Grant Blair

Grant Blair (born August 15, 1964) is a Canadian retired ice hockey goaltender who was an All-American for Harvard. Blair allowed less than 2 goals per game in Harvard's first conference championship in twelve years and the team returned to the NCAA Tournament. The top-seeded Crimson squeaked by Michigan State in the quarterfinals and then downed Minnesota to make their first ever appearance in the NCAA Championship Game. While Harvard was soundly defeated by Wisconsin, Blair had performed so well during the season that he was selected by the Calgary Flames in the 1983 NHL entry draft.

Graduations took their toll on Harvard the following season and, though they won their division, the team finished below .500 with paltry offense. Blair's numbers were only slightly worse, however, and he led Harvard to having the #2 defense in the conference. After Blair's sophomore season, several teams from ECAC Hockey left to form a new conference, Hockey East. That, compiled with the team's offense recovering, enabled the Crimson to finish second in their conference in 1985. Blair's heroics helped the team finish with one of the top defenses in the country and was 4th in the nation with a 2.89 goals against average. While Harvard made the NCAA tournament once more, they lost both of their quarterfinal games.

As a senior, Blair was even better for Harvard. He set numerous career records for the program as well as several single-season highs. Most have since been surpassed but his name still appears all of Harvard's record book. Blair led the team to a first-place finish, their first since 1975, and though the team was upset in the conference semifinal, they did receive an at-large bid to the 1986 NCAA Tournament. Harvard and Blair were dominant through their first three games, charging into their second NCAA title game with their eye on the crown. The game began well for Harvard and the Crimson had a lead after each of the first two periods, but Michigan State would not go away and the Spartans' powerful offense began wearing down the Crimson D. MSU scored three goals in the third, the last with under 3 minutes to play, and Harvard could not finish the equalizer before time ran out. Despite being named an All-American, Blair could not lift Harvard to an elusive championship and left the program as the all-time winningest goaltender, a position he still holds as of 2021.

After graduating, Blair played two seasons of professional hockey in the IHL before hanging up his pads in 1988.

Statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1980–81 Burlington Cougars CJBHL — — — — 1367 78 0 3.42 — — — — — — — — — 1981–82 Guelph Platers OJHL 20 — — — 1601 85 1 3.18 .826 — — — — — — — — 1982–83 Harvard ECAC Hockey 26 19 7 0 1575 72 3 2.74 .904 — — — — — — — — 1983–84 Harvard ECAC Hockey 23 10 11 2 1391 71 2 3.06 .910 — — — — — — — — 1984–85 Harvard ECAC Hockey 31 19 9 2 1785 86 1 2.89 .901 — — — — — — — — 1985–86 Harvard ECAC Hockey 31 24 6 1 1812 82 3 2.72 .896 — — — — — — — — 1986–87 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 25 7 15 0 1431 108 0 4.53 .858 1 — — — — — — — 1987–88 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 2 1 1 0 120 11 0 5.50 — — — — — — — — — 1987–88 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 19 10 6 0 813 51 0 3.76 .877 3 — — — — — — — NCAA totals 111 72 33 5 6563 311 9 2.84 .905 — — — — — — — — IHL totals 46 18 22 0 2364 170 0 4.31 — 4 — — — — — — —

Awards and honors Award Year All-ECAC Hockey Second Team 1984–85 AHCA East Second-Team All-American 1985–86