Don Blackburn

John Donald Blackburn (May 14, 1938 – February 4, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who was a left winger in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars. He also played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the New England Whalers. After retiring in 1976 he became a coach with the Whalers, and remained in that position through 1981, serving as their first coach when they joined the NHL in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers.

Playing career Except for a six-game stint with the Boston Bruins, Blackburn spent the majority of the early portion of his career with various minor league teams. He was a dominant force with the Quebec Aces of the AHL during the mid-1960s, including a 36-goal performance in 1965–66. He was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL expansion draft and was a regular contributor during the first two years of the fledgling team's existence. In the 1968 Stanley Cup playoffs, Blackburn scored three goals for the Flyers, with his goal in Game 6 of the Quarterfinals against the St. Louis Blues being the first playoff overtime goal in Flyers history. In 1969, he was traded to the New York Rangers, but he played sparingly in two years with the team. He was claimed by the New York Islanders in the 1972 expansion draft, but was traded to the Minnesota North Stars late in the season. He finished his career with three seasons with the WHA's Whalers, scoring 59 points in 1973–74.

Coaching career On December 26, 1975, Blackburn became coach of the New England Whalers when Jack Kelley resigned as general manager/coach to the acceptance of general partner Howard Baldwin (Kelley did not leave coaching for long, as he accepted the position at Colby College to begin in June of 1976). Blackburn won seven of his first nine games (which included his first game on the 26th by a score of 4–3 over the Cincinnati Stingers) before hitting a slump that saw him go 14–18–3 before he resigned from his position on March 11 (with just twelve games remaining) which saw him replaced by Harry Neale, who had been coaching the Minnesota Fighting Saints before the team went under. Afterwards, Blackburn served as an assistant coach.

On April 1, 1979, near the end of the 1978-79 WHA season, Blackburn, by then the head scout of the Whalers, was appointed with nine games remaining to replace Bill Dineen as head coach. He went 4-5-0 and led the team as they competed in the 1979 WHA playoffs, where they won the first round matchup against Cincinnati before falling to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. After the end of the season, the team rebranded itself as the "Hartford Whalers" and Blackburn was retained as coach. He led them to a 27–34–19 record in the 1979–80 NHL season. In the playoffs, the Whalers were swept by Montreal in three games. On February 20, 1981, with the Whalers having won just two of their last 25 games with a record of 15–29–16, Blackburn was fired by the Whalers and was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Larry Pleau that director of operations Jack Kelley said was due to "a lack of success and obvious frustration that has been building up within the club".

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1956–57 Hamilton Tiger Cubs OHA 52 9 8 17 17 4 0 2 2 0 1957–58 Hamilton Tiger Cubs OHA 52 15 18 33 37 15 4 3 7 16 1958–69 Vancouver Canucks WHL 50 15 16 31 14 — — — — — 1959–60 Vancouver Canucks WHL 41 8 7 15 8 11 1 1 2 2 1959–60 Providence Reds AHL 16 1 1 2 8 — — — — — 1960–61 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 59 14 31 45 27 5 1 0 1 0 1961–62 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 51 13 24 37 30 11 2 12 14 5 1962–63 Boston Bruins NHL 6 0 5 5 4 — — — — — 1962–63 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 67 42 54 96 22 5 4 4 8 0 1963–64 Quebec Aces AHL 63 19 19 38 39 9 1 1 2 9 1964–65 Quebec Aces AHL 70 20 42 62 34 5 0 2 2 0 1965–66 Quebec Aces AHL 72 36 42 78 51 6 1 4 5 4 1966–67 Rochester Americans AHL 70 20 37 57 24 13 3 3 6 10 1967–68 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 67 9 20 29 23 7 3 0 3 8 1968–69 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 48 7 9 16 36 4 0 0 0 2 1968–69 Baltimore Clippers AHL 12 6 13 19 10 — — — — — 1969–70 New York Rangers NHL 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1969–70 Buffalo Bisons AHL 68 27 44 71 40 13 5 7 12 6 1970–71 Rochester Americans AHL 62 25 44 69 22 — — — — — 1970–71 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1971–72 Providence Reds AHL 76 34 65 99 12 5 1 3 4 2 1972–73 New York Islanders NHL 56 7 10 17 20 — — — — — 1972–73 Minnesota North Stars NHL 4 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 1973–74 New England Whalers WHA 75 20 39 59 18 7 2 4 6 4 1974–75 New England Whalers WHA 50 18 32 50 16 5 1 2 3 2 1974–75 Cape Codders NAHL 2 2 2 4 0 — — — — — 1975–76 New England Whalers WHA 21 2 3 5 6 — — — — — 1975–76 Cape Codders NAHL 8 4 4 8 0 — — — — — WHA totals 146 40 74 114 40 12 3 6 9 6 NHL totals 185 23 44 67 87 12 3 0 3 10

NHL coaching record Team Year Regular season Post season G W L T Pts Finish Result New England Whalers (WHA) 1975–76 35 14 18 3 (31) 3rd in East (interim coach) New England Whalers (WHA) 1978–79 9 4 5 0 (8) 4th in WHA Lost in semi-finals Hartford Whalers (NHL) 1979–80 80 27 34 19 73 4th in Norris Lost in preliminary round Hartford Whalers (NHL) 1980–81 60 15 29 6 (46) 4th in Norris (fired) NHL Total 140426325

Personal life Blackburn died in Sarasota, Florida, on February 4, 2023.