Eric Vail (born September 16, 1953) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player who played nine seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) for the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

and Detroit Red Wings. He won the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...

in 1975 as the NHL's rookie of the year and played in the 1977 NHL All-Star Game. Also in 1977, Vail played with Team Canada at the World Ice Hockey Championship. At the time of his 1981 trade to Detroit, Vail was the Flames' franchise leader in goal scoring.

Playing career

Vail played three years of

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). He spent two seasons with the

Niagara Falls Flyers The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982. ...

, scoring 48 points in 59 games in 1970–71 and improving to 73 points in 60 games in 1971–72. He split the

1972–73 OHA season This is a list of OHA standings and season-by-season summaries of the Ontario Hockey Association's Junior A division from 1933 to 1972, and its Tier I division from 1972 to 1974. ;Legend * GP = games played * W = wins * L = losses * T = ties * P ...

between the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the Sudbury Wolves, scoring 48 goals and 105 points combined between the two teams. Vail was selected by both the

, 21st overall at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft and the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

, 29th overall at the

1973 WHA Amateur Draft The 1973 WHA Amateur Draft was the first draft for the World Hockey Association. __NOTOC__ Selections by round Below are listed the selections in the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 R ...

. Choosing to play with the Flames, Vail made his NHL debut in 1973–74, appearing in 23 games. He scored two goals and nine assists, but spent the majority of the season in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL) with the

Omaha Knights The Omaha Knights was the name of three minor league professional ice hockey teams from 1959 to 1965 and from 1966 to 1975, based in Omaha, Nebraska, at the Ak-Sar-Ben Arena. The Knights were founded in 1959 as members of the International Hoc ...

. Since he played fewer than 25 NHL games in his first season, Vail was still considered a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

in 1974–75. He led all rookies with 39 goals and had 60 points on the campaign. Vail won the

as the NHL's rookie of the year, the first player in Flames history to do so. Injuries reduced Vail's offensive output in 1975–76 as he scored only 16 goals. Vail rebounded to score 32 goals and 71 points in 1976–77. He played in the 1977 NHL All-Star Game, the only such appearance of his career. He also made his only appearance with the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, scoring four goals in nine games for the fourth place Canadians at the World Ice Hockey Championship. Vail scored 22, 35 and 28 goals in his following three seasons and set a career high with 83 points in 1978–79. In 1979–80, Vail passed

Tom Lysiak Thomas James Lysiak (April 22, 1953 – May 30, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Selected in the first round, second overall, of the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft by the Atlanta Flames, he was additionally selected by the Houston A ...

as the Flames' all-time leading goal scorer. His 174 career goals was the most in the Flames' tenure in Atlanta, and he was second to Lysiak with 383 points. Vail transferred with the franchise when it relocated to Canada, becoming the

in 1980–81. He had 28 goals and 64 points in 64 games in his first season in Calgary. Though he averaged nearly 30 goals per season, the Flames often felt Vail was playing below his capability. He was considered to have one of the best shots in the league, but was often accused of coasting on the ice and carried a reputation for "living large" off the ice. He clashed with head coach Al MacNeil, forcing the team to make a move early in the 1981–82 season. Stating that "Eric Vail and the Calgary Flames were no longer compatible", General Manager

Cliff Fletcher George Clifford "Cliff" Fletcher (born August 16, 1935) is a National Hockey League executive and is a former general manager of the Atlanta Flames/Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Phoenix Coyotes. He is currently a senior advisor to the ...

sent the team's all-time leading scorer to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for

Gary McAdam Gary F. McAdam (born December 31, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Career Selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft, McAdam also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, Calgary Flames, W ...

and a draft pick on November 10, 1981. Vail scored 10 goals in 52 games with Detroit. The Red Wings were similarly frustrated with Vail. They demoted him to the

Adirondack Red Wings The Adirondack Red Wings were a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Glens Falls, New York, United States at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The team was affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings of the Nation ...

, their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) affiliate, for ten games in 1981–82, then left him there for the entire

1982–83 AHL season The 1982–83 AHL season was the 47th season of the American Hockey League. Thirteen teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Rochester Americans finished first overall in the regular season, and won their fourth Calder Cup championship. ...

. Vail scored 20 goals and 49 points for Adirondack then retired following the season.

Personal life

Vail and his ex-wife Sylvia have two children: Scott and Natasha. He returned to Atlanta following his career, ultimately settling in

Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. As of the 2020 census, the population of Lawrenceville was 30,629. In 2019, the ...

, where he managed a nightclub. When the NHL returned to Atlanta in 1999, Vail joined the

Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

organization in a community relations capacity and served as an in-arena analyst for the team's radio broadcasts. Vail's son Scott is the caddy for

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

golfer

Brandt Snedeker Brandt Newell Snedeker (born December 8, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2012 FedEx Cup with a victory in the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. After this victory, he moved into ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

*Career statistics:

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vail, Eric 1953 births Living people Adirondack Red Wings players Atlanta Flames draft picks Atlanta Flames players Calder Trophy winners Calgary Flames players Canadian ice hockey forwards Detroit Red Wings players Sportspeople from Timmins National Hockey League All-Stars Niagara Falls Flyers players Oklahoma City Stars players Omaha Knights (CHL) players Quebec Nordiques (WHA) draft picks Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds players Sudbury Wolves players Ice hockey people from Ontario