imported>Jevansen: added :Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen

2024-12-31T05:11:05Z

added Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen

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{{Short description|Canadian ice hockey player, executive (1938–2007)}}
{{Other people|John Ferguson}}
{{more references |date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| name = John Ferguson Sr.
| image = John Ferguson Chex card.jpg
| image_size = 230px
| caption = John Ferguson Sr, Montreal Canadiens
| birth_date = {{birth date|1938|9|5}}
| birth_place = [[Vancouver, British Columbia]], Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|2007|7|14|1938|9|5}}
| death_place = [[Windsor, Ontario]], Canada
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 11
| weight_lb = 178
| position = [[Winger (ice hockey)|Left wing]]
| shoots = Left
| played_for = [[Montreal Canadiens]]
| career_start = 1959
| career_end = 1971
}}
'''John Bowie "Fergy" Ferguson Sr.''' (September 5, 1938 – July 14, 2007) was a professional [[ice hockey]] player and executive. Ferguson played [[winger (hockey)|left wing]] for the [[Montreal Canadiens]] from 1963 to 1971. After retiring from active play, he became a coach, and later a general manager. He is the father of [[John Ferguson Jr.]]

==Early years==
Ferguson was born in [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]] on September 5, 1938. His father died when he was 9, and he was raised by his mother near the [[Pacific National Exhibition]] grounds. Ferguson loved horses and hung around [[Hastings Park]] as a child. Aside from his interest in horses and hockey, he also played lacrosse. Ferguson's hockey career began as a stickboy for the [[Vancouver Canucks (WHL)|Vancouver Canucks]], then of the [[Western Hockey League (1952–1974)|Western Hockey League]]. He became interested in the role of enforcer when he saw the more talented Canucks players get hit repeatedly, without having their teammates attempt to respond or dissuade their opponents.

==Playing career==
Ferguson played his junior hockey in Western Canada, with the [[Melville Millionaires]] of the [[Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League]] in 1956–57, and 1958–59.
In 1959–60, he was playing professionally with the [[Fort Wayne Komets]] of the [[International Hockey League (1945–2001)|International Hockey League]]. In 1960, he moved to the [[American Hockey League]] and the [[Cleveland Barons (1937–1973)|Cleveland Barons]].

In [[1963–64 NHL season|1963–64]], he was promoted to the Canadiens as an "[[Enforcer (ice hockey)|enforcer]]" to protect captain [[Jean Béliveau|Jean Beliveau]] from aggressive defenders—merely twelve seconds into his first NHL game, he was in a [[Fighting in ice hockey|fight]] with [[Ted Green]] of the [[Boston Bruins]]; Ferguson won the fight.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=334515&page=NewsPage&service=page|title=Ferguson earned five Stanley Cups|author=John McGourty|date=2007-07-16|access-date=2007-07-17}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> It was said that his unexpected retirement in 1971 caused problems for the Canadiens, who then started getting roughed up by other teams. Rumours persisted that General Manager [[Sam Pollock]] wanted to bring him out of retirement. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070717203558/http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=99300a04-1624-478e-8368-a19c2dfc4f9d&k=67488]

Ferguson was also a potential offensive threat. Playing on a line with Beliveau, Ferguson led all NHL rookies in scoring in his first season and finished as runner-up for [[Calder Memorial Trophy|Calder Trophy]] in 1963–64. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound left-winger also scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in 1969, during a season that saw him score a career-high 29 goals with a plus-30 rating. In 85 post-season games, he scored 20 goals and added 18 assists. He also earned two selections to the [[National Hockey League All-Star Game|NHL All-Star Game]].

During his playing career, he won the [[Stanley Cup]] five times: in the years [[1964–65 NHL season|1965]], [[1965–66 NHL season|1966]], [[1967–68 NHL season|1968]], [[1968–69 NHL season|1969]], and [[1970–71 NHL season|1971]], and always earned more than 100 penalty minutes in a regular season.

