Rod Langway

Rod Langway
Hockey Hall of Fame , 2002
Date of birth	May 3, 1957
place of birth	Taipei , Taiwan
size	191 cm
Weight	99 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Amateur Draft	1977 , 2nd lap, 36th position Montréal Canadiens
WHA Amateur Draft	1977 , 1st lap, 6th position Birmingham Bulls
Career stations
1975-1977	University of New Hampshire
1977-1988	Birmingham Bulls
1978-1982	Montréal Canadiens
1982-1993	Washington Capitals
1994-1995	Richmond Renegades
1995-1996	San Francisco Spiders
1996-1997	Richmond Renegades
1997-1998	Providence Bruins

Rod Cory Langway (born May 3, 1957 in Taipei , Taiwan ) is a retired American ice hockey player (defender) and coach who played for the Montréal Canadiens and Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League from 1977 to 1992 and the Birmingham Bulls in the World Hockey Association played.

Career

Rod was born while his parents were in Taipei, Taiwan. His father was stationed there as an American soldier. Back home, he grew up in Randolph , a suburb of Boston . His first sports activities were football and baseball. He didn't start playing ice hockey until he was 13. In all areas of life, it was hard work that made him successful. Not only in sports, where his zeal for training helped him to be successful in various sports, but also in everyday school life, where he diligently overcame a slight learning disability and thus got a good degree. He led his ice hockey team, the Randolph Blue Devils , to the State Championship in 1973 and 1975, but his strongest sport was football, where he served as quarterback.

Scouts from all schools and universities had their eye on Langway, but since he didn't want to choose between football and ice hockey, he chose the University of New Hampshire, whose scout was responsible for both sports. In the first year an injury cost him the entire football season, but he got fit for the ice hockey season and played on the team in the NCAA . In his sophomore year he did something special. Both with the football team, in which he was now linebacker, and in ice hockey, he reached the championship finals.

Well acted as a potential Hockey star who chose him Montreal Canadiens in the NHL Amateur Draft in 1977 from 36th in the second round. However, he decided to move to the World Hockey Association , where the Birmingham Bulls had already brought him 6th in the draft. He spent most of his first season in Birmingham, but was also used in part on the AHL farm team at the Hampton Gulls .

For the 1978/79 season , when the WHA was already in financial difficulties, he used a clause to terminate his contract and decided to move to Montreal. At the beginning of the season he was on the NHL team, but also here he was used during the season for several weeks in the AHL with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs . He soon made the leap back and won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens . Guided by the Big Three, Larry Robinson , Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard , he developed into a very good defender. He would have liked to have stayed longer in Montreal, but mainly due to the poor exchange rate of the Canadian dollar and the high taxes in Canada, an agreement could not be reached and so he moved to a large swap deal with Brian Engblom , Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin for the 1982 season / 83 to the Washington Capitals , who in return sent Rick Green and Ryan Walter to Montreal.

The team, founded in 1974, had never reached the play-offs before, but thanks to Langway's strong defensive work, they did so in its first season in the capital. He was never too good to throw himself in a shot and give everything for his team. He was one of the last players in the NHL who still played without a helmet. His great performance at the Capitals not only earned him honor and recognition from his opponents, the NHL also honored him in 1983 and 1984 with the James Norris Trophy as best defender.

Whenever possible, the very patriotic Langway also played for his national team. A special highlight here was the Rendez-vous '87 against the USSR, which was held instead of the All-Star game . After the 1992/93 season , a knee injury forced him to retire at the age of 36.

As a coach, he took over the Richmond Renegades in the East Coast Hockey League as a coach, but when players were running out from injuries, he jumped in as a player in his sophomore year. He then tried his hand at the International Hockey League with the San Francisco Spiders again as a player before returning to the gang of the Richmond Renegades. In 1997/98 he coached the Providence Bruins in the AHL, but after a year he was hired again in Richmond and stayed there until 2000.

When the Washington Capitals played their last game in the old stadium, the Capital Center, on November 26, 1997, Langway's shirt with the number 5 was pulled under the roof. His number has not been assigned since then.

In 2002 he was honored with the induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame .

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season	15th	994	51	278	329	849
NHL playoffs	14th	104	5	22nd	27	97
WHA regular season	1	52	3	18th	21st	52
WHA playoffs	1	43	0	0	0	9

Achievements and Awards

• First All-Star Team : 1983 and 1984
• Second All-Star Team : 1985
• James Norris Trophy : 1983 and 1984
• Riley Cup win with the Richmond Renegades : 1995

Web links

• Rod Langway in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
• Rod Langway at hockeydb.com (English)