Dave Christian

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Dave Christian bigraphy, stories - American ice hockey player

Dave Christian : biography

May 12, 1959 –

For other uses see David Christian (disambiguation)

David William Christian (born May 12, 1959 in Warroad, Minnesota) is a retired American professional ice hockey forward, who comes from a family of hockey players. His father Bill and uncle Roger were members of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that won the gold medal. Another uncle, Gordon, was a member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that won the silver medal. Bill and Roger, along with Hal Bakke, were the founders of the Christian Brothers Hockey Company based in Warroad, which until 2009, made hockey sticks. http://www.vintageminnesotahockey.com/ChristianHockeySticks.html His nephew, Brock Nelson, is currently the New York Islanders prospect.

Post career

Christian was named head coach and general manager of the United States Hockey League Fargo-Moorhead Bears near the end of the 1997–98 season and held the positions through the 1999–2000 season.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1977–78 University of North Dakota NCAA 38 8 16 24 14
1978–79 University of North Dakota NCAA 40 22 24 46 22
1979–80 Winnipeg Jets NHL 15 8 10 18 2
1980–81 Winnipeg Jets NHL 80 28 43 71 22
1981–82 Winnipeg Jets NHL 80 25 51 76 28 4 0 1 1 2
1982–83 Winnipeg Jets NHL 55 18 26 44 23 3 0 0 0 0
1983–84 Washington Capitals NHL 80 29 52 81 28 8 5 4 9 5
1984–85 Washington Capitals NHL 80 26 43 69 14 5 1 1 2 0
1985–86 Washington Capitals NHL 80 41 42 83 15 9 4 4 8 0
1986–87 Washington Capitals NHL 76 23 27 50 8 7 1 3 4 6
1987–88 Washington Capitals NHL 80 37 21 58 26 14 5 6 11 6
1988–89 Washington Capitals NHL 80 34 31 65 12 6 1 1 2 0
1989–90 Washington Capitals NHL 28 3 8 11 4
1989–90 Boston Bruins NHL 50 12 17 29 8 21 4 1 5 4
1990–91 Boston Bruins NHL 78 32 21 53 41 19 8 4 12 4
1991–92 St. Louis Blues NHL 78 20 24 44 41 4 3 0 3 0
1992–93 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 60 4 14 18 12 1 0 0 0 0
1993–94 Indianapolis Ice IHL 40 8 18 26 6
1993–94 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 9 0 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
1994–95 Minnesota Moose IHL 81 38 42 80 16 3 0 1 1 0
1995–96 Minnesota Moose IHL 69 21 25 46 8
NHL totals 1009 340 433 773 284 102 32 25 57 27

In popular culture

In the 1981 TV movie about the gold medal-winning hockey team entitled Miracle on Ice, Christian is played by Thomas F. Duffy.

In the 2004 Disney film Miracle, he is played by Steve Kovalcik.

Amateur career

Christian grew up playing hockey, gridiron football, and baseball, as well as competing on the track and field team, at Warroad High School. He later attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, where he played for the North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey team and played in the 1979 national championship, as North Dakota lost the championship game to the University of Minnesota and Christian’s future Olympic teammate, Neal Broten.

Professional and international career

Christian is best known for being a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal in an event known as the Miracle on Ice during the 1980 Winter Olympics. He also played for the U.S. national team at the 1981 Canada Cup as well as the 1981 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments as an NHL rookie. His international career continued in the 1984 Canada Cup, 1989 Ice Hockey World Championship and 1991 Canada Cup tournaments.

Christian’s professional hockey career started one week after the Miracle on Ice when he joined the Winnipeg Jets, who drafted him 40th overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. Christian set and still holds the record for the fastest goal by a player in his first NHL game, scoring just 7 seconds into his first shift, electrifying the crowd. After a roller-coaster career in Winnipeg, he went on to play in the NHL with the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues. Between 1980 and 1993, he scored 340 goals and 433 assists in 1,009 NHL regular season games.

Awards and achievements

  • Christian was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.
  • Christian played in the 1991 NHL All-Star Game