free agent. I'd call New Jersey, but the timing was never right." [http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/116245103345570.xml?starledger?spd&coll=1] When Dowd returned to the Devils, he was forced to wear jersey #12, as John Madden wears #11.

He went on to score 4 goals as well as have his first career multi-goal game, which came against the Florida Panthers.After the season ended with a loss to the Senators in the Second Round of the Playoffs, questions arose about the futures of such Devil's veterans as Dowd and Rasmussen. Jim Dowd had been scratched several times in favor of Rod Pelley, so he probably knew he would not be as welcome the following year. On September 11, Dowd announced that GM Lou Lamoriello and the Devils were uninterested in offering him a contract. He then mentioned that he would attend the Philadelphia Flyers Training Camp to try and make the Flyers. He has become a solid PK and defensive center for the Flyers, scoring his first goal with the Flyers against the Devils. However, he was released after the last game of the Flyers' 2008-09 preseason, along with Bryan Berard, to allow rookie development. (notably Danny Syvret and Darroll Powe) [http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20081005_Flyers_do_some_learning_in_loss.html]

Off the ice

Jim Dowd's Shoot for the Stars Foundation held its 3rd Annual Shore High School All-Star Hockey Game on August 5, 2000 at the Ocean Ice Palace in Brick, New Jersey. The Ocean County All-Stars defeated the Monmouth County All-Stars 6–4 with proceeds benefiting Jeremy Zalinsky, a 6-year-old Brick resident afflicted with pontine glioma, a cancerous tumor of the brain stem. The Ocean County All-Stars took a 2–1 series advantage, having won 5–1 two years ago. Monmouth County won last year's event 5–2. The All-Star Games and other events hosted by Shoot for the Stars have raised thousands of dollars for local families in need due to catastrophic illnesses.

Career statistics

ee also

*List of NHL seasons
*List of NHL players
*Dowd

References

* [http://www.titans101.com/dowd.htm Titans101.com Jim Dowd tribute article] . The owner of this site has given his permission for this text to be used on Wikipedia.

External links

* [http://www.newjerseydevils.com/2005/html/theteam/profiles.php?ID=290 Jim Dowd] on [http://www.newjerseydevils.com NewJerseyDevils.com]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?statsId=862 Jim Dowd] on [http://www.espn.com ESPN.com]
* [http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/862 Jim Dowd] on [http://sports.yahoo.com Yahoo! Sports]
* [http://www.nhlpa.com/WebStats/PlayerBiography.asp?ID=1418 Jim Dowd] on [http://www.nhlpa.com/WebStats/PlayerBiography.asp?ID=1418 NHLPA.com]
*
* [http://www.databasehockey.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=DOWDJIM01 Jim Dowd] at [http://www.databasehockey.com databasehockey.com]