Craig Mactavish

At 66 years old, Craig Mactavish has this physical status:

Craig MacTavish (born August 15, 1958) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player.

He last coached Russian team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL .

He played centre for 17 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues, winning the Stanley Cup four times (1987, 1988, 1990, 1994).

MacTavish later coached the Oilers from 2000 to 2009 and also served as assistant coach with the Rangers and Oilers. He is notable as the last NHL player to not wear a helmet during games.

Early life and education

MacTavish was born on August 15, 1958 in London, Ontario.

After retiring as NHL player in 1997, MacTavish was accepted as an MBA student at the University of Alberta. He didn't start the program, following the decision to take a coaching position with the New York Rangers. In 2011, he obtained an EMBA from Queen's School of Business.

Personal life

MacTavish and his wife Debbie have three children; a daughter, Brianna and two sons, Sean and Nathan.

While playing with the Flyers, MacTavish was a resident of Voorhees Township, New Jersey.

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Career

MacTavish played two years of NCAA hockey for the University of Lowell Chiefs (now University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks) from 1977 to 1979. He was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1978 as their ninth pick and 153rd overall, and spent the next several years splitting time between the Bruins and various American Hockey League teams. He made the Bruins a success in 1982-83 and spent two seasons with them.

The young MacTavish, a Boston player, and a group of New York Rangers fans in 1979, during his time with the Bruins.

MacTavish was off the track to 1984-1985 after being found guilty of vehicular homicide after hitting and killing a young woman while under the influence of alcohol. In Peabody, Massachusetts, MacTavish pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol the night of January 25, 1984. Kim Radley, 26, of West Newfield, Maine, died four days later from injuries sustained in the accident. For the offence, MacTavish was sentenced to a year in prison. Though incarcerated, he watched the majority of the games that were televised.

The Oilers took a chance on MacTavish from 1985-1986, seeing him as a personal favour from Edmonton general manager Glen Sather to his closest friend, then-Bruins general manager Harry Sinden (who agreed that MacTavish should get a fresh start away from Boston and told him to break him out of his deal, which MacTavish had declined). Sather's intuition was spot on, as MacTavish spent eight seasons with the Oilers, helping them win three Stanley Cups in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1990, and 1994 as team captain from 1992 to 1994. MacTavish was traded to the New York Rangers in 1994, just in time to help several other former Oilers (including Kevin Lowe, Glenn Anderson, Adam Graves, Jeff Beukeboom, Esa Tikkanen, and Mark Messier) win the Stanley Cup.

MacTavish was a free agent with the Philadelphia Flyers and was traded to the St. Louis Blues in 1995-1996. Following the 1996-97 season, MacTavish retired. He was the first helmetless footballer to have signed a professional deal with the Bruins before the 1979 season came to a conclusion (although MacTavish did wear one in his early days, he was seen wearing one during the infamous match with Rangers fans).

After retiring as an athlete, MacTavish began coaching, signing on as an assistant with the Rangers. In the 1999–2000 season, after two seasons in New York, he rejoined the Oilers as an assistant coach. He was then promoted to the top job after Lowe took over Sather as the general manager.

MacTavish led the Oilers on their quest for the Stanley Cup Finals in 2005–06. MacTavish stunned the hockey world by using a trapping defensive system to neutralize a fast-paced Detroit Red Wings defense. The Oilers were able to deny scoring chances by blocking shots with their bodies, something MacTavish was notorious for during his playing career. This was fruitful; the eighth-seeded Oilers won the first round in six games against the No. The Detroit Red Wings are seeded #1 seed for their first postseason victory since 1997. The Oilers won six games and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in five games, advancing to their first Stanley Cup appearance since 1990's championship season. The Oilers, on the other hand, could not recover from a 3–1 series deficit to announce a Game 7. This was the only season in MacTavish's tenure where the Oilers had won a postseason series, as it would have turned out.

MacTavish was fined $10,000 on November 4, 2006, one day after the Oilers lost to the Dallas Stars due to a apparent blown call in the first five seconds of the third period by referee Mick McGeough, who called the call "retarded." Oilers fans raised over $10,000 and donated it to MacTavish, who later donated the funds to charity in the aftermath of this tragedy.

MacTavish had been relieved of his duties as the club's head coach on April 15, 2009, according to Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini. For the third year in a row, the Oilers had failed to qualify for the playoffs. With 301 victories and second on the Oilers' all-time NBA list behind only Sather, he concluded his time with the Oilers at 36th on the all-time NHL list.

MacTavish coached the Chicago Wolves, the Vancouver Canucks' American Hockey League affiliate. MacTavish, the Canucks' Senior Vice President of Hockey operations, was fired by the Oilers on April 15, 2013.

MacTavish fired head coach Dallas Eakins from his position as head coach of the Oilers on December 15, 2014. MacTavish has been named interim coach with the intention of transitioning minor league coach Todd Nelson into the position of interim head coach in the near future.

He returned to coaching after joining the Russian KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on May 16, 2019. Lokomotiv Yaroslav fired MacTavish after only eight games, according to news on September 24, 2019. He served as head coach of Team Canada in December 2019 and led the team to the Spengler Cup in December. On February 27th, 2020, he took over the head coaching role at Swiss team Lausanne HC.

After the Boston Bruins signed Jim Montgomery as their head coach on July 1st, 2022, it was announced that MacTavish was recruited by the St. Louis Blues as an assistant coach for the 2022-2023 season.

MacTavish made his first appearance in TSN as a hockey commentator on September 21, 2009, despite being unable to be picked up by another team in the coaching staff.

McTavish was welcomed as senior vice president of hockey operations by Edmonton Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini on June 11, 2012.

Steve Tambellini, the general manager of the Oilers, was fired on April 15, 2013 and MacTavish was appointed as the new general manager. Scott Howson, the former Columbus Blue Jackets vice president, has been named MacTavish as the vice president of hockey operations. MacTavish was fired from his role as general manager, and the Oilers named Peter Chiarelli as the next general manager and president of hockey operations after two seasons.

Peter Chiarelli, the current general manager and president of hockey operations, was appointed as the new general manager and president of hockey operations on April 24, 2015. Nicholson did not have information about MacTavish's new position within the Oilers group.

In an interview with TSN's Bob McKenzie on September 12, 2015, MacTavish had been given the title Vice President of Hockey Operations; the bulk of his duties will revolve around the Oilers' new affiliate team, the Bakersfield Condors; however, his main focus will be pro scouting.

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Awards and achievements

• 1979 – Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Division II Men's Ice Hockey Championship
• 1986–87 – Stanley Cup (Edmonton)
• 1987–88 – Stanley Cup (Edmonton)
• 1989–90 – Stanley Cup (Edmonton)
• 1993–94 – Stanley Cup (New York)
• 1995–96 – played in NHL All-Star Game