Dan Maloney Explained

Dan Maloney
Birth Date:24 September 1950
Birth Place:Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Death Place:Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Height Ft:6
Height In:1
Weight Lb:195
Position:Left wing
Shoots:Left
Played For:Chicago Black Hawks
Los Angeles Kings
Detroit Red Wings
Toronto Maple Leafs
Draft:14th overall
Draft Year:1970
Draft Team:Chicago Black Hawks
Career Start:1970
Career End:1982

Daniel Charles "Snowshoes" Maloney (September 24, 1950 – November 19, 2018) was a professional ice hockey left winger in the National Hockey League (NHL) and NHL coach. He featured in the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Playing career

Drafted 14th overall by the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1970 NHL Entry Draft, Maloney played two seasons for the Black Hawks and later played for the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs tallying 192 goals, 259 assists and 451 points in 737 games over the course of his playing career. Upon retiring as a player he was offered an assistant coach position with the Maple Leafs in 1982, and promoted to head coach in 1984. He coached two seasons with the Leafs, then coached three more years as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets.

Maloney is known as having had one of the hardest right-hand punches in his day, and is considered by many hockey fans to have been the greatest fighter (along with the Flyers' Dave Schultz) in NHL history. The two finally squared off in a fight in a game in Los Angeles on January 4, 1975, with Maloney considered the winner. But Maloney was more than a fighter, as he tallied 27 goals in back to back seasons (1974–75 and 1975–76). Maloney was part of the trade that sent Marcel Dionne from Detroit to the Los Angeles Kings. Schultz was traded to the Kings a year later to replace Maloney as their enforcer.

As a member of the Red Wings, he was the third NHL player to be charged by local authorities with a crime resulting from action on the ice. In the second period of a 7 - 3 loss to Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens on November 5, 1975, Maloney came to the defense of teammate Bryan Hextall by attacking the Maple Leafs' Brian Glennie from behind, flattening him with a right‐hand punch, hitting him several more times and repeatedly lifting and dropping him, face first, to the ice. Glennie sustained a mild concussion. Despite Glennie's hit on Hextall being described by The Associated Press as "a clean check," Maloney claimed the force of the contact was excessive and that he had no intention of injuring him. He was charged with assault by Attorney General of Ontario Roy McMurtry the following day on November 6,[1] but was acquitted just under eight months later on June 30, 1976.[2]

Personal life

During his time with the Red Wings, Maloney lived year-round in Detroit area (Southfield, Michigan). Maloney's nephew, Trenton Bourque, was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 2017.

In his later years Maloney lived in the Barrie or Orillia, Ontario, area.[3] Maloney died on November 19, 2018, after a period of declining health; he was 68.[4] He would posthumously be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).[5]

Career statistics

  Regular season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1967–68Markham Seal-a-WaxMetJHL
1968–69London KnightsOHA-Jr.5312284062621316
1969–70London KnightsOHA-Jr.543135662321113466
1970–71Chicago Black HawksNHL74121426174100118
1971–72CHL722545701611245944
1972–73Chicago Black Hawks NHL5713173063
1972–73Los Angeles KingsNHL14471118
1973–74Los Angeles KingsNHL6515173211350002
1974–75Los Angeles KingsNHL8027396616530002
1975–76Detroit Red WingsNHL77273966203
1976–77Detroit Red WingsNHL3413132664
1977–78Detroit Red WingsNHL68162945151
1977–78 Toronto Maple LeafsNHL13347251313417
1978–79Toronto Maple LeafsNHL7717365315763362
1979–80Toronto Maple LeafsNHL71171633102
1980–81Toronto Maple LeafsNHL6520214118330004
1981–82Toronto Maple LeafsNHL44871571
NHL totals7371922594511,48940471135

Coaching record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
G W L T Pts Finish Result
Toronto Maple Leafs1984–858020528485th in NorrisMissed playoffs
Toronto Maple Leafs1985–868025487574th in NorrisWon in division semi-finals (3-0 vs. CHI)
Lost in division finals (3-4 vs. STL)
Winnipeg Jets1986–878040328883rd in SmytheWon in division semi-finals (4-2 vs. CGY)
Lost in division finals (0-4 vs. EDM)
Winnipeg Jets1987–8880333611773rd in SmytheLost in division semi-finals (1-4 vs. EDM)
Winnipeg Jets1988–895218259(64)5th in SmytheFired
Winnipeg Total 2129193282105-10 (0.333)
Toronto Total 16045100151056-4 (0.600)
Total 3721361934331511-14 (0.440)

Notes and References

  1. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/07/archives/assault-charged-in-nhl-wings-maloney-faces-hockey-assault-charge.html "Assault Charged In N.H.L.," The Associated Press (AP), Thursday, November 6, 1975.
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/01/archives/maloney-of-wings-acquitted-maloney-of-wings-acquitted.html "Maloney Of Wings Acquitted," United Press International (UPI), Wednesday, June 30, 1976.
  3. Web site: Ex-teammates mourn former Maple Leaf Dan Maloney. 21 November 2018.
  4. Web site: Former Leafs player, coach Maloney dead at 68 - TSN.ca . TSN . . 20 November 2018 . 20 November 2018.
  5. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/psychedelics-brain-injury-sports-riley-cote-1367947/ How an NHL Enforcer Broke His Body — and Turned to Psychedelics to Heal His Brain