Denis Joseph Savard (born February 4, 1961) 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 ...

player. He played 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) from

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, and was elected to the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 2000. In 2017 Savard was named one of the ' 100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. Savard was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks and became the forefront of the team during the 1980s. He led the Blackhawks to the Conference Finals four times, losing each time, twice being to

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

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 (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. Savard is known for the spin' o rama move, a tactic in hockey used to create distance between the puck carrier and opponent. Savard won one Stanley Cup with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

in 1993. Savard also played with the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

for two seasons before returning to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1994, and then retiring there in 1997. He has also served as head coach of the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

of the NHL, and now serves as an ambassador for the Blackhawks' organization. Savard was born in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, but grew up in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Playing career

As a youth, Savard played in the 1973 and 1974

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

s with a

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team from

Verdun, Quebec Verdun ( , , ) is a Montreal borough, borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, located in the southeastern part of the island. Long known as a working class neighbourhood, it has experienced significant gentrification and s ...

. For the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, the

held the first overall pick and many fans hoped the Canadiens would use it to draft Savard. Instead, the Canadiens drafted Doug Wickenheiser and Savard was chosen third overall by the

. He was the highest drafted player in Blackhawks' history, until the organization drafted Patrick Kane with the first overall pick in 2007. He began his career during the 1980–81 NHL season in which he had three assists in his first game. He then went on to set the Blackhawks' record (since broken) for most

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

by a rookie with 75. He was known for his trademark move, the 'Savardian Spin-o-rama' (a term actually coined by Danny Gallivan, referencing the move performed by Serge Savard), which entailed Savard whirling around with the puck in a full rotation allowing him to defeat defenders and goaltenders alike. Savard had two separate stints with the Blackhawks. The first was from the 1980–81 season to the 1989–90 season. The second was from 1994–95 to 1996–97. During his absence from Chicago, he played for the

( 1990–91 to 1992–93) and the

( 1993–94 to 1994–95). On June 29, 1990, Savard was infamously traded to the

for star

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

Chris Chelios and a second-round pick ( Mike Pomichter), a transaction that has since been considered largely in Chicago's favor as Chelios would produce some of his best seasons as a Blackhawk while Savard's career was on the decline. Savard won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

with the Canadiens in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, although Savard was kept out of much of the postseason due to a hairline fracture in his ankle, and was essentially an assistant coach by the clinching game five. He signed as a free agent with the

in the summer of 1993, where he played a season and a half. On April 6, 1995, Savard was traded back to Chicago, for a 1996 sixth-round pick ( Xavier Delisle). Savard's NHL career would end where it had started, with the Blackhawks. In 1,196

NHL 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 ...

games, Savard scored 473 goals and 865 assists, totalling 1338

. He trails only

Bobby Hull Robert Marvin Hull (January 3, 1939 – January 30, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blond hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot t ...

Stan Mikita Stanley Mikita (born Stanislav Guoth; May 20, 1940 – August 7, 2018) was a Slovaks, Slovak-born Canadian ice hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League, generally regarded as the best Centre (ic ...

and Patrick Kane for total points in Chicago Blackhawks history. Five times during his career he scored at least 100 points and for seven straight years he had at least 30 goals. His highest point total of 131 came in 1987–88 and his highest goal total of 47 came in 1985–86. In 169 playoff games, he scored 66 goals and 109 assists for a total of 175 points. Savard officially retired from professional hockey on June 26, 1997. On March 19, 1998, the Blackhawks retired his jersey number #18. Savard was inducted into the

on November 13, 2000.