== Sorel Titans ==
Ferguson was coach for the Sorel Titans, one of six semi-professional Quebec Lacrosse League clubs that played in the 1960s. In supporting the league, Ferguson told the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper: "I hope both ends of the country can bring the game out of the bushes and bring back an interest. Lacrosse needs expansion."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bcla.centraldesktop.com/spirit2/doc/1942365/w-EastwestBrouhaha|title=IMeet Central - Organize, Share, Collaborate}}</ref>

==Post-playing career==
In 1972, he became the [[assistant coach]] of [[Canada men's national ice hockey team|Team Canada]] who defeated the [[Soviet Union national ice hockey team|Soviet team]] in the [[Summit Series]]. Ferguson gained some notoriety because he asked [[Bobby Clarke]] to take out Soviet star [[Valeri Kharlamov]] with a slash to the latter's ankle. Ferguson later justified his orders saying "that guy is killing us."<ref>{{cite web |title=1972 Summit Series Game Six |url=http://www.1972summitseries.com/game6recap.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020626214446/http://www.1972summitseries.com/game6recap.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=June 26, 2002 |website=www.1972summitseries.com |access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>

In the years to follow, he became the [[head coach]] and later [[general manager]] of the [[New York Rangers]]. He lured [[Anders Hedberg]] and [[Ulf Nilsson (ice hockey)|Ulf Nilsson]] away from the [[Winnipeg Jets (1972–96)|Winnipeg Jets]] of the [[World Hockey Association]] (WHA) in 1978 to the Rangers. Both were considered to be the Jets' best players, and among the best in the WHA as a whole. Ferguson stopped coaching in 1977, and was fired as general manager in 1978, at which time he became the general manager of the Jets in the WHA and, starting in 1979, the National Hockey League.

He worked for the [[Ottawa Senators]] in the early 1990s as director of player personnel. He is credited with finding [[Daniel Alfredsson]] for the Senators. He was a special consultant to the general manager of the [[San Jose Sharks]].

==Later years and death==
Ferguson was married to Joan, and they had four children together: [[John Ferguson Jr.|John Jr.]] (former general manager of the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]]), Catherine, Chris and Joanne.<ref name=Death>[https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=213602&hubname=nhl TSN : NHL – Canada's Sports Leader]</ref>

He and his wife lived in [[Windsor, Ontario]] in his later years to be close to horses. He served as GM for the [[Windsor Raceway]] in 1988.

In September 2005, Ferguson was diagnosed with [[prostate cancer]]. He died on July 14, 2007.<ref name=Death/>

==Career statistics==
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  
! colspan="5" | [[Regular season]]
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  
! colspan="5" | [[Playoffs]]
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! [[Season (sports)|Season]]
! Team
! League
! GP
! [[Goal (ice hockey)|G]]
! [[Assist (ice hockey)|A]]
! [[Point (ice hockey)|Pts]]
! [[Penalty (ice hockey)|PIM]]
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|-
| 1956–57
| [[Melville Millionaires]]
| SJHL
| 51
| 11
| 17
| 28
| 49
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1957–58
| Melville Millionaires
| SJHL
| 50
| 14
| 30
| 44
| 100
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1958–59
| Melville Millionaires
| SJHL
| 44
| 32
| 34
| 66
| 83
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1959–60 IHL season|1959–60]]
| [[Fort Wayne Komets]]
| [[International Hockey League (1945–2001)|IHL]]
| 68
| 32
| 33
| 65
| 126
| 13
| 1
| 1
| 2
| 17
|-
| [[1960–61 AHL season|1960–61]]
| [[Cleveland Barons (1937–73)|Cleveland Barons]]
| [[American Hockey League|AHL]]
| 62
| 13
| 21
| 34
| 126
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1961–62 AHL season|1961–62]]
| Cleveland Barons
| AHL
| 70
| 20
| 21
| 41
| 146
| 6
| 2
| 2
| 4
| 6
|-
| [[1962–63 AHL season|1962–63]]
| Cleveland Barons
| AHL
| 72
| 38
| 40
| 78
| 179
| 7
| 3
| 3
| 6
| 17
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1963–64 NHL season|1963–64]]
| [[Montreal Canadiens]]
| [[National Hockey League|NHL]]
| 59
| 18
| 27
| 45
| 125
| 7
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 25
|-
| [[1964–65 NHL season|1964–65]]
| Montreal Canadiens
| NHL
| 69
| 17
| 27
| 44
| 156
| 13
| 3
| 1
| 4
| 28
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1965–66 NHL season|1965–66]]
| Montreal Canadiens
| NHL
| 65
| 11
| 14
| 25
| 153
| 10
| 2
| 0
| 2
| 44
|-
| [[1966–67 NHL season|1966–67]]
| Montreal Canadiens
| NHL
| 67
| 20
| 22
| 42
| 177
| 10
| 4
| 2
| 6
| 22
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1967–68 NHL season|1967–68]]
| Montreal Canadiens
| NHL
| 61
| 15
| 18
| 33
| 117
| 13
| 3
| 5
| 8
| 25
|-
| [[1968–69 NHL season|1968–69]]
| Montreal Canadiens
| NHL
| 71
| 29
| 23
| 52
| 185
| 14
| 4
| 3
| 7
| 80
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1969–70 NHL season|1969–70]]
| Montreal Canadiens
| NHL
| 48
| 19
| 13
| 32
| 139
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| [[1970–71 NHL season|1970–71]]
| Montreal Canadiens
| NHL
| 60
| 16
| 14
| 30
| 162
| 18
| 4
| 6
| 10
| 36
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | AHL totals
! 204
! 71
! 82
! 153
! 451
! 13
! 5
! 5
! 10
! 23
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 500
! 145
! 158
! 303
! 1214
! 85
! 20
! 18
! 38
! 260
|}

