Denis Savard

Position Centre ShotRight Nickname(s)Savvy Height
Weight5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
170 lb(77 kg/12 st 2 lb) Pro clubs Chicago Blackhawks
Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning Nationality Canada Born February 4, 1961(1961-02-04) (age 47),
Pointe Gatineau, PQ, CAN NHL Draft3rd overall, 1980
Chicago BlackhawksPro career 1980 – 1997 Hall of Fame, 2000

Denis Joseph Savard (born February 4, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1997. He is the current head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. Savard was born in Pointe Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

1 NHL Playing Career
2 Career Statistics
3 Coaching career
- 3.1 Coaching Record
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

NHL Playing Career

Denis Savard was drafted in the first round, 3rd overall, in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Black Hawks. He was the highest drafted player in Blackhawks' history, until the organization drafted Patrick Kane with the first overall pick in 2007. He began his career during the 1980–81 NHL season in which he had three assists in his first game. He then went on to set the Black Hawks' record (since broken) for most points by a rookie with 75.

He was known for his trademark move, the 'Savard Spin-o-rama' (a term actually coined by Danny Gallivan, referencing the move performed by Serge Savard [1]) , which entailed Savard whirling around with the puck in a full rotation allowing him to defeat defenders and goaltenders alike.

Savard had two separate stints with the Blackhawks. The first was from the 1980–81 season to the 1989–90 season. The second was from 1994–95 to 1996–97. During his absence from Chicago, he played for the Montreal Canadiens (1990–91 to 1992–93) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94 to 1994–95).

In 1990, Savard was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Defenceman and future team captain Chris Chelios and a second-round pick (Mike Pomichter) on June 29, 1990. Savard won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993. He was soon traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he played 2 seasons. On April 6, 1995 Savard was traded back to Chicago, for a 1996 sixth-round pick (Xavier Delisle).

In 1196 NHL games, Savard scored 473 goals and 865 assists, totalling 1338 points. He trails only Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita for total points in Chicago Blackhawks history. Five times during his career he scored at least 100 points and for seven straight years he had at least 30 goals. His highest point total of 131 came in 1987–88 and his highest goal total of 47 came in 1985–86. In 169 playoff games, he scored 66 goals and 109 assists for a total of 175 points.

Savard officially retired from professional hockey on June 26, 1997. On March 19, 1998, the Blackhawks retired his jersey number #18. Savard was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 13, 2000. Denis Savard has a cousin named Jean Savard who also played in the NHL. Despite the same last name and the same number (#18) as Serge Savard, the two are only distantly related.

Career Statistics

Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1977–78 Montreal Juniors QMJHL72 37 79 116 22 -- -- -- -- -- 1978–79 Montreal Juniors QMJHL70 46 112 158 88 11 5 6 11 46 1979–80 Montreal Juniors QMJHL72 63 118 181 93 10 7 16 23 8 1980–81 Chicago Black Hawks NHL76 28 47 75 47 3 0 0 0 0 1981–82 Chicago Black Hawks NHL80 32 87 119 82 15 11 7 18 52 1982–83 Chicago Black Hawks NHL78 35 86 121 99 13 8 9 17 22 1983–84 Chicago Black Hawks NHL75 37 57 94 71 5 1 3 4 9 1984–85 Chicago Black Hawks NHL79 38 67 105 56 15 9 20 29 20 1985–86 Chicago Black Hawks NHL80 47 69 116 111 3 4 1 5 6 1986–87 Chicago Blackhawks NHL70 40 50 90 108 4 1 0 1 12 1987–88 Chicago Blackhawks NHL80 44 87 131 95 5 4 3 7 17 1988–89 Chicago Blackhawks NHL58 23 59 82 110 16 8 11 19 10 1989–90 Chicago Blackhawks NHL60 23 57 80 56 20 7 15 22 41 1990–91 Montreal Canadiens NHL70 28 31 59 52 13 2 11 13 35 1991–92 Montreal Canadiens NHL77 28 42 70 73 11 3 9 12 8 1992–93 Montreal Canadiens NHL63 16 34 50 90 14 0 5 5 4 1993–94 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL74 18 28 46 106 -- -- -- -- -- 1994–95 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL31 6 11 17 10 -- -- -- -- -- 1994–95 Chicago Blackhawks NHL12 4 4 8 8 16 7 11 18 10 1995–96 Chicago Blackhawks NHL69 13 35 48 102 10 1 2 3 8 1996–97 Chicago Blackhawks NHL64 9 18 27 60 6 0 2 2 2 QMJHL Totals 214 146 309 455 203 21 12 22 34 54 NHL Totals 1196 473 865 1338 1336 169 66 109 175 256

Coaching career

Shortly after his retirement as a player, Savard began a coaching career with the Blackhawks in December 1997. On November 27, 2006, Savard became the interim head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks after Trent Yawney was fired mid-season. He was commended for leading a young Blackhawks team to within 3 points of a playoff berth during his second season as coach. The Hawks finished just one victory away from the .500 mark in 2007–2008. The 40 wins in 2007–08 marked the first time the club had reached the 40 win mark in six years.

Coaching Record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season G W L OTL Pts Division Rank Result CHI 2006–0761 24 30 7 (71) 5th in Central Missed Playoffs CHI 2007–0882 40 34 8 88 3rd in Central Missed Playoffs CHI 2008–090 0 0 0 0 Total 143 64 64 15 143