John Richard Egers (January 28, 1949 – September 10, 2021) was a Canadian professional

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 ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Originally drafted in 1966 by the

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 ho ...

, Egers would also play for the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

and

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

. Egers was an original member of the Capitals, who claimed him in the

1974 NHL Expansion Draft The 1974 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 12, 1974. The draft took place to fill the rosters of the league's two expansion teams for the 1974–75 season, the Kansas City Scouts and the Washington Capitals. Rules Draft results See also ...

. He holds the distinction of scoring the first game-winning goal for the team, on October 17, 1974, against the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Egers was later a captain in the

Kitchener Fire Department The Kitchener Fire Department provides fire protection, technical rescue services, hazardous materials response, and first responder emergency medical assistance to the city of Kitchener, Ontario. The department has seven fire stations and 229 empl ...

. He died at the age of 72 on September 10, 2021.

References

External links

Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
* 1949 births 2021 deaths Baltimore Clippers players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Ice hockey people from Ontario Kitchener Rangers players New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers players Omaha Knights (CHL) players St. Louis Blues players Sportspeople from Greater Sudbury Washington Capitals players {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1940s-stub