==Coaching record==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="6"|[[Regular season]] !! colspan="1"|[[Post season]]
|-
! G !! W !! L !! T !! Pts !! Division rank !! Result
|-
![[New York Rangers|NYR]]||[[1975–76 NHL season|1975–76]]
|41||14||22||5||(67)||4th in [[Patrick Division|Patrick]]||Missed Playoffs
|-
!NYR||[[1976–77 NHL season|1976–77]]
|80||29||37||14||72||4th in Patrick||Missed Playoffs
|-
![[Winnipeg Jets (1972–96)|WPG]]||[[1985–86 NHL season|1985–86]]
|14||7||6||1||(59)||3rd in [[Smythe Division|Smythe]]||Lost in First round
|-
! colspan="2"|Total ||135||50||65||20||120
|}

==See also==
*[[Notable families in the NHL]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{icehockeystats|legends=12581}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929090710/http://winnipegsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2007/07/15/4340691-sun.html "Tough exterior, soft heart" (Winnipeg Sun column on the passing of John Ferguson Sr.)]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before= [[Ron Stewart]] | title = [[List of New York Rangers head coaches|Head coach of the New York Rangers]] | years = [[1975–76 NHL season|1976]]–[[1976–77 NHL season|77]]| after = [[Jean-Guy Talbot]]}}
{{succession box | before= [[Emile Francis]] | title = [[List of New York Rangers general managers|General Manager of the New York Rangers]] | years = [[1975–76 NHL season|1976]]–[[1977–78 NHL season|78]]| after = [[Fred Shero]]}}
{{succession box | before = [[Rudy Pilous]] | title = General Manager of the original Winnipeg Jets | years = [[1978–79 WHA season|1978]]–[[1988–89 NHL season|88]] | after = [[Mike Smith (ice hockey b. 1945)|Mike Smith]]}}
{{succession box | before= [[Barry Long (ice hockey)|Barry Long]] | title = Head coach of the original Winnipeg Jets | years = [[1985–86 NHL season|1986]]| after = [[Dan Maloney]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{The NHL Network (1975–79)}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, John Sr.}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian ice hockey left wingers]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Ontario]]
[[Category:Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players]]
[[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in Canada]]
[[Category:Fort Wayne Komets players]]
[[Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States]]
[[Category:Melville Millionaires players]]
[[Category:Montreal Canadiens players]]
[[Category:New York Rangers executives]]
[[Category:New York Rangers coaches]]
[[Category:New York Rangers general managers]]
[[Category:Ottawa Senators executives]]
[[Category:San Jose Sharks personnel]]
[[Category:San Jose Sharks scouts]]
[[Category:Ice hockey people from Vancouver]]
[[Category:Stanley Cup champions]]
[[Category:Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996) coaches]]
[[Category:Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996) executives]]
[[Category:Canadian ice hockey coaches]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen]]

John Ferguson Sr. - Revision history

imported>Jevansen: added :Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen