Robbie Ftorek

Robbie Ftorek
Date of birth	2nd January 1952
place of birth	Needham , Massachusetts , USA
size	178 cm
Weight	70 kg
position	striker
Shot hand	Right
Career stations
1970-1971	Halifax Atlantics
1971-1972	Team USA
1972-1974	Virginia Wings
1974-1977	Phoenix Roadrunners
1977-1979	Cincinnati stingers
1979-1981	Québec Nordiques
1981-1985	New York Rangers
1985-1986	New Haven Nighthawks

Robert Brian "Robbie" Ftorek (born January 2, 1952 in Needham , Massachusetts ) is a former American ice hockey player and current coach who worked for the Detroit Red Wings , Québec Nordiques and New York Rangers in National Hockey from 1973 to 1985 League as well as the Phoenix Roadrunners and Cincinnati Stingers played in the World Hockey Association .

Career

At the age of 20 he was accepted into the US national ice hockey team. Together with Mark Howe and Craig Sarner , the team won the silver medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo . At the B World Championship in Romania , however, despite good performances from Ftorek, they missed promotion to the A group.

For the 1972/73 season he was obliged by the Detroit Red Wings , only came to sporadic missions in the NHL. Mostly he played for the Virginia Wings in the American Hockey League .

In the 1974/75 season he moved to the World Hockey Association with the Phoenix Roadrunners . Here, too, he started on the farm team with the Tulsa Oilers in the Central Hockey League . He soon made the leap to the Roadrunners and was only nine points short of being the best scorer in Phoenix. He succeeded in this in the 1975/76 season and in the 1976/77 season he was even the best scorer in the league with 117 points. For his national team he played at the Canada Cup in 1976 and was elected MVP of the American team.

He had also been elected MVP in the WHA in 1977 and so it was no problem for him to find a new team after the Roadrunners had dissolved. He was also one of the stars of the Cincinnati Stingers and was the team's top scorer in both the 1977/78 season and the following year.

With the dissolution of the WHA, the Québec Nordiques got him . Here, too, he was one of the most successful scorers and team captain. In 1981 he played again at the Canada Cup. During the 1981/82 season he was given in exchange for Jere Gillis and Dean Talafous to the New York Rangers , with Talafous refusing the transfer and Pat Hickey later took his place. His performance was particularly strong in the 1982 playoffs, when the Rangers almost tripped their local rivals, the New York Islanders, in the second round on the way to their third Stanley Cup in a row.

After the 1984/85 season in which he was only used sporadically in the NHL, he ended his NHL career and took over the post of player-coach with the New Haven Nighthawks in the AHL. From the summer of 1986 he was only behind the gang. During the 1987/88 season he took over the coaching post of the Los Angeles Kings from Rogatien Vachon and was also in the 1988/89 season , when Wayne Gretzky came to the Kings, behind the gang.

From 1989 he was with the Québec Nordiques. At first he coached the AHL farm team, the Halifax Citadels , from 1990 he was an assistant coach in the NHL. Also as an assistant, he moved to the New Jersey Devils in the 1991/92 season . From 1992 he took over the farm team in the AHL. After a year he moved from the Utica Devils to the Albany River Rats, with whom he won the Calder Cup in 1995 . In 1996 he was brought back to the Devils as an assistant to Jacques Lemaire and in the 1998/99 season he took over the position of head coach. There he was replaced by Larry Robinson . In the 2000/01 season he took over the Boston Bruins and was in 2002 for election to the Jack Adams Award nominated. In 2003 he returned to the Albany River Rats for three seasons. For the 2007/08 season Ftorek was the new head coach of the Erie Otters from the Ontario Hockey League . After the playoffs were missed in its premier season, the team reached the finals in the following three seasons, but did not get beyond the first round. During the 2012/13 OHL season he was sacked by the Otters after 27 games, of which the team could only win seven.

In 1991 he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame , as well as into the AHL Hall of Fame in 2020 .

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season	8th	334	77	150	227	262
NHL playoffs	3	19th	9	6th	15th	28
WHA regular season	5	373	216	307	523	365
WHA playoffs	3	13	6th	10	16	10

Sporting successes

• Olympic silver medal: 1972
• Calder Cup : 1995 as a coach
• Stanley Cup : 2000 as a coach / scout

Personal awards

• WHA First All-Star Team: 1977 and 1979
• WHA Second All-Star Team: 1976 and 1978
• Gordie Howe Trophy : 1977
• Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award : 1995 and 1996
• Participation in the NHL All-Star Game : 1999 and 2002 as assistant coach
• Admission to the AHL Hall of Fame : 2020

Web links

• Robbie Ftorek at hockeydb.com (English)
• Robbie Ftorek at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Robbie Ftorek in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ftorek relieved of duties as head coach. Erie Otters , November 29, 2012, accessed November 29, 2012 .