Rod Taylor (born December 1, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey player. Taylor played twelve years in the

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

, scoring 689 points in 678 games. He is the second all-time career scorer in the ECHL and was inducted to the

ECHL Hall of Fame The ECHL Hall of Fame is an ice hockey museum dedicated to honoring members that have played in the ECHL (formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League). It was created by the league in 2008. The ECHL Board of Governors created the ECHL Hall of Fa ...

in 2009. In 2019, he became head coach of the Norfolk Admirals in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). Th ...

Career

After four years at

Ferris State University Ferris State University (FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan. It was founded in 1884 and became a public institution in 1950. Ferris is the ninth-largest institutions of higher education by enroll ...

, Taylor joined the

Hampton Roads Admirals The Hampton Roads Admirals were a professional ice hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). They played in Norfolk, Virginia at the Norfolk Scope Arena from 1989 until 2000, when the owners purchased an expansion American Hockey Leag ...

of the

on December 14, 1991. With the exception of a recall to the AHL's

Baltimore Skipjacks The Baltimore Skipjacks were a minor league professional ice hockey team from Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The Skipjacks originated in 1979, and played as the Baltimore Clippers in the Eastern Hockey League for two seasons. The team wa ...

during the

1992-93 AHL season Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

, Taylor spent nine seasons with the Admirals, leading the team in scoring five times, and winning two ECHL championships (

Riley Cup The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. ...

, 1992;

Kelly Cup The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. Th ...

, 1998.) He remaining with the team until the Admirals until the team suspended operations after the 1999-2000 ECHL season. Taylor holds several Admirals' franchise records, including career goals scored, points scored, and games played. Taylor joined the nearby

Richmond Renegades The Richmond Renegades were an ECHL 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 Freezer''. Th ...

for the

2000-01 ECHL season The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...

, scoring 56 points in 61 games. On December 29, 2000 Taylor scored his 326th ECHL goal, surpassing the career mark set by former Renagades' forward

Trevor Jobe Trevor Jobe (born May 14, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He last played for the Winston-Salem Polar Twins of the Southern Professional Hockey League in 2005. He is known for being a well-traveled, high scoring forward w ...

. Taylor returned to the Renagades for the

2001-02 ECHL season Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

. Despite scoring near a point-per-game pace during the first fifteen games of the season, Taylor was benched with rumors starting that Taylor might be traded for the first time in his professional career. Taylor joined the

South Carolina Stingrays The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston Co ...

for the 2002-03 ECHL season. As a member of the Stingrays, Taylor set another career ECHL record. On January 29, 2003 Taylor assisted on a goal scored by Ryan Brindley, giving Taylor his 686th career point, passing the career mark previously set by Darryl Noren. Following the game, Taylor's game-worn jersey was immediately shipped to the Hockey Hall Of Fame in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. Several weeks after setting the ECHL's all-time scoring record, the Stingrays place Taylor on waivers. After being waived by the Stingrays, Taylor joined the

Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs: * Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984 * Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005 * Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013 * Peoria Rivermen ...

on March 7, 2003. After scoring one assist in two games, Taylor was waived by the Rivermen due to the team not being able to guarantee him a spot on the playoff roster. Taylor joined the Toledo Storm on March 22, 2003, signing as a free agent. He played two games with the team but did not score any points. After twelve years in the ECHL, Taylor retired after the 2002-03 season. Taylor's points scoring record lasted for ten months, with then-

Mississippi Sea Wolves The Mississippi Sea Wolves are a professional hockey team based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and play in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The Sea Wolves are members of the FPHL. They are a revival of a team by the same name that played in the ECHL, ...

forward

Louis Dumont Louis Charles Jean Dumont (11 August 1911 – 19 November 1998) was a French anthropologist. Dumont was born in Thessaloniki, in the Salonica Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. He taught at Oxford University during the 1950s, and was then dir ...

breaking the record on November 20, 2003 after he knocked in a rebound for his 690th career point. Taylor briefly came out of retirement to play for the

Richmond Riverdogs The Richmond RiverDogs were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Richmond, Virginia, that played at the Richmond Coliseum from 2003 to 2006. The RiverDogs were formed during an expansion of the United Hockey League (UHL) in the fall of ...

of the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor league, minor professional ice hockey league, with teams ...

in 2005. The 39-year-old Taylor played one game and scored two goals. After his retirement, Taylor returned to the Hampton Roads area. He was named to the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2009. Joining the Hall of Fame with Taylor was former coach John Brophy, who coached Taylor during his tenure with the Hampton Roads Admirals. Many of Taylor's ECHL records remained unbroken for several years. Taylor held the ECHL goal-scoring record for twelve years until Alaska Aces forward Wes Goldie scored his 369th ECHL goal against the

Ontario Reign The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Ontario, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, the team plays ...

on March 24, 2012.

Awards and accomplishments

*1991-92: Riley Cup champion (Hampton Roads Admirals) *1993-94: Leading scorer, Hampton Roads Admirals (88 points) *1994-95: ECHL Second All-Star Team (Left Wing) *1997-98: Kelly Cup champion (Hampton Roads Admirals) *2002-03: ECHL 15th Anniversary First Team (Left Wing) *2007-08: Inducted into the

Admirals Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Hall Of Fame *2009: Inducted into

Records

ECHL

*Most goals scored (368) (since broken by Wes Goldie on March 24, 2012) *Most points scored (689) (since broken by Louis Dumont on November 20, 2003) *30 goal seasons (8) *Consecutive 30 goal seasons (6, 1993–98)

Hampton Roads Admirals

*Games Played (528) *Goals scored (312) *Points scored (565) *Penalty minutes (856) *Seasons Played (9)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Rod 1967 births Living people American men's ice hockey left wingers Baltimore Skipjacks players Ferris State Bulldogs men's ice hockey players Hampton Roads Admirals players Ice hockey players from Detroit Peoria Rivermen (ECHL) players Richmond Renegades players Roanoke Express players South Carolina Stingrays players Toledo Storm players People from Lake Orion, Michigan