Dave Silk

David Mark Silk (born January 1, 1958) is an American former professional ice hockey player. His professional career, which spanned 13 years, included 249 NHL regular season games with the Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers. Silk is arguably most famous for being a member of the 1980 US Men's hockey team that won the gold medal at the Olympics in Lake Placid. He is the cousin of former NHL and Boston Bruins player Mike Milbury.

Amateur career Silk was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, and raised in Scituate and Cohasset, Massachusetts. He attended Thayer Academy in Braintree, where he scored 85 points in his first season. He then moved to Boston University where he became teammates and lifelong friends with future Miracle on Ice members Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, and Jack O'Callahan. Silk was a dominating force for the Boston University Terriers hockey team, earning all-tournament, athlete of the week, and First- Team-All- New England honors. He won the NCAA Championship in 1978 with Boston University, and was awarded New England Rookie of the Year 1976–1977.

Professional career Drafted 59th overall by the New York Rangers in the 1978 NHL entry draft, Silk signed a contract with the Rangers on March 3, 1980, days after the Olympic gold medal game. He spent the next three seasons as a Ranger, playing mostly at right wing and center. Silk realized a childhood dream when he was traded to the Boston Bruins in 1983. He was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Red Wings the following season. After becoming a free agent in 1985, Silk signed with the Winnipeg Jets, finished his NHL career, and moved on to Germany for the 1986–87 season.

Post-playing career Silk retired from hockey in 1991, returning to his alma mater Boston University where he served as the assistant men's hockey coach while attending BU's graduate school of management. Silk has been inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, United States Olympic Hall of Fame, Boston University Hall of Fame, Sports Illustrated, Sportsman of the Year, Thayer Academy Hall of Fame and also inducted into the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame (NHL + Amateur).

Silk competes in Ironman triathlons.

In popular culture Rick Dano played Silk in the 1981 TV movie Miracle on Ice.

Bobby Hanson played him in the 2004 Disney film Miracle. Hanson played his college hockey at Boston University, where Silk, Jack O'Callahan, and Mike Eruzione had played. After college, Hanson played professional hockey in Europe, before a knee injury ended his career.

Awards and achievements Award Year All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1977, 1978 All-ECAC Hockey Second Team 1977–78

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1975–76 Thayer Academy HS-Prep 25 50 35 85 — — — — — — 1976–77 Boston University ECAC 34 35 30 65 50 — — — — — 1977–78 Boston University ECAC 28 27 31 58 57 — — — — — 1978–79 Boston University ECAC 23 8 12 20 20 — — — — — 1979–80 United States Intl. 56 12 36 48 32 — — — — — 1979–80 New York Rangers NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1979–80 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 11 1 9 10 0 9 1 2 3 12 1980–81 New York Rangers NHL 59 14 12 26 58 — — — — — 1980–81 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 12 0 4 4 34 3 0 0 0 0 1981–82 New York Rangers NHL 64 15 20 35 39 9 2 4 6 4 1982–83 New York Rangers NHL 16 1 1 2 15 — — — — — 1982–83 Tulsa Oilers CHL 40 28 29 57 67 — — — — — 1982–83 Binghamton Whalers AHL 9 1 2 3 29 — — — — — 1983–84 Boston Bruins NHL 35 13 17 30 64 3 0 0 0 7 1983–84 Hershey Bears AHL 15 11 10 21 22 — — — — — 1984–85 Boston Bruins NHL 29 7 5 12 22 — — — — — 1984–85 Detroit Red Wings NHL 12 2 0 2 10 — — — — — 1985–86 Winnipeg Jets NHL 32 2 4 6 63 1 0 0 0 2 1985–86 Sherbrooke Canadiens AHL 18 5 14 19 18 — — — — — 1986–87 Mannheimer ERC 1.GBun 26 13 23 36 52 10 2 8 10 16 1987–88 Mannheimer ERC 1.GBun 29 23 17 40 46 8 5 6 11 12 1988–89 Mannheimer ERC 1.GBun 36 25 30 55 49 9 7 4 11 21 1989–90 Berliner SC Preussen 1.GBun 35 25 34 59 49 5 4 5 9 4 1990–91 Berliner SC Preussen 1.GBun 40 28 23 51 59 10 5 4 9 4 NHL totals 249 54 59 113 271 13 2 4 6 13 1.GBun totals 166 114 127 241 155 42 23 27 50 57

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1980 United States OG 7 2 3 5 0