Byron Dafoe

Byron Jaromir Dafoe (born February 25, 1971) is a British-Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was born in Worthing, England, United Kingdom and moved to Comox, British Columbia with his mother at the age of two months. Between 1992 and 2004, he played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins and Atlanta Thrashers.

Byron Dafoe
Dafoe with the Los Angeles Kings in 1996
Born (1971-02-25) February 25, 1971
Worthing, England, U.K.
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Washington Capitals
Los Angeles Kings
Boston Bruins
Atlanta Thrashers
NHL Draft 35th overall, 1989
Washington Capitals
Playing career 19912004

Junior and Minor Pro Career

Dafoe has played for WHL sides Portland Winter Hawks (1986–1990) and Prince Albert Raiders (1990–1991), ECHL side Hampton Roads Admirals, AHL sides Baltimore Skipjacks (1991–1992 and 1992–1993), New Haven Nighthawks (1992) and Portland Pirates (1993–1994 and 1994–1995), and IHL side Phoenix Roadrunners. He was voted a First Team AHL All-Star in 1993-94 and won a Calder Cup championship that season with the Portland Pirates.

During Dafoe's time with the Winter Hawks, he had an on-ice fistfight with Tri-City Americans goaltender Olaf Kölzig, someone with whom he would go on to have a friendly rivalry in the NHL—so friendly that they served as each other's best man when they got married. He and Kolzig also had a "friendly" fight later in their NHL careers on November 28, 1998, when the Boston Bruins took on the Washington Capitals. During the game, a fight broke out that was so violent and all encompassing, the goalies (Dafoe and Kolzig) also got caught up in it. The fight between the goalies was primarily comedic, with both Dafoe and Kolzig laughing as they landed punches.

Washington Capitals

Dafoe was drafted 35th overall in the second round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals, and made his NHL debut in the 1992–93 NHL season. Dafoe was one of two goalies taken by Washington in that draft, as they used their first round pick to select Olaf Kölzig. After appearing in just one game in 1992-93, Dafoe got into five the next season while veterans Don Beaupre and Rick Tabaracci handled the bulk of the work. In the 1994–95 NHL season Dafoe suited up for four games, in part due to the emergence of another second round pick, 1992 selection Jim Carey, who took the NHL by storm as a rookie. The Capitals had an abundance of riches in goal and packaged Dafoe with winger Dmitri Khristich and traded them to the Los Angeles Kings for a first and fourth round draft pick.

Los Angeles Kings

With the Kings, Dafoe not only became an NHL regular but stepped into the starter's role while the previous incumbent, Kelly Hrudey, became his backup. Dafoe played 47 games but won just 14 with a struggling Kings club and posted the worst goals against and save percentage numbers on the team. The following year, Hrudey was with the San Jose Sharks, and Dafoe shared the crease with Stephane Fiset. The duo posted very similar numbers for the club, but in the offseason, the Kings made Fiset their goaltender going forward and Dafoe was again packaged with Dmitri Khristich, and dealt to the Boston Bruins.

Boston Bruins

With the Bruins, he stepped into the starter's role, pushing aside Jim Carey, who had replaced him back in Washington. Dafoe excelled in Boston, playing 65 games and posting 30 wins with 6 shutouts. The following season, Dafoe helped the Bruins return to the playoffs and win a postseason series. He posted career-best numbers in 1998-99 with a 1.99 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. He finished third in voting for the Vezina Trophy, and was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team, edging out Curtis Joseph in the voting.

Dafoe held out for part of the 1999–2000 season during a contract dispute with Bruins general manager Harry Sinden, and in his return suffered injuries, resulting in a regression from his previous year. He spent three more seasons in Boston, and after playing 41 and 45 games the previous two seasons, in 2002 he played 64 games and won a career-best 35 of them, setting himself up nicely for a new contract. However, when Boston was upset by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2002 post season, and the Bruins let Dafoe become a free agent.

That summer, the free agent pool included a lot of top netminders including Mike Richter, Ed Belfour and Curtis Joseph, and while the aforementioned earned new contracts, Dafoe remained a free agent as the 2002-03 season began. Nearly two months into the season, Dafoe agreed to a one-year deal with a player's option for a second to join the Atlanta Thrashers.

