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| 1979 NHL DRAFT PICK |
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Dave Christian
Selected in second round
No.
40 overall by Winnipeg Jets
Born May 12, 1959
 | Position:
Center /
Right Wing
Height: 5-11 Weight: 170
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| BEFORE THE DRAFT |
Last Team:
North Dakota (WCHA)
Birthplace: Warroad, Minnesota (USA)
Hometown:
Warroad, Minnesota |
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| PRE-DRAFT
STATISTICS | | Year |
Team | League |
GP | G |
A | TP |
PIM | | 1976-77 |
Warroad | Minn. H.S. |
-- | -- |
-- | -- |
-- | | 1977-78 |
North Dakota | WCHA |
38 | 8 |
16 | 24 |
14 | | 1978-79 |
North Dakota | WCHA |
40 | 22 |
24 | 46 |
22 |
|
PRE-DRAFT AWARDS AND HONORS
World Junior Championships: 1979 (sixth place)
Minnesota High School All-State First Team: 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77
(Warroad)
Miscellaneous: Also played football and baseball, and competed on track
team, at Warroad High School. ... Named to high school all-conference hockey team in each
of his last three seasons at Warroad. |
| NHL CAREER |
Debut: March 2, 1980 (Chicago at Winnipeg)
Numbers: 13 (Winnipeg); 27 (Wash.); 27 (Bos.); 27
(STL); 25 (Chi.)
Stanley Cup: Never won.
Playing Status: Retired 1996 |
| CAREER NHL STATISTICS |
| Years | Teams |
GP | G | A | TP | PIM |
| 1980-1993 | WIN, WAS, BOS, STL, CHI |
1,009 | 340 |
433 | 773 | 284 |
|
| CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS |
| Years | Teams |
GP | G |
A | TP | PIM |
| 1982-1994 | WIN, WAS, BOS, STL, CHI |
102 | 32 |
25 | 57 | 27 |
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NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
All-Star Game: 1991 (Boston)
Stanley Cup Finals (Lost): 1990 (Boston)
Winnipeg Molson Cup (Three-Stars Leader): 1980-81
Winnipeg Captain: November 1981 until June 8, 1983
Winnipeg Points Leader: 1980-81 (71)
Winnipeg Assists Leader: 1980-81 (43)
Washington Points Leader: 1985-86 (83)
Washington Goals Leader:
1985-86 (41)
Washington Assists Leader:
1983-84 (52)
Washington Playoffs Goals Leader: 1984 (5)
Miscellaneous: Signed first NHL contract with Winnipeg
following 1980 Olympics on Feb. 29, 1980. ... Scored goal on his shot of his
first shift of his first NHL game, beating Chicago goalie Mike Veisor at 1:07
of first period. Christian had been on the ice only seven seconds when he
scored. ... Was first player in Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise history to lead
team in scoring as a rookie. ... Set Winnipeg/ Phoenix records (since broken)
for most consecutive games with at least one goal (6) and most consecutive
games with at least one point (8) in 1980-81. ... Played defense for parts of
1981-82 season. ... Missed part of 1982-83 season with torn shoulder muscles,
an injury suffered in December 1982. ... Shifted from center to right wing in
1985-86 season, and spent rest of his career at that position. ... Played on
line with Mike Gartner and Bengt Gustafsson in for Washington in 1985-86. ...
Missed part of 1986-87 season with pulled stomach muscle, an injury suffered
in November 1986. ... Tied Washington record (since broken) for consecutive
games with at least one assist (9 in 1986-87). ... Scored goal in first game
with Boston, vs. Buffalo on Dec. 13, 1989. ... Missed part of 1991-92
season with bruised ribs, an injury suffered during St. Louis' Jan. 16, 1992,
game vs. Montreal.
