Ken Daneyko

Kenneth Stephen Daneyko (born April 17, 1964) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey defenceman who played his entire career (19832003) with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League, winning three Stanley Cup championships with the team. He has been nicknamed "Mr. Devil" by Devils fans, as he currently holds the franchise record for games played as a Devil with 1,283 games. Daneyko now provides colour analysis alongside Steve Cangialosi during broadcasts of Devils games on MSG Plus.

Ken Daneyko
Daneyko in November 2011
Born (1964-04-17) April 17, 1964
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for New Jersey Devils
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 18th overall, 1982
New Jersey Devils
Playing career 19832003

Early years

Daneyko was born in Windsor, Ontario and grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, where he knew Mark Messier from a young age.[1][2] He is of Ukrainian origin.

Playing career

Daneyko with boxing trainer Teddy Atlas in November 2011

Daneyko was drafted in the first round (18th overall) in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, the second pick of the New Jersey Devils after the franchise relocated from Colorado; when he was drafted the organization had not yet chosen a new team name.[3] He spent several seasons in junior before getting drafted, and played for the Yorkton Terriers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, as well as the Great Falls Americans, Spokane Flyers and Seattle Breakers of the Western Hockey League. He was called up to the Devils for the start of the 1983–84 season, but cracked his fibula during a game against the Hartford Whalers and missed over 40 games.[4][5] After his injury healed, he was assigned to the Kamloops Junior Oilers of the WHL for the remainder of the season.[5]

Upon his arrival in the NHL, Daneyko established himself as a stay-at-home defenceman, and soon won fans over with his gritty and self-sacrificing play. Daneyko was also known for his missing front teeth, lost after he was hit in the mouth by a puck. His gap-toothed smile was well known not only by Devils supporters, but by hockey fans around the world. As a player who had spent all of his NHL career with New Jersey, Daneyko was nicknamed "Mr. Devil". He is also referred to by the nickname "Dano".

Daneyko acquired over 2,200 penalty minutes in his career, finishing a season with over 200 penalty minutes five times. Daneyko was never a high-scoring defenceman, and set a record by playing in 255 consecutive regular-season games without scoring a goal. In his highest-scoring season, 1989–90, he scored six goals and 15 assists en route to a 21-point season. In five seasons he scored no goals at all. He also has the lowest point per game average among all NHL players who played at least 1,000 games with 0.138. However, Daneyko's effectiveness was not measured by how many pucks he put in the net, but by how many pucks he kept out. Daneyko was used primarily as a shadow defenceman, and often got physical in front of the net if a forward parked himself in the crease looking for a rebound.

In the late 1990s, Daneyko struggled with alcoholism while general manager Lou Lamoriello and Devils owner John McMullen stood by him and checked him into rehab.[6] Daneyko recovered and played every game of New Jersey's successful 2000 playoffs, winning the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2000.

Along with Scott Stevens, he was part of a tough Devils defensive core that won the Stanley Cup three times, in 1994–95, 1999–2000 and 2002–03. From the team's first playoff game while in New Jersey, in 1988, Daneyko played in every playoff game until game four of the 2003 quarterfinals. He also was scratched in the first six games of the 2003 finals, but, looking for a spark, coach Pat Burns inserted Daneyko into the lineup for game seven, replacing Oleg Tverdovsky. As a reward to his devotion of the team, and a hint of his impending retirement, Daneyko took the ice for the final shift of the Devils' game seven victory over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, which clinched their third Stanley Cup victory, in 2003.

Daneyko's No. 3 hanging in between Scott Niedermayer's No. 27 and Scott Stevens' No. 4 at the Prudential Center.

The Devils retired his uniform number, 3, on March 24, 2006.[7] He was the second Devil to receive the honour after Scott Stevens had his No. 4 retired on February 3, 2006.

Daneyko currently provides his colour commentary on Devils' broadcasts on MSG Plus. Prior to this, he shared commentary and analysis between periods of Devils' broadcasts and was a regular starring analyst on MSG's "Hockey Night Live!" with host Al Trautwig and fellow commentators Ron Duguay, Dave Maloney, Mike Keenan, and Butch Goring, as well as "The Hockey Maven" Stan Fischler.

In October 2009, Daneyko began competing as a pairs figure skater on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reality show Battle of the Blades.[8]

In 2010, Daneyko portrayed himself in the short film Ice Hockey, written and directed by Larry Cohen. The film also featured Randy Velischek.[9]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1979–80 Yorkton Terriers SJHL 60 2 24 26 102
1979–80 Great Falls Americans WHL 1 0 0 0 0
1980–81 St. Albert Saints AJHL 1 0 0 0 4
1980–81 Spokane Flyers WHL 62 6 13 19 140 4 0 0 0 0
1981–82 St. Albert Saints AJHL 1 0 2 2 2
1981–82 Spokane Flyers WHL 26 1 11 12 147
1981–82 Seattle Breakers WHL 38 1 22 23 151 10 1 9 10 42
1982–83 Seattle Breakers WHL 69 17 43 60 150 4 1 3 4 14
1983–84 Kamloops Junior Oilers WHL 19 6 28 34 52 17 4 9 13 28
1983–84 New Jersey Devils NHL 11 1 4 5 17
1983–84 Kamloops Junior Oilers MC 4 2 2 4 10
1984–85 Maine Mariners AHL 80 4 9 13 206 11 1 3 4 36
1984–85 New Jersey Devils NHL 1 0 0 0 10
1985–86 Maine Mariners AHL 21 3 2 5 75
1985–86 New Jersey Devils NHL 44 0 10 10 100
1986–87 New Jersey Devils NHL 79 2 12 14 183
1987–88 New Jersey Devils NHL 80 5 7 12 239 20 1 6 7 83
1988–89 New Jersey Devils NHL 80 5 5 10 283
1989–90 New Jersey Devils NHL 74 6 15 21 216 6 2 0 2 21
1990–91 New Jersey Devils NHL 80 4 16 20 249 7 0 1 1 10
1991–92 New Jersey Devils NHL 80 1 7 8 170 7 0 3 3 16
1992–93 New Jersey Devils NHL 84 2 11 13 236 5 0 0 0 8
1993–94 New Jersey Devils NHL 78 1 9 10 176 20 0 1 1 45
1994–95 New Jersey Devils NHL 25 1 2 3 54 20 1 0 1 22
1995–96 New Jersey Devils NHL 80 2 4 6 115
1996–97 New Jersey Devils NHL 77 2 7 9 70 10 0 0 0 28
1997–98 New Jersey Devils NHL 37 0 1 1 57 6 0 1 1 10
1998–99 New Jersey Devils NHL 82 2 9 11 63 7 0 0 0 8
1999–2000 New Jersey Devils NHL 78 0 6 6 98 23 1 2 3 14
2000–01 New Jersey Devils NHL 77 0 4 4 87 25 0 3 3 21
2001–02 New Jersey Devils NHL 67 0 6 6 60 6 0 0 0 8
2002–03 New Jersey Devils NHL 69 2 7 9 33 13 0 0 0 2
NHL totals 1283 36 142 178 2516 175 5 17 22 296

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1986 Canada WC 7 0 0 0 0
1989 Canada WC 8 0 0 0 4
Senior totals 15 0 0 0 4

Personal life

Daneyko was a resident of North Caldwell, New Jersey.[10] He currently lives with his second wife Margaret. Daneyko was previously married to JonnaLyn Robinson from 1992 to 2006. The couple had a daughter and a son.[11]

See also

References

  1. Malinowski, Mark (April 11, 2010). "Ken Daneyko". The Hockey News. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  2. Klein, Jeff. "Remembering 1994: Q. and A. With Ken Daneyko". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  3. Mifflin, Laurie (1982-06-10). "New Jersey Trades Ramage and Chooses a Trottier in Draft". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-07.(subscription required)
  4. "Devils Suffer 9th Loss In Row". The New York Times. Associated Press. 1983-11-03. Retrieved 2010-04-07.(subscription required)
  5. "3 Islanders To Return". The New York Times. 1984-02-07. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  6. "Devils print edition stories from the Star-Ledger | New Jersey Devils - - New Jersey Devils Hockey | NHL News". NJ.com. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
  7. Announcement at newjerseydevils.com Archived 2006-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
  8. https://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Inside-Battle-of-the-Blades-Season-2-why-ex-N?urn=nhl-270011
  9. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1774414/
  10. Bautista, Justo. "DEVILS STAR ARRAIGNED ON SEX-CONTACT CHARGE", The Record (Bergen County), January 19, 1995. Accessed November 19, 2007. "The burly North Caldwell resident was released on his own recognizance pending a pretrial hearing in Superior Court in Paterson next Wednesday, a police source said. "
  11. "Ken Daneyko". MSG.com. 2010-10-08. Archived from the original on 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
Preceded by
Rocky Trottier
New Jersey Devils first round draft pick
1982
Succeeded by
John MacLean
Preceded by
John Cullen
Bill Masterton Trophy
2000
Succeeded by
Adam Graves
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