Jim Dowd

James Thomas Dowd (born December 25, 1968) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for ten different teams over the course of 17 NHL seasons.

Dowd helped Brick Township High School win the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association ice hockey title for the 1985–86 season.

In his senior year, he broke the national scholastic scoring record, finishing with a four-year tally of 375 points (189 goals and 186 assists).

Dowd was selected in the eighth round, 149th overall, by the New Jersey Devils in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft.

He went to Lake Superior State University in the fall of 1987.

He was a member of the Lakers's 1988 NCAA Championship squad.

After college, Dowd joined New Jersey's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate at the time, the Utica Devils.

He became the first New Jersey native to play for the New Jersey Devils when he made his NHL debut during the season.

In his four years with the Lakers men's ice hockey team, competing in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), Dowd was a prolific scorer, earning selections to the NCAA West Second All-American and CCHA Second All-Star Teams in 1990 and the NCAA West First All-American and CCHA First All-Star Teams in 1991.

He was also named the CCHA's "Player of the Year" in 1991.

He spent the 1991–92 and the seasons in the AHL, with single-game NHL appearances in both seasons.

As a top scorer with the AHL's Albany River Rats (the Devils' subsequent AHL affiliate) in the season, Dowd made impressive appearances with the Devils, collecting 5 goals and 10 assists in 15 regular season games, and 2 goals and 6 assists in 19 games during their playoff run.

The labor dispute shortened the season, which was further shortened for Dowd when a shoulder injury and surgery caused him to miss 35 games.

Dowd, who won the 1995 Stanley Cup with his hometown New Jersey Devils, was the second New Jersey high school hockey player to make it to the NHL.

He is also a frequent guest on NHL Live.

However, the highlight of Dowd's career with the Devils came in Game 2 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals.

With 1:24 left in regulation, he scored the game-winning goal, giving the Devils a 2–0 series lead over the Detroit Red Wings to take back home to New Jersey.

The Devils completed the sweep at home for their first Stanley Cup Championship.

Dowd became the first New Jersey native to both play and win the Stanley Cup for the Devils franchise.

On December 19, 1995, less than six months after helping the Devils capture the Stanley Cup, Dowd was traded (alongside a 1997 second-round draft pick) to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for Jocelyn Lemieux and a second-round pick in 1998.

On September 30, 1996, the New York Islanders claimed Dowd in the NHL Waiver Draft.

He only played in three games for New York, spending the rest of the season with the International Hockey League (IHL)'s Utah Grizzlies and the AHL's Saint John Flames.

Later that same day, Hartford traded Dowd (alongside František Kučera and the same second-round pick in 1997) to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Jeff Brown and a fifth-round pick in 1998.

Dowd would only play 38 regular season games and one playoff game for the Canucks.

On July 10, 1997, Dowd signed as a free agent with the Calgary Flames.

In the season, he played in 48 games in Calgary and another 35 regular season (and 19 playoff) games with the Saint John Flames.

On June 27, 1998, Dowd was traded to the expansion Nashville Predators in exchange for future considerations.

On October 1, 1998, for the second time in his career, he was traded before playing a single game, this time to the Edmonton Oilers (alongside Mikhail Shtalenkov) in exchange for Éric Fichaud, Drake Berehowsky and Greg de Vries.

Dowd appeared in one game with the Oilers during the season, spending the rest of the season with their AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs.

On September 7, 1999, as a group two free agent, he re-signed with Edmonton and played the season with the Oilers, appearing in an NHL career-high 69 games.

The next chapter in Dowd's career began on June 23, 2000, when the Minnesota Wild selected him during the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft.

On March 4, 2004, after nearly four seasons with the Wild, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in 2004.

After the season, Dowd became an unrestricted free agent and signed with Germany's Hamburg Freezers during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

Following the lockout, on August 5, 2005, he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks.

His brief tenure with the Avalanche ended after the 2005–06 season, with Dowd again becoming a free agent.

On March 9, 2006, Dowd was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in 2006.

On November 2, 2006, after New Jersey Devils left winger Dan LaCouture cleared waivers, the Devils signed Dowd to a one-year contract.

The contract paid Dowd the NHL minimum of $450,000.

When Dowd returned to the Devils, he was forced to wear jersey #12, as John Madden wore his old #11.

Dowd went on to score four goals as well as have his first career multi-goal game, against the Florida Panthers.