Jim Jeffery Ballantine (November 6, 1967 – January 2002) was an American

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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Early life and education

Ballantine was born in Union Lake, Michigan. He attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where he played on the

Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey The Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team that represents the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Earning varsity status in 1922, the program has competed in 102 seasons. Between 1959 and 1981, the ...

team.

Career

Ballantine started his professional career with the

Columbus Chill The Columbus Chill were a professional ice hockey team that played in the East Coast Hockey League from October 1991 through the 1998–99 season. They played at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum in Columbus, Ohio. The Chill left Columbus in 1999 an ...

in 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 ...

. He also played for the

Richmond Renegades The Richmond Renegades were a professional ice hockey team in Richmond, Virginia that played in the East Coast Hockey League from 1990 until 2003. The Renegades played at the Richmond Coliseum, which they marketed in later years as ''the Freeze ...

(ECHL),

Indianapolis Ice The Indianapolis Ice were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indian ...

( IHL), and

Dallas Freeze 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). Ballantine was the first player to wear a three-digit number in a professional sports game. He wore the number 101 to promote

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

radio station CD101. Ballantine was a regular on-air personality on the station. Ballantine formerly wore number 19, in a nod to longtime

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 ...

captain

Steve Yzerman Stephen Gregory Yzerman ( ; born May 9, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player currently serving as executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing ...

Personal life

Ballantine died in 2002 from Lou Gherig's Disease (ALS).

References

External links

* * 1967 births 2002 deaths American men's ice hockey centers Ice hockey people from Oakland County, Michigan Ice hockey players from Michigan Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players Columbus Chill players Richmond Renegades players Indianapolis Ice players Dallas Freeze players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-icehockey-centre-stub