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Gord Kluzak

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Gord Kluzak
Born (1964-03-04) March 4, 1964 (age 60)
Climax, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
NHL draft 1st overall, 1982
Boston Bruins
Playing career 1982–1991

Gordon Glen Kluzak (born March 4, 1964) is a Canadian former professional hockey player who played for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1982 to 1991. He was selected first overall by the Bruins in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

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Gord Kluzak was born in Climax, Saskatchewan. He grew up on a wheat farm in Saskatchewan, and attended high school in Wilcox, Saskatchewan at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame.

Kluzak played junior hockey for two seasons with the WHL's Billings Bighorns, where he was paired on defence with future NHLer Bob Rouse. He missed half of the 1981–82 season and entire 1982 playoffs after he tore ligaments in his left knee in a game against the Medicine Hat Tigers on Feb. 9, 1982, which would be the first of many knee problems for Kluzak.

The injury did not hurt his draft placement however, as he was rated as the No. 3 overall prospect and the No. 2 WHL prospect for the 1982 NHL Entry Draft by The Hockey News.

Harry Sinden, the Boston Bruins general manager, was sold on the young defenceman, and made him the 1st overall pick in that year's draft. Sinden passed up on Kitchener Rangers star Brian Bellows, who was the popular choice amongst Bruin fans, and Gary Nylund of the Portland Winter Hawks, who many, including The Hockey News, felt was the better defenceman. Sinden made a deal with the Minnesota North Stars, who had the second pick that year, where he agreed to leave Bellows available as the second overall pick in exchange for Brad Palmer and Dave Donnelly.

Kluzak was out of hockey at the age of 27, felled by knee injuries, after playing in only 299 NHL games. He managed to avoid knee injuries for his first two NHL seasons. However, on Oct. 7, 1984, Kluzak tore ligaments in his left knee when he collided in mid-ice with New Jersey Devils defenceman Dave Lewis. This required major reconstructive surgery and forced Kluzak to miss the entire 1984–85 season and 1985 playoffs. After playing 70 of the 80 games in the 1985–86 season, he re-injured the knee again in September 1986 and missed the 1986–87 season.

Kluzak's best year in the NHL may have been 1987–88, when he was able to play 66 of Boston's 80 games, and all 23 playoff games, as Boston went to the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals.[1] After that, his chronic knee problems resulted in 11 surgeries, over the next three seasons, during which he played in only 13 more games. On November 12, 1990, just days after being able to take the ice for only his second game of the 1990–91 season, Kluzak announced his retirement.

For battling through his injuries, having missed two full seasons yet showing his continued perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey, Kluzak won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his injury shortened 1989–90 season. A number of his fellow 1982 first round draftees went on to long careers in the NHL, including: Bellows (2nd pick, 1,188 NHL games); Nylund (3rd, 608 NHL games); Scott Stevens (5th, 1,635 NHL games), Phil Housley (6th, 1,495 NHL games); and Dave Andreychuk (16th, 1,639 NHL games). This injury-plagued lost potential led to a professional wrestling news site deeming Kluzak an NHL draft bust, in a 2015 opinion piece.[1]

International play

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Gord Kluzak
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1982 Ice hockey

In 1982 Kluzak was chosen to represent Canada at the World Junior Championships. Prior to 1982 Canada had sent the defending Memorial Cup champions to represent the country at the world juniors. Due to the Memorial Cup champion's lack of success, 1982 became the first year that the top players in the country were sent.

Led by Kluzak and Kingston Canadians goaltender Mike Moffat, the Canadians outscored the opposition 45–14, including a 7–0 rout of the Soviet Union, en route to the country's first gold medal at the event.

In perhaps one of the most memorable moments in tournament history, Kluzak and his teammates stood at the blue line and sang the Canadian national anthem. Apparently, the organizers in Rochester, