Tom Webster (ice hockey player)
Date of birth | October 4, 1948 |
place of birth | Kirkland Lake , Ontario , Canada |
date of death | April 10, 2020 |
Nickname | Hawk Eye |
size | 178 cm |
Weight | 77 kg |
position | Right wing |
Shot hand | Right |
Draft | |
NHL Amateur Draft |
1966 , 4th lap, 19th position Boston Bruins |
Career stations | |
1963-1965 | Holy Name Irish |
1965-1968 | Niagara Falls Flyers |
1968-1970 | Boston Bruins |
1970-1971 | Detroit Red Wings |
1971-1972 | California Golden Seals |
1972-1979 | New England Whalers |
1979-1980 | Detroit Red Wings |
Thomas Ronald "Tom" Webster (born October 4, 1948 in Kirkland Lake , Ontario ; † April 10, 2020 ) was a Canadian ice hockey player , coach and scout . The defender played 102 games for the Boston Bruins , Detroit Red Wings and California Golden Seals in the National Hockey League (NHL), but was mostly on the ice with the New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association (WHA). With the Whalers, for which he completed 352 games, he won the Avco World Trophy in 1973 . He then worked for over 30 years as a coach and scout, where he was head coach of the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers in the NHL .
Career
Webster grew up as one of eight children and played during his junior years with Derek Sanderson , Jean Pronovost and Rick Ley at the Niagara Falls Flyers in the Ontario Hockey Association , which were then supported by the Boston Bruins . The Bruins finally selected him in the fourth round of the 1966 NHL Amateur Draft as the 19th player. At the end of an excellent 1967/68 season, he and his team won the Memorial Cup .
In the 1968/69 season he made his debut in the NHL, but the Bruins squad was very strong at this time with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito . He came to only eleven missions with the Bruins in two seasons and mostly he was used with the Oklahoma City Blazers in the Central Hockey League . In the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft , the Buffalo Sabers chose him , but on the same day they exchanged him with the Detroit Red Wings , who sent Roger Crozier to the Sabers for it. In the 1970/71 season he was instantly the best scorer in Detroit. Surprisingly, the Red Wings gave him to the California Golden Seals shortly after the start of the following season for Ron Stackhouse . A back injury soon ended this season for him.
For the 1972/73 season he followed like many others the call of the newly formed World Hockey Association and signed a contract with the New England Whalers . There he met Rick Ley again, with whom he had played as a teenager. The first season he finished as the fourth best scorer in the league. The playoffs were also successful. He himself was the second best scorer and won the Avco World Trophy with his team . At the 1974 Summit Series , he represented Canada against the Soviet Union team . Also in the following years he was a support for the Whalers. In the 1975/76 season he triumphed again in the playoffs and was by far the best scorer among the players who did not reach the final. Although he missed the last season in the history of the WHA due to injury, he was the seventh best scorer in the history of the WHA with 220 goals.
Once again he tried the jump into the NHL and signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings for the 1979/80 season . He only played one game for Detroit, but for the farm team Adirondack Red Wings in the American Hockey League , he not only played a few games, but was promoted to coach of the team during the season. After engagements with the Springfield Indians in the AHL, the Tulsa Oilers in the CHL and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in the International Hockey League , he took over the junior team of the Windsor Compuware Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League . During this time he took over the New York Rangers for 14 games in the 1986/87 season .
In the 1989/90 season he took over his first long-term coaching position with an NHL team. The Los Angeles Kings around Wayne Gretzky were a big challenge here. He looked after the Kings for three seasons before taking over the Detroit Junior Red Wings in the OHL in 1992 . In 1994 he returned to the NHL. As an assistant coach, he was with the Philadelphia Flyers for two years before moving to the Hartford Whalers in the same position . He moved with the Whalers and stayed at the new location with the Carolina Hurricanes for two years . From 1999 to 2003 he returned to the Windsor Spitfires. He then changed profession and worked as a scout for the Calgary Flames for more than ten years before retiring from professional ice hockey after the 2013/14 season.
Webster died on April 10, 2020 at the age of 71.
Achievements and Awards
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Records
- 220 goals for the New England Whalers
- 425 points (220 goals + 205 assists) for the New England Whalers
Career statistics
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
season | team | league | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | ||
1965/66 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 43 | 16 | 27 | 43 | 16 | 6th | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | ||
1966/67 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 47 | 19th | 26th | 45 | 26th | 13 | 14th | 8th | 22nd | 4th | ||
1967/68 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 54 | 50 | 64 | 114 | 55 | 19th | 13 | 13 | 26th | 20th | ||
1968 | Niagara Falls Flyers | Memorial Cup | 10 | 7th | 11 | 18th | 10 | |||||||
1968/69 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1968/69 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CHL | 44 | 29 | 42 | 71 | 31 | 12 | 10 | 8th | 18th | 19th | ||
1969/70 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1969/70 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CHL | 49 | 29 | 35 | 64 | 49 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1970/71 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 78 | 30th | 37 | 67 | 40 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1971/72 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1971/72 | California Golden Seals | NHL | 7th | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1972/73 | New England Whalers | WHA | 77 | 53 | 50 | 103 | 89 | 15th | 12 | 14th | 26th | 6th | ||
1973/74 | New England Whalers | WHA | 64 | 43 | 27 | 70 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 7th | ||
1974/75 | New England Whalers | WHA | 66 | 40 | 24 | 64 | 52 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
1975/76 | New England Whalers | WHA | 55 | 33 | 50 | 83 | 24 | 17th | 10 | 9 | 19th | 6th | ||
1976/77 | New England Whalers | WHA | 70 | 36 | 49 | 85 | 43 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
1977/78 | New England Whalers | WHA | 20th | 15th | 5 | 20th | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1979/80 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1979/80 | Adirondack Red Wings | AHL | 12 | 4th | 5 | 9 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
OHA total | 144 | 85 | 117 | 202 | 97 | 38 | 29 | 24 | 53 | 24 | ||||
CHL total | 93 | 58 | 77 | 135 | 80 | 12 | 10 | 8th | 18th | 19th | ||||
NHL overall | 102 | 33 | 42 | 75 | 61 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
WHA total | 352 | 220 | 205 | 425 | 241 | 43 | 28 | 26th | 54 | 19th |
International
Represented Canada to:
year | team | event | result | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1974 | Canada | Summit Series | 2nd place | 4th | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4th | |
Men overall | 4th | 2 | 0 | 2 | 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 )
NHL coaching statistics
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
season | team | league | Sp | S. | N | U | Pt | space | Sp | S. | N | result | ||
1986/87 | New York Rangers | NHL | 18th | 5 | 9 | 4th | (14) | 4th, Patrick | - | - | - | Interim post | ||
1989/90 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 80 | 34 | 39 | 7th | 75 | 4th, Smythe | 10 | 4th | 6th | Loss in the division final | ||
1990/91 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 80 | 46 | 24 | 10 | 102 | 1st, Smythe | 12 | 6th | 6th | Loss in the division final | ||
1991/92 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 80 | 35 | 31 | 14th | 84 | 2nd, Smythe | 6th | 2 | 4th | Loss in the division semi-finals | ||
NHL overall | 258 | 120 | 103 | 35 | 275 | 1 division title | 28 | 12 | 16 | 0 Stanley Cups |
( Legend for coach statistics: Sp or GC = total games; W or S = wins scored; L or N = losses scored; T or U = draws scored; OTL or OTN = losses scored after overtime or shootout ; Pts or Pkt = points scored ; Pts% or Pkt% = point rate; Win% = win rate; result = round reached in the play-offs )
Web links
- Tom Webster in the database of the National Hockey League (English)
- Tom Webster at legendsofhockey.net ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- Tom Webster at eliteprospects.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Kreiser: Webster, former NHL player, coach, dies at 71.nhl.com, April 10, 2020, accessed on April 10, 2020 (English).
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Webster, Tom |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Webster, Thomas Ronald (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian ice hockey player and coach |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 4, 1948 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Kirkland Lake , Ontario , Canada |
DATE OF DEATH | April 10, 2020 |