Awards

champion:

*Selected to nine NHL All-Star Games:

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, 1986, 1988,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

* NHL Second All-Star Team:

NHL Accolades

* #24 All Time in Career Assists (865) - "Regular Season" * #29 All Time in Career Points (1338) - "Regular Season" * #19 All Time in Career Assists Per Game Average (0.72) "Regular Season" * #20 All Time in Career Points Per Game Average (1.12) "Regular Season" * #19 All Time in Career Playoff Goals (66) * #18 All Time in Career Playoff Assists (109) * #16 All Time in Career Playoff Points (175) * #9 All Time in Career Playoff Hat Tricks (3) *12 Regular Season Hat Tricks *3 Playoff Hat Tricks *4 time Hart Trophy Nominee (1981–82) (1982–83) (1983–84) (1987–88) (Regular Season) * 5 times Top 10 in Points (1981–82) (1982–83) (1984–85) (1985–86) (1987–88) * 5 times Top 10 in Assists (1981–82) (1982–83) (1984–85) (1984–85) (1985–86) (1987–88) * 1 time Top 10 in Goals (1985–86) * 2 times Top 10 in Even Strength Goals (1985–86) (1986–87) * 2 times Top 10 in Shorthanded Goals (1987–88) (1988–89) * 2 times Top 10 in Game Winning Goals (1985–86) (1986–87) * 2 times Top 5 in Hat Tricks (1984–85) (1986–87) * 4 times Top 10 in Goals Created (1981–82) (1982–83) (1985–86) (1987–88) * 7 times Top 10 in Assists Per Game (1981–82) (1982–83) (1984–85) (1985–86) (1987–88) (1988–89) (1989–90) * 4 times Top 5 in Assists Per Game Average (1981–82) (1982–83) (1987–88) (1988–89) * 7 times Top 10 in Points Per Game Average (1981–82) (1982–83) (1985–86) (1986–87) (1987–88) (1988–89) (1989–90) * 2 times Top 3 in Points Per Game Average (1982–83) (1987–88) (Playoffs) * 5 times Top 10 in Points (1982) (1983) (1985) (1989) (1995) * 3 times Top 10 in Assists (1985) (1989) (1995) * 5 times Top 10 in Points (1982) (1985) (1989) (1990) (1995) * 3 times Top 10 in Goals Per Game Average (1982) (1983) (1985) * 1 time Top 10 in Assists Per Game Average (1985) * 2 times Top 10 in Points Per Game Average (1985) (1995) * 5 times Top 10 in Goals Created Per Game (1982) (1983) (1985) (1989) (1995)

Career statistics

Coaching career

Shortly after his retirement as a player, Savard began a coaching career with the Blackhawks in December 1997. On November 27, 2006, Savard was named head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks after Trent Yawney was fired mid-season. He was commended for leading a young Blackhawks team to within 3 points of a playoff berth during his second season as coach. The Hawks finished just one victory away from the .500 mark in 2007–2008. The 40 wins in 2007–08 marked the first time the club had reached the 40 win mark in six years. On October 16, 2008, just four games into the season Savard was fired as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. He was replaced by former

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

coach Joel Quenneville, who had been hired as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for the Blackhawks during the previous summer. In 147 games as coach, Savard posted a 65–66–16 record. Savard remains as an ambassador for the Blackhawks and received Stanley Cup rings in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

Coaching record

Personal life

Savard has a cousin named Jean Savard who also played for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1970s. He also shared the same number as Serge Savard, who is unrelated to him. They shared the same number (#18), and in the 1990s Serge was general manager of the Habs when he acquired Denis from the Blackhawks. Savard is sometimes called "Savoir-Faire" referring to a fictional

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

mouse that was the archnemesis of the cartoon character

Klondike Kat ''Klondike Kat'' is a cartoon produced by Total Television and originally aired as part of '' The Beagles'' on CBS-TV in 1966, and later found in the U.S. syndicated ''Underdog'' and '' Tennessee Tuxedo'' cartoon series, in between episodes as ...

. Savard is mentioned in '' The Bear'', a

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

comedy-drama series set in Chicago. In a flashback from the first season episode " Ceres", Mikey Berzatto (played by Jon Bernthal) claims to have run into Savard at a party the night after his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

References

"One on One with Serge Savard"
by Kevin Shea, December 16, 2003, retrieved August 10, 2006

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Savard, Denis 1961 births Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian ice hockey coaches Chicago Blackhawks captains Chicago Blackhawks coaches Chicago Blackhawks draft picks Chicago Blackhawks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Montreal Living people Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Juniors players National Hockey League All-Stars NHL first-round draft picks National Hockey League players with retired numbers Ice hockey people from Gatineau Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen