Mike O'Connell

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United StatesUnited States  Mike O'Connell Ice hockey player
Mike O'Connell (2013)

Mike O'Connell (2013)
Date of birth November 25, 1955
place of birth Chicago , Illinois , USA
size 175 cm
Weight 82 kg
position defender
Shot hand Right
Draft
NHL Amateur Draft 1975 , 3rd round, 43rd position
Chicago Black Hawks
Career stations
1973-1975 Kingston Canadians
1975-1988 Dallas Black Hawks
1978-1980 Chicago Black Hawks
1980-1986 Boston Bruins
1986-1990 Detroit Red Wings

Michael Thomas "Mike" O'Connell (born November 25, 1955 in Chicago , Illinois ) is a former American ice hockey player and current coach and functionary . The defender played over 900 games for the Chicago Black Hawks , Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League during his playing career . He then took on various positions at the Boston Bruins between 1991 and 2006, including general manager and head coach before moving to the Los Angeles Kings and has been in their management ever since.

Career

As a player

Mike O'Connell was born in Chicago and grew up in Cleveland and Cohasset , Massachusetts , among others . There he attended Archbishop Williams High School , ran for their ice hockey team and later played for the Braintree Hawks in the New England Amateur Hockey League . For the 1973/74 season he moved to the Kingston Canadians in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), which operated as the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL) from the following season . The American decided on one of the highest Canadian junior leagues and against a career at a US college in the National Collegiate Athletic Association . With the Canadians he established himself as a talented offensive defender , so he recorded 73 points scorer in 50 games in the season 1974/75 and was awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the best defender in the league at the end of the season as well as the OMJHL First All-Star Team elected. Then considered him Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL Amateur Draft in 1975 to 43rd position.

For the 1974/75 season, O'Connell switched to the professional field and initially spent three years with the Chicago Black Hawks' farm team in the Central Hockey League (CHL). In the jersey of the Dallas Black Hawks he achieved a point average of over 1.0 per game (68 in 63) in the 1976/77 season and was consequently appointed to the First All-Star Team of the CHL. He made his debut in the National Hockey League (NHL) for Chicago in February 1978 and established himself in their squad in the course of the following season, which he spent about half with the New Brunswick Hawks in the American Hockey League (AHL). After only one and a half years with fixed periods of use in Chicago, the Black Hawks gave him to the Boston Bruins in December 1980 and received Al Secord in return .

In Boston, the American increased his offensive statistics significantly, in the following years he exceeded the mark of 50 scorer points three times, while in the season 1983/84 he recorded his career best with 60 points, placed himself among the ten most attacking defenders in the league and represented the Bruins at the 1984 NHL All-Star Game . In addition, he reached with the team, in which he mostly formed a defensive row with Mike Milbury , the conference final of the playoffs in 1983 , but lost there to the New York Islanders . After more than five years, the Bruins transferred him just before the trade deadline in March 1986 in exchange for Reed Larson to the Detroit Red Wings , where he henceforth as assistant captain of Steve Yzerman acted. In general, however, the defender was used more defensively in Motor City , so he regularly played in outnumbered situations . After the 1989/90 season O'Connell ended his active career in which he had completed a total of 942 NHL games and recorded 472 points scorer.

International

At the international level O'Connell took the national team of the United States at the 1981 Canada Cup in part and finished there with the selection of the fourth. He achieved the same ranking four years later when he represented Team USA at the 1985 World Cup .

As a trainer and functionary

Immediately after the end of his active career, O'Connell was introduced to the 1990/91 season as the new head coach of the San Diego Gulls in the AHL. After a year, however, he returned to the Boston Bruins, who hired him as an assistant to head coach Rick Bowness . After another season, the American took over as head coach of Boston's AHL farm team, the Providence Bruins , and coached the team in the 1992/93 and 1993/94 seasons. He then moved to the management of the Bruins and took over the position of assistant to General Manager Harry Sinden . After O'Connell also took over the role of Vice President of Hockey Operations in 1998, he succeeded the resigned Sinden as General Manager in 2000.

O'Connell directed the sporting fortunes of the Bruins in the sequence for six years, while he also briefly returned as a coach behind the gang after the dismissal of Robbie Ftorek at the end of the 2002/03 season. Overall, he coached the team for the remaining three games of the regular season as well as for the five games of the first playoff round, which the Bruins lost 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils . As general manager, he laid the foundations for the team's Stanley Cup win in 2011 through his roster , including hiring Tim Thomas and selecting Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí in the NHL Entry Draft . At the same time, however, he was criticized for some controversial barter deals, in particular for the transfer of Joe Thornton to San Jose , which was to win the Hart Memorial Trophy that same year . Partly because of this, O'Connell was fired in March 2006 and replaced by Peter Chiarelli .

He was subsequently hired by the Los Angeles Kings , for whom he has been responsible for player development ever since. From 2006 to 2013 he acted as Director of Player Development and since the 2013/14 season has worked as a development coach and generally as a management consultant. He was immortalized on the trophy at the Stanley Cup victories of the Kings in 2012 and 2014 .

Achievements and Awards

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp T V Pt +/- SM Sp T V Pt +/- SM
1973/74 Kingston Canadians OHA 70 16 43 59 81 - - - - - -
1974/75 Kingston Canadians OMJHL 50 18th 55 73 47 8th 1 3 4th 8th
1975/76 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 70 6th 37 43 50 10 2 8th 10 8th
1976/77 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 63 15th 53 68 30th 5 1 4th 5 0
1977/78 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 62 6th 45 51 75 13 1 11 12 8th
1977/78 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 6th 1 1 2 +1 2 - - - - - -
1978/79 New Brunswick Hawks AHL 35 5 19th 24 19th - - - - - -
1978/79 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 48 4th 22nd 26th -1 20th 4th 0 0 0 –7 4th
1979/80 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 78 8th 22nd 30th -2 52 7th 0 1 1 ± 0 0
1980/81 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 34 5 16 21st +5 32 - - - - - -
1980/81 Boston Bruins NHL 48 10 22nd 32 -1 42 3 1 3 4th -5 2
1981/82 Boston Bruins NHL 80 5 35 40 +9 75 11 2 2 4th +6 20th
1982/83 Boston Bruins NHL 80 14th 39 53 +43 42 17th 3 5 8th -3 12
1983/84 Boston Bruins NHL 75 18th 42 60 +16 42 3 0 0 0 -3 0
1984/85 Boston Bruins NHL 78 15th 40 55 +3 64 5 1 5 6th +1 0
1985/86 Boston Bruins NHL 63 8th 21st 29 –6 47 6th 1 2 3 -4 2
1985/86 Detroit Red Wings NHL 13 1 7th 8th –6 16 - - - - - -
1986/87 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 5 26th 31 -24 70 16 1 4th 5 +2 14th
1987/88 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 6th 13 19th +24 38 10 0 4th 4th +2 8th
1988/89 Detroit Red Wings NHL 66 1 15th 16 -8th 41 6th 0 0 0 ± 0 4th
1989/90 Detroit Red Wings NHL 66 4th 14th 18th -12 22nd - - - - - -
CHL total 195 27 135 162 155 28 4th 23 27 16
NHL overall 860 105 335 440 +41 605 82 8th 24 32 –7 64

International

Represented the USA at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1981 United States Canada Cup 4th Place 4th 1 3 4th 2
1985 United States WM 4th Place 8th 1 0 1 2
Men overall 12 2 3 5 4th

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Personal

His brother Tim O'Connell ran in the 1976/77 season for the San Diego Mariners in the World Hockey Association , but ended his professional career after only one season. Furthermore, her father Tommy O'Connell was active as a quarterback in the National Football League in the 1950s .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kings name O'Connell to Operations Staff. nhl.com, June 19, 2006, accessed June 24, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME O'Connell, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES O'Connell, Michael Thomas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ice hockey player, coach and official
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois , United States