John Joseph Blum (born September 8, 1959) is an American 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 ...

defenseman 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 ...

. 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 ...

with the

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 ...

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

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

, 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 ...

between 1982 and 1990. He also spent considerable time in the minor

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

, and retired in 1995.

Playing career

Blum was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He is a graduate of Notre Dame High School in

Harper Woods, Michigan Harper Woods is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Harper Woods borders Detroit to the north and east, roughly northeast of downtown Detroit. As of the 20 ...

. His high school hockey teammates were comedian

Dave Coulier David Alan Coulier ( ; born September 21, 1959) is an American actor, voice actor, and comedian. He is best known for his roles as Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'', Peter Venkman on '' The Real Ghostbusters'', and Animal and B ...

and other well known players and personalities. Blum played both high school and college hockey under head coach John Giordano. Signed as an undrafted free agent by the

in 1981, Blum played mostly in the minors before being traded to the

, a team that he would play for three different times during his career. He also played for the

and

. Blum scored in first NHL goal on April 1, 1984—in the last game of Boston's 1983-84 schedule—during his team's 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils. It was the game-winning goal.

Post-playing career

Blum would later serve as an assistant coach in the minor leagues for the Detroit Falcons, Saginaw Lumber Kings,

Detroit Vipers The Detroit Vipers were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the International Hockey League (IHL). Originally founded in 1969 as the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in Salt Lake City, the team was purchased by Palace Sports & Entertainment ...

Toledo Storm The Toledo Storm were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the ECHL from 1991 to 2007. The Storm played their home games at the venerable Toledo Sports Arena along the eastern banks of the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. The team colors w ...

, and

Motor City Mechanics The Motor City Mechanics were a minor professional ice hockey team in the United Hockey League. The Mechanics played two seasons from 2004 to 2006 at Great Lakes Sports City Superior Arena in Fraser, Michigan. History The team got a major boost ...

. He is also a new addition to the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Team and a former employee at

De La Salle Collegiate High School De La Salle Collegiate High School is an all-boys Catholic high school run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers. Founded in 1926, the school was located on the east side of Detroit before moving to its current location in Warren, Michigan, in ...

in Warren, MI.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blum, John 1959 births Living people Adirondack Red Wings players American men's ice hockey defensemen Boston Bruins players Capital District Islanders players Detroit Falcons (CoHL) players Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Oilers players Ice hockey people from Detroit Maine Mariners (AHL) players Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players Moncton Alpines (AHL) players Moncton Golden Flames players Undrafted National Hockey League players Washington Capitals players Wichita Wind players 20th-century American sportsmen