John Ferguson, Sr.

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size =
position = Left Wing
played_for = Montreal Canadiens
shot = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 0
weight_lb = 178
nickname =
nationality = CAN
birth_date = September 5, 1938
birth_place = Vancouver, BC, CAN
career_start = 1959
career_end = 1971
death_date = death date and age|2007|7|14|1938|9|5
death_place = Windsor, Ontario, Canada

John Bowie Ferguson Sr. (September 5, 1938 - July 14, 2007) was a professional ice hockey player. Ferguson played as a left-winger for the Montreal Canadiens from 1963 to 1971.

Early years

Ferguson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on September 5, 1938. His father died when he was 9, and he was raised by his mother near the Pacific National Exhibition grounds. Ferguson loved horses and hung around Hastings Park as a child. Aside from his interest in horses and hockey, he also played lacrosse. Ferguson's hockey career began as a stickboy for the Vancouver Canucks, then of the Western Hockey League.

Playing career

Ferguson played his junior hockey in Western Canada, with the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in 1956-57, and 1958-1959.In 1959-1960, he was playing professionslly with the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League. In 1960, he moved to the American Hockey League and the Cleveland Barons.

In 1963-64, he was promoted to the Canadiens as an "enforcer" to protect captain Jean Beliveau from aggressive defenders--merely twelve seconds into his first NHL game, he was in a fight with "Terrible" Ted Green of the Boston Bruins; Ferguson won the fight. [cite web|url=http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=334515&page=NewsPage&service=page|title=Ferguson earned five Stanley Cups|author=John McGourty|date=2007-07-16|accessdate=2007-07-17] It was said that his unexpected retirement in 1971 caused problems for the Canadiens, who then started getting roughed up by other teams. Rumours persisted that General Manager Sam Pollock wanted to bring him out of retirement. [http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=99300a04-1624-478e-8368-a19c2dfc4f9d&k=67488]

Ferguson was also a potential offensive threat. Playing on a line with Beliveau, Ferguson led all NHL rookies in scoring in his first season and finished as runner-up for Calder Trophy in 1963-64. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound left-winger also scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in 1969, during a season that saw him score a career-high 29 goals with a plus-30 rating. In 85 post-season games, he scored 20 goals and added 18 assists. He also earned two selections to the All-Star Game. During his playing career, he won the Stanley Cup five times: in the years 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, and 1971, and always earned more than 100 penalty minutes in a regular season.

Post-Playing career

In 1972, he became the assistant coach of Team Canada who beat the Soviet team in the Summit Series. Ferguson gained some notoriety because he asked Bobby Clarke to take out Soviet star Valeri Kharlamov with a slash to the latter's ankle. Ferguson later justified his orders saying "that guy is killing us." [http://www.1972summitseries.com/game6recap.html]

In the years to follow, he became the head coach and later general manager of the New York Rangers. He was fired from that job in 1978, at which time he became the General Manager of the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association and, starting in 1979, the National Hockey League. He worked for the Ottawa Senators in the early 1990s and was a Special Consultant to the General Manager of the San Jose Sharks.

Later years and death

Ferguson lived in Windsor, Ontario in his later years to be close to horses. He served as GM for the Windsor Raceway in 1988.

In September 2005, Ferguson was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died on July 14, 2007. Ferguson was survived by his wife Joan and children John (former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs), Catherine, Chris and Joanne. [ [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=213602&hubname=nhl TSN : NHL - Canada's Sports Leader ] ] .

References

ee also

*Notable families in the NHL

External links

*hockeydb|6381
* [http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12581 Profile at Legends of Hockey]
* [http://winnipegsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2007/07/15/4340691-sun.html "Tough exterior, soft heart" (Winnipeg Sun column on the passing of John Ferguson, Sr.)]