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 rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

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 sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(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 wi ...

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 in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey tea ...

and

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. 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 The 30th National Hockey League All-Star Game was held at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, home of the Vancouver Canucks, on January 25, 1977. Wales Conference All-Star team defeated the Campbell Conference for the third consecutive year. Rick M ...

. Also in 1977, Vail played with

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics * Canada at the Paralympics * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at the Pan American Games Canada's national sport teams * Canada me ...

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 The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

(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 between the

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (often shortened to Soo Greyhounds) are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The Greyhounds play home games at the GFL Memorial Gardens. The present team was founded in 1962 as a team in the ...

and the

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game known as the "Wolves" (or "Cub Wolve ...

, 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 ...

, 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 ...

. 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. 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

, the only such appearance of his career. He also made his only appearance with the national team, 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 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 Allister Wences MacNeil (born September 27, 1935) is a former National Hockey League player and coach. He was the first native of Atlantic Canada to serve as a head coach in the NHL. Career He played parts of eleven seasons in the National Hocke ...

, 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

in exchange for Gary McAdam 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 Nati ...

, 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, t ...

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

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