From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Don Blackburn

Canadian ice hockey player (1938–2023)

Summary

Canadian ice hockey player (1938–2023)

Field	Value
image_size	180px
position	Left wing
shoots	Left
height_ft	6
height_in	0
weight_lb	175
played_for	Boston Bruins
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
Minnesota North Stars
New England Whalers
birth_date
birth_place	Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada
death_date
death_place	Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
career_start	1959
career_end	1976

Philadelphia Flyers New York Rangers New York Islanders Minnesota North Stars New England Whalers

John Donald Blackburn (May 14, 1938 – February 4, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars. He also played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the New England Whalers. After retiring in 1976 he became a coach with the Whalers, and remained in that position through 1981, serving as their first coach when they joined the NHL in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers.

Playing career

Except for a six-game stint with the Boston Bruins, Blackburn spent the majority of the early portion of his career with various minor league teams. He was a dominant force with the Quebec Aces of the AHL during the mid-1960s, including a 36-goal performance in 1965–66. He was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL expansion draft and was a regular contributor during the first two years of the fledgling team's existence. In the 1968 Stanley Cup playoffs, Blackburn scored three goals for the Flyers, with his goal in Game 6 of the Quarterfinals against the St. Louis Blues being the first playoff overtime goal in Flyers history. In 1969, he was traded to the New York Rangers, but he played sparingly in two years with the team. He was claimed by the New York Islanders in the 1972 expansion draft, but was traded to the Minnesota North Stars late in the season. He finished his career with three seasons with the WHA's Whalers, scoring 59 points in 1973–74.

Coaching career

On December 26, 1975, Blackburn became coach of the New England Whalers when Jack Kelley resigned as general manager/coach to the acceptance of general partner Howard Baldwin (Kelley did not leave coaching for long, as he accepted the position at Colby College to begin in June of 1976). Blackburn won seven of his first nine games (which included his first game on the 26th by a score of 4–3 over the Cincinnati Stingers) before hitting a slump that saw him go 14–18–3 before he resigned from his position on March 11 (with just twelve games remaining) which saw him replaced by Harry Neale, who had been coaching the Minnesota Fighting Saints before the team went under. Afterwards, Blackburn served as an assistant coach.

On April 1, 1979, near the end of the 1978-79 WHA season, Blackburn, by then the head scout of the Whalers, was appointed with nine games remaining to replace Bill Dineen as head coach. He went 4-5-0 and led the team as they competed in the 1979 WHA playoffs, where they won the first round matchup against Cincinnati before falling to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. After the end of the season, the team rebranded itself as the "Hartford Whalers" and Blackburn was retained as coach. He led them to a 27–34–19 record in the 1979–80 NHL season. In the playoffs, the Whalers were swept by Montreal in three games. On February 20, 1981, with the Whalers having won just two of their last 25 games with a record of 15–29–16, Blackburn was fired by the Whalers and was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Larry Pleau that director of operations Jack Kelley said was due to "a lack of success and obvious frustration that has been building up within the club".

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season	Playoffs	Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A
1956–57	Hamilton Tiger Cubs	OHA	52	9	8	17	17	4	0	2	2	0
1957–58	Hamilton Tiger Cubs	OHA	52	15	18	33	37	15	4	3	7	16
1958–69	Vancouver Canucks	WHL	50	15	16	31	14	—	—	—	—	—
1959–60	Vancouver Canucks	WHL	41	8	7	15	8	11	1	1	2	2
1959–60	Providence Reds	AHL	16	1	1	2	8	—	—	—	—	—
1960–61	Kingston Frontenacs	EPHL	59	14	31	45	27	5	1	0	1	0
1961–62	Kingston Frontenacs	EPHL	51	13	24	37	30	11	2	12	14	5
1962–63	Boston Bruins	NHL	6	0	5	5	4	—	—	—	—	—
1962–63	Kingston Frontenacs	EPHL	67	42	54	96	22	5	4	4	8	0
1963–64	Quebec Aces	AHL	63	19	19	38	39	9	1	1	2	9
1964–65	Quebec Aces	AHL	70	20	42	62	34	5	0	2	2	0
1965–66	Quebec Aces	AHL	72	36	42	78	51	6	1	4	5	4
1966–67	Rochester Americans	AHL	70	20	37	57	24	13	3	3	6	10
1967–68	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	67	9	20	29	23	7	3	0	3	8
1968–69	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	48	7	9	16	36	4	0	0	0	2
1968–69	Baltimore Clippers	AHL	12	6	13	19	10	—	—	—	—	—
1969–70	New York Rangers	NHL	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
1969–70	Buffalo Bisons	AHL	68	27	44	71	40	13	5	7	12	6
1970–71	Rochester Americans	AHL	62	25	44	69	22	—	—	—	—	—
1970–71	New York Rangers	NHL	1	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1971–72	Providence Reds	AHL	76	34	65	99	12	5	1	3	4	2
1972–73	New York Islanders	NHL	56	7	10	17	20	—	—	—	—	—
1972–73	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	4	0	0	0	4	—	—	—	—	—
1973–74	New England Whalers	WHA	75	20	39	59	18	7	2	4	6	4
1974–75	New England Whalers	WHA	50	18	32	50	16	5	1	2	3	2
1974–75	Cape Codders	NAHL	2	2	2	4	0	—	—	—	—	—
1975–76	New England Whalers	WHA	21	2	3	5	6	—	—	—	—	—
1975–76	Cape Codders	NAHL	8	4	4	8	0	—	—	—	—	—

NHL coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season	Post season	G	W	L
35	14	18	3	(31)	3rd in East	(interim coach)
9	4	5	0	(8)	4th in WHA	Lost in semi-finals
80	27	34	19	73	4th in Norris	Lost in preliminary round
60	15	29	6	(46)	4th in Norris	(fired)

Personal life

Blackburn died in Sarasota, Florida on February 4, 2023. He was buried at Miramichi Cemetery in his native Northumberland County in New Brunswick, Canada.

References

[https://www.shannonfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/John-D.--Blackburn-Sr.?obId=27378683#/celebrationWall John D. Blackburn Sr.]
Meltzer, Bill. (February 19, 2023). "Flyers Family Mourns Don Blackburn".
Sherman, David. (2003). "Philadelphia Flyers Encyclopedia". Sports Publishing LLC.
https://newspaperarchive.com/manchester-journal-inquirer-dec-27-1975-p-31/
https://newspaperarchive.com/manchester-journal-inquirer-mar-01-1976-p-38/
https://newspaperarchive.com/manchester-journal-inquirer-mar-12-1976-p-49/
https://newspaperarchive.com/panama-city-news-herald-apr-02-1979-p-12/
https://newspaperarchive.com/biddeford-journal-tribune-feb-21-1981-p-59/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/249574571/don-blackburn

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1938-births 2023-deaths baltimore-clippers-players boston-bruins-players canadian-expatriate-ice-hockey-players-in-the-united-states buffalo-bisons-(ahl)-players canadian-ice-hockey-coaches canadian-ice-hockey-left-wingers cape-codders-players hamilton-tiger-cubs-players hartford-whalers-announcers hartford-whalers-coaches kingston-frontenacs-(ephl)-players minnesota-north-stars-players 20th-century-canadian-sportsmen national-hockey-league-broadcasters new-england-whalers-coaches new-england-whalers-players new-york-islanders-players new-york-rangers-players quebec-aces-(ahl)-players philadelphia-flyers-players providence-reds-players rochester-americans-players ice-hockey-people-from-kirkland-lake vancouver-canucks-(whl)-players

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Don Blackburn — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report