John Spencer Hughes (March 18, 1954 – April 8, 2020) was 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 ...

professional

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.

Career

The bulk of his professional career was spent in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

(WHA), where he played from 1974 until 1979 for the Phoenix Roadrunners,

Cincinnati Stingers The Cincinnati Stingers were an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979 and in the Central Hockey League during the 1979–80 season. Their home arena was Riverfront Coliseum. They are t ...

, Houston Aeros,

Indianapolis Racers The Indianapolis Racers were a major league hockey team in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1974 to 1978. They competed in four full seasons before folding 25 games into the 1978–79 season. They played at Market Square Arena. They are ...

, and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

. When the WHA folded in 1979, Hughes moved to 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), briefly playing for the

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

, the Oilers (who joined the NHL), and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. He retired in 1982. Hughes had 18 goals, 130 assists, 148 points and 778 penalty minutes in 372 regular season games in the WHA and two goals, 14 assists, 16 points and 211 penalty minutes in 70 regular season games in the NHL.

Personal life

Hughes died on April 8, 2020, in Charlottetown,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. He had two children, a son Jason and a daughter Jessica.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1954 births 2020 deaths Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Cincinnati Stingers players Edmonton Oilers players Edmonton Oilers (WHA) players Houston Aeros draft picks Houston Aeros (WHA) players Indianapolis Racers players New Haven Nighthawks players New York Rangers players Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA) players Springfield Indians players Ice hockey people from Charlottetown Toronto Marlboros players Vancouver Canucks draft picks Vancouver Canucks players Wichita Wind players {{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1950s-stub