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1985
ENTRY DRAFT
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Round 1


 
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1985 NHL DRAFT PICK
Dan Gratton
Selected in first round
No. 10 overall by Los Angeles Kings

Born December 7, 1966
Position: Center / Left Wing
Height: 6-1   Weight: 185
BEFORE THE DRAFT
Last Team: Oshawa (OHL)                                
Birthplace: Brantford, Ontario (Canada)
Hometown: Brantford, Ontario
PRE-DRAFT STATISTICS
Year TeamLeague GPG ATP PIM
1980-81 BrantfordOnt. AAA 54 48 2
1981-82 GuelphOnt. AAA 4014 2640 70
  GuelphOPJHL 123 25 27
1982-83 OshawaOHL 6415 2843 55
1983-84 OshawaOHL 6540 3474 55
1984-85 OshawaOHL 5624 4872 67

PRE-DRAFT AWARDS AND HONORS
World Junior Championships:
1985 (gold medal)
Miscellaneous: Ranked by NHL Central Scouting Bureau as No. 5 overall prospect for the 1985 NHL draft. ... Rated in The Hockey News draft preview issue as No. 5 overall prospect for the 1985 NHL draft. .. Was Oshawa's first-round pick, No. 12 overall, in 1982 OHL priority selection. ... Also played left wing before entering major junior hockey. ... Played on Guelph team that lost to Prince Albert in 1982 Centennial Cup finals in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. ... Played left wing for Canada during 1985 World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland. ... Grew up in Brantford, Ontario, where he was a close childhood friend of Wayne Gretzky's younger brother Keith.
NHL CAREER
Debut: October 8, 1987 (N.Y. Islanders at Los Angeles)
Numbers:  38, 32 (Los Angeles)
Stanley Cup: Never won.  Playing Status: Retired 1997
CAREER NHL STATISTICS
Years TeamsGP GA TPPIM
1987-88 Los Angeles7 10 15

NHL AWARDS AND HONORS
Miscellaneous:
Was represented by agent Rick Curran at the time of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. ... Wore No. 28 in Los Angeles' 1986 training camp. ... Shifted from natural position of center to play both right wing and left wing during his years in  Los Angeles organization. ... Signed with Minnesota as an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 22, 1990, but never played for parent team. He had become eligible for unrestricted free agency by spending the 1989-90 season with Team Canada rather than resigning with Los Angeles.
NON-NHL CAREER
Post-Draft Teams: Oshawa, Ottawa, Belleville (OHL); New Haven (AHL); Flint (IHL); Team Canada; Kalamazoo (IHL); Brantford (ColHL); Lyss (Switzerland); Innsbruck (Austria); Aalborg (Denmark); Hamilton (AHL); Alba di Canazei (Italy); Zeltweg (Austria); Slough (Great Britain); Muskegon (ColHL/UHL)
NON-NHL AWARDS AND HONORS
OHL Playoffs Goals Leader:
1986 (Belleville) (20 goals)
Coaching Career: Named Muskegon (ColHL) player-assistant coach prior to 1996-97 season, stopped playing after 1996-97 season, moved with team into UHL prior to 1997-98 season and remained team's assistant coach through 1997-98 season.
Miscellaneous: Traded by Ottawa (OHL) to Belleville in exchange for Frank DiMuzio in February 1986. ... Named third-best skater in OHL's Leyden Division by a poll of Leyden Division coaches in 1985-86. ... Finished third in OHL with 29 points in 1986 playoffs. ... Was on Minnesota team that joined Montreal to compete in the 1990 NHL Friendship Tour in Soviet Union. ... Played for Brantford (ColHL) team coached by his father in 1992-93 and 1993-94. ... Came out of retirement to play four games for Muskegon (UHL) team that he was serving as assistant coach during 1997-98 season. ... Went into the business of helping North American players find teams in Europe with the founding of Brantford-based TransWorldSports and the former TransWorldHockey.com web site after his retirement in 2000. He later gave up the business to become Director of Business Development and a coach at HockeyTech International hockey school in Toronto.
Personal: Also known as Danny Gratton during playing days. ... Son of former minor-league player and coach Ken Gratton. ... Nephew of ex-WHA player Bill Gratton. ... Cousin of NHL player Chris Gratton.
Gratton Leaves Oshawa: In October 1986, Gratton made headlines when he left the Oshawa Generals a few games into the 1985-86 season and went home to Brantford, Ontario. After he returned home, Gratton and his agent, Rick Curran, demanded that Oshawa trade him because he did not want to spend another season with the Generals. The trade demand came through Curran, and Oshawa coach Paul Theriault decided to give Gratton what he wanted because he realized Gratton probably needed a "change of scenery" -- the words Gratton had used after spending three years with the same team. Gratton, who had failed to win a spot on the Los Angeles Kings roster out of training camp, wanted to play in the Canadian Olympic program, but the Kings did not want to give him up for the minimum commitment of two years. While Gratton was sitting out in Brantford, the Kings contacted him and insisted he return to Oshawa rather than stay out of hockey at a critical time in his development. Seventeen days after leaving Oshawa, Gratton came back to the team -- no longer requesting a trade. Even though Gratton was willing to stay, the Generals were not pleased with his performance. "He's just going through the motions out there," Theriault told the Oshawa Times. "Instead of being a dominant player, he's not even noticeable." Oshawa solved its prolem by trading Gratton Ottawa for Dean Morton and Dennis Wigle in November 1985.

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