Daniel Clark Blackburn (born May 20, 1983) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. He played 63 regular-season games for the

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

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL), going 20–32–11 with 1 shutout.

Minor league career

Born in Quebec, Blackburn moved to Canmore,

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

as a teen and played major junior hockey with the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

's Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. In 2001, he was named the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; , LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three me ...

's Goaltender of the Year. Blackburn was drafted by the

in the first round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, 10th overall.

NHL career

For most of 2001–02, Blackburn served as backup to longtime Rangers goalie, Mike Richter, playing in 31 games, a large total for a backup goaltender at the time. He was selected as the goaltender for the 2002 NHL All-Rookie Team and posted a 3.28

goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

(GAA) and .898

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

. With Richter out with a head injury, Blackburn recorded his only career shutout on November 7, 2002, in a 1–0 overtime win over the

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. The ...

. Blackburn dismissed concerns that the heavy workload would be too much for him by pointing out that he had endured a heavier workload in junior.McDonell, Chris. ''Hockey's Greatest Stars''. 2005. Page 179. However, after 17 consecutive starts, Blackburn eventually burned out, playing less effectively and tiring. It was becoming clear that Richter's difficulties with post-concussion syndrome were unlikely to abate, and that more help was needed. "We had to make a deal," Glen Sather claimed. "I did not want to see Danny lose his confidence and struggle, or for our team to struggle." Sather traded for Nashville Predator Mike Dunham, an experienced goaltender, to let Blackburn develop at a consistent rate. Blackburn finished the 2002–03 season with a 3.17 GAA and a .890

Injuries and retirement

A shoulder injury forced him into retirement in 2005. He retired after missing the entire

2003–04 NHL season The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series four games to three against the Calgary Flames. For the fourth time in ...

due to a nerve injury sustained just before training camp to his left shoulder due to a weightlifting mishap. He had nerve exploration surgery on March 31, 2004, then made an attempt to return to hockey, sporting a pair of blockers rather than the conventional blocker/catcher combination, as his injury rendered him incapable of rotating his glove hand. On February 1, 2005, he joined the

Victoria Salmon Kings The Victoria Salmon Kings were a professional ice hockey team based in Victoria, British Columbia, and members of the ECHL. The team debuted in the 2004–05 season and folded after the 2010–11 season. The Chilliwack Bruins of the major jun ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

, going 3–9–0, with a 3.54 GAA in 12 games. On September 15, during the Rangers training camp, he suffered a strained MCL. Subsequently, Blackburn announced his retirement on September 25. Had Blackburn continued to attempt a comeback, he would have forfeited an insurance payout of approximately six million dollars. After his retirement, Blackburn enrolled at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. He later became the manager of business development for the Goaltender Development Institute. He currently resides in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

. When asked if he ever envisioned a return to hockey, he was quoted as saying, "Never, I doubt I will ever put goalie pads on again. I don't have interest in playing net." He also stated, "It's not bittersweet, you know what? I don't really miss it anymore - it's been such a long time. It was a chapter of my life and I'm on to the next....I don't have any regrets at all about what transpired or the way things happened for me. I really enjoy what I do now in the business world....From my point of view, I was really fortunate, even though I was only there for a couple of years. It really set up the rest of my life for all the things that I want to do, from there on out." On December 31, 2011, Blackburn participated in the 2012 Winter Classic Alumni Game at

Citizens Bank Park Citizens Bank Park is a baseball stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the city's South Philadelphia Sports Complex. Home to Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, the stadium opened April 3, 2004. It is named after Citizens Financi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, playing in goal for the Rangers alumni against the Philadelphia Flyers alumni.

Awards and honours

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, Dan 1983 births Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from Montreal Kootenay Ice players Living people NHL first-round draft picks New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Victoria Salmon Kings players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen