Geoff Courtnall

Geoffrey Lawton Courtnall (born August 18, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1983 to 2000. He was the head coach of the Victoria Grizzlies of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) and for the Victoria Vikes of the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL).

Playing career

Geoff Courtnall was signed by the Boston Bruins of the NHL as an undrafted free agent on July 6, 1983. He played for the Bruins from the 1983–84 season to March 8, 1988, when he was traded, along with Bill Ranford, to the Edmonton Oilers for Andy Moog. While in Edmonton, he helped the Oilers win the Stanley Cup in 1988, after facing his old team the Bruins in the finals. About four months later, the Oilers traded Courtnall to the Washington Capitals for Greg Adams. After two seasons in Washington, Courtnall requested a trade, which was granted in the 1990 off-season when he was sent to the St. Louis Blues for Mike Lalor and Peter Zezel.

After less than a season in St. Louis and at the trade deadline, Courtnall, along with Robert Dirk, Sergio Momesso, Cliff Ronning, and future considerations, was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Garth Butcher and Dan Quinn. This trade marked a major turning point for the Canucks as these players were among the core that would lead the Canucks on their run to the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. Courtnall then played one more season in Vancouver after the Cup run of 1994 and went back to St. Louis for the start of the 1995–96 season. Courtnall, in his second tenure with the Blues, scored almost 80 goals over five seasons, but only played 30 games over his final two seasons as the result of several concussions, but reached the 1,000 game mark during the 1997–98 season, in which he scored 31 goals in his last full season. After sitting out the last half of the 1998–99 season with a concussion he returned to the lineup the next season. A few games into the 1999–2000 season, he suffered another concussion, which forced his retirement as a result of post-concussion syndrome.

Personal life Courtnall was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and raised in Duncan, British Columbia. His father, Archie, had played professional hockey, and worked in the forestry industry on Vancouver Island. He is the brother of another former NHL player, Russ Courtnall. Geoff's son, Justin, was drafted 210th overall in the 2007 NHL entry draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

After retiring Courtnall moved back to Victoria, though later moved to Vancouver. He estimated that during his playing career he had at least 20 concussions, and it had an effect on his post-playing career. He began to drink heavily, reaching a point where his former teammate Cam Neely discussed Courtnall's drinking while at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. This led Courtnall to quit drinking; to take his mind off that, Courtnall would run. He also invested in a gold mining venture in Peru, as well as commercial real estate and construction. Along with his brother, Russ, Courtnall established the Archie Courtnall Centre for emergency psychiatric care at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. The court case fell apart, though a spokesperson for the Metropolitan police at the timewith no supporting evidence available for use at trialstated that the police "have sufficient grounds to believe that a criminal offense did occur."

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1980–81 Cowichan Valley Capitals BCJHL 44 20 56 76 56 — — — — — 1980–81 Victoria Cougars WHL 11 3 5 8 6 15 2 1 3 7 1981–82 Victoria Cougars WHL 72 35 57 92 100 4 1 0 1 2 1982–83 Victoria Cougars WHL 71 41 73 114 186 12 6 7 13 42 1983–84 Boston Bruins NHL 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1983–84 Hershey Bears AHL 74 14 12 26 51 — — — — — 1984–85 Hershey Bears AHL 9 8 4 12 4 — — — — — 1984–85 Boston Bruins NHL 64 12 16 28 82 5 0 2 2 7 1985–86 Boston Bruins NHL 64 21 16 37 61 3 0 0 0 2 1985–86 Moncton Golden Flames AHL 12 8 8 16 6 — — — — — 1986–87 Boston Bruins NHL 65 13 23 36 117 1 0 0 0 0 1987–88 Boston Bruins NHL 62 32 26 58 108 — — — — — 1987–88 Edmonton Oilers NHL 12 4 4 8 15 19 0 3 3 23 1988–89 Washington Capitals NHL 79 42 38 80 112 6 2 5 7 12 1989–90 Washington Capitals NHL 80 35 39 74 104 15 4 9 13 32 1990–91 St. Louis Blues NHL 66 27 30 57 56 — — — — — 1990–91 Vancouver Canucks NHL 11 6 2 8 8 6 3 5 8 4 1991–92 Vancouver Canucks NHL 70 23 34 57 116 12 6 8 14 20 1992–93 Vancouver Canucks NHL 84 31 46 77 167 12 4 10 14 12 1993–94 Vancouver Canucks NHL 82 26 44 70 123 24 9 10 19 51 1994–95 Vancouver Canucks NHL 45 16 18 34 81 11 4 2 6 34 1995–96 St. Louis Blues NHL 69 24 16 40 101 13 0 3 3 14 1996–97 St. Louis Blues NHL 82 17 40 57 86 6 3 1 4 23 1997–98 St. Louis Blues NHL 79 31 31 62 94 10 2 8 10 18 1998–99 St. Louis Blues NHL 24 5 7 12 28 13 2 4 6 10 1999–00 St. Louis Blues NHL 6 2 2 4 6 — — — — — NHL totals 1,048 367 432 799 1,465 156 39 70 109 262

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1991 Canada WC 10 5 1 6 16 Senior totals 10 5 1 6 16

Awards and achievements Stanley Cup champion – 1988