The St. Louis Controversy: Christian found
himself at the center of a free-agent controversy in 1991. The dispute began
when he signed a free-agent offer sheet with St. Louis on July 23, 1991, but
Boston claimed he was not a free agent, and attempted to block the signing on
the basis of tampering by St. Louis. Boston argued that Christian was not on
any of the official NHL free-agent lists. Christian and the Blues maintained
that Christian was a Type III unrestricted free agent and was free to go
anywhere. At issue was the last NHL contract Christian had signed with
Washington. That contract had extended beyond the 1990-91 season, but Boston
had subsequently given Christian another deal that ran through 1990-91. Boston
insisted it still owned Christian's rights because it had inherited the
original terms of the Washington contract. The dispute was settled when St.
Louis traded the rights to restricted free agents Glen Featherstone and Dave Thomlinson to Boston in
exchange for Christian, a 1992 third-round pick (Vitali Prokhorov) and a 1992
seventh-round pick (Lance Burns) on July 30, 1991. Featherstone and Thomlinson
had already signed with the Bruins on July 25, 1991, so the Christian trade
was effectively the Blues' form of compensation for their signing. |
| NON-NHL CAREER |
Post-Draft Teams: Team USA; Indianapolis,
Minnesota (IHL)
Olympics: 1980 (gold medal)
Canada Cup: 1981
(fourth), 1984 (fourth), 1991 (second)
World Championships: 1981 (fifth
place), 1989 (sixth place)
NON-NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
United States Hockey Hall of
Fame: Inducted in 2001 as individual and again in 2003 as member of 1980
U.S. Olympic hockey team
U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame: Inducted in 1983
as member of 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team.
Sports Illustrated Sportsman
of Year: 1980 (as member of 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team)
Coaching
Career: Named Fargo-Moorhead (USHL) head coach near end of 1997-98 season
and held position through 1999-00 season.
Management Career: Named
Fargo-Moorhead (USHL) general manager during 1997-98 season and remained in
that position through 1999-00 season.
Miscellaneous: Was 15th member of
1980 USA "Miracle on Ice" team to be drafted by an NHL team. ... Played
defense for Team USA during 1979-80 pre-Olympic tour and 1980 Olympics. His 66
combined games for Team USA in 1979-80 were the most of any player on the
team. ... Wore No. 23 for Team USA in 1980 Olympics. ... Led Team USA with
eight assists in 1980 Olympics, including three assists in a 4-2 win over West
Germany. ... Was honored by his hometown of Warroad, Minn., with Dave
Christian Day, following 1980 Olympics on Feb. 28, 1980. ... Was on Washington
team that held 1989 training camp in Sweden before joining Calgary for 1989
NHL Friendship Tour in Soviet Union. The Capitals faced four Soviet teams on
the tour. ... Did not play first minor league game until 1993-94 season, when
he was 34 years old and Chicago demoted him to Indianapolis (IHL) ... Signed
with Minnesota (IHL) as a free agent on Sept. 1, 1994. ... Returned to Warroad
after his coaching career and went into the family stick-manufacturing
business in August 2002.
Personal: Full name is
David Christian. ... Son of former minor-leaguer Bill Christian, who scored winning goal
for Team USA when Americans upset Soviet Union en route to 1960 Olympic gold
medal. ... Nephew of former minor-leaguer and U.S. Olympian Roger
Christian and former U.S. Olympian Gord Christian. ... His father and uncle
Roger
founded Christian Brothers hockey stick manufacturing company. ... Older
brother of former minor-leaguer Eddie Christian. |
| HOW HE GOT AWAY |
| TRADE: Winnipeg traded Christian to
Washington in exchange for 1983 first-round pick (Bobby Dollas) on June 8,
1983. |
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|
SNAPSHOT '79 | | Total Selected: |
126 | | Forwards: |
74 | | Defense: |
41 | | Goaltenders: |
11 | | Major Junior: |
97 | | College Players: |
15 |
| Canadian: |
109 |
| Euro-Canadian: |
1 | | USA Citizens: |
10 | | U.S.-Born: |
10 |
| European: |
6 |
| Reached NHL: |
103 |
| Won Stanley Cup: |
23 | | Hall of Fame: |
3 |
| All-Star Game: |
23 |
| Year-end All-Star: |
10 |
| Olympians: |
15 |
| Picks Traded: |
17 |
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