Atlanta Thrashers

Thrashers general manager Don Waddell was thrilled to add Dafoe to his club, saying "He's a proven goaltender. His stats prove he's not only a No. 1 goaltender, but one of the top goaltenders in this elite league of the NHL."[1] That optimism proved to be misplaced as Dafoe struggled mightily in Atlanta, posting just five wins in 17 games, and a bloated 4.36 goals against average. He exercised his player option and returned for the 2003-04 season and while his play improved with the goals against cut down dramatically to 3.14, he was an afterthought for the club playing just 18 games and winning only four.

Dafoe retired from professional hockey following the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

Personal life

Along with fellow NHL players Olaf Kölzig and Scott Mellanby, Dafoe is a founder of Athletes Against Autism, as his son has autism. Dafoe has two sons and resides in Kelowna, British Columbia, running a custom home electrical fit-out business.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1988–89 Portland Winter Hawks WHL 59 29 24 3 3279 291 1 5.32 .861 18 10 8 1091 81 1 4.45
1989–90 Portland Winter Hawks WHL 40 14 21 3 2265 193 0 5.11 .871
1990–91 Portland Winter Hawks WHL 8 1 5 1 414 41 0 5.94 .843
1990–91 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 32 13 12 4 1839 124 0 4.04 .893
1991–92 Hampton Roads Admirals ECHL 10 6 4 0 562 26 0 2.78 .910
1991–92 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 33 12 16 4 1847 119 0 3.86 .885
1991–92 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 7 3 2 1 364 22 0 3.63 .898
1992–93 Washington Capitals NHL 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 1.000
1992–93 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 48 16 20 7 2617 191 1 4.38 .865 5 2 3 241 22 0 5.47 .845
1993–94 Washington Capitals NHL 5 2 2 0 230 13 0 3.39 .871 2 0 2 118 5 0 2.54 .872
1993–94 Portland Pirates AHL 47 24 16 4 2661 148 1 3.34 .891 1 0 0 8 1 0 7.50 .857
1994–95 Washington Capitals NHL 4 1 1 1 187 11 0 3.53 .863 1 0 0 20 1 0 3.00 .667
1994–95 Portland Pirates AHL 6 5 0 0 330 16 0 2.91 .920 7 3 4 417 29 0 4.17 .877
1994–95 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 49 25 16 4 2744 169 2 3.70 .889
1995–96 Los Angeles Kings NHL 47 14 24 8 2666 172 1 3.87 .888
1996–97 Los Angeles Kings NHL 40 13 17 5 2162 112 0 3.11 .905
1997–98 Boston Bruins NHL 65 30 25 9 3693 138 6 2.24 .914 6 2 4 422 14 1 1.99 .912
1998–99 Boston Bruins NHL 68 32 23 11 4001 133 10 1.99 .926 12 6 6 768 26 2 2.03 .921
1999–2000 Boston Bruins NHL 41 13 16 10 2307 114 3 2.96 .889
2000–01 Boston Bruins NHL 45 22 14 7 2536 101 2 2.39 .906
2001–02 Boston Bruins NHL 64 35 26 3 3827 141 4 2.21 .907 6 2 4 358 19 0 3.18 .865
2002–03 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 17 5 11 1 895 65 0 4.36 .862
2003–04 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 18 4 11 1 973 51 0 3.14 .898
NHL totals 415 171 170 56 23478 1051 26 2.68 .904 27 10 16 1686 65 3 2.31 .915

Awards and honours

Award Year
AHL
First All-Star Team 1994
Hap Holmes Memorial Award 1994
Calder Cup (Portland Pirates) 1994
NHL
Second All-Star Team 1999

Acting career

In 1999, Dafoe played himself in an episode of The Jersey called "Ouch"[3] where Morgan Hudson (played by Courtnee Draper) uses a magical jersey as she jumps into his body in order to get some "real" playing time.

See also

References

  1. "Thrashers Welcome Byron Dafoe". CBC.ca.
  2. "Bryon Dafoe: Lord of Automation". pucksandrecreation.com. 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  3. "The Jersey Season 1 Ouch". Retrieved 2018-08-21.
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