David Allan Hoyda (May 20, 1957 – February 8, 2015) was a Canadian 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 ...

player. Hoyda played four seasons in 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) with the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

and

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

. He was known primarily as an enforcer. Hoyda was raised in

Cherhill, Alberta Cherhill is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Lac Ste. Anne County. It is located along Highway 43, approximately east of Mayerthorpe and northwest of Edmonton. The hamlet is located in census division No. 13. The first syllable of the ...

, and later attended St. Francis Xavier High School in Edmonton while he played Canadian Junior "A" hockey with the

Spruce Grove Mets The St. Albert Saints were a junior ice hockey franchise based in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, for twenty-seven seasons from 1977 to 2004. Before 1977, the team played in nearby Spruce Grove as the Spruce Grove Mets, and in 2004 the team again mo ...

. Hoyda and the Mets won the 1975 Canadian Junior "A" national championship. He moved up to

Major Junior hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

for his next two seasons, playing with the

Edmonton Oil Kings The Edmonton Oil Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, that play in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team, founded in 2006, shares an ownership group with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The te ...

Portland Winterhawks The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1950 as the Edmonton Oil Kings, the team relocated to Portland in 1976 and was known as the Winter Hawks until 2009. The team plays in the U.S. Divisio ...

(franchise moved). Hoyda was drafted in both the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

and NHL Amateur Drafts in 1977, signing a contract with the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. Hoyda died in 2015.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1957 births 2015 deaths Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey left wingers Edmonton Mets players Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL) players Edmonton Oilers (WHA) draft picks Maine Mariners (AHL) players Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Portland Winterhawks players Ice hockey people from Edmonton Spruce Grove Mets players Tulsa Oilers (1964–1984) players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen {{canada-icehockey-winger-1950s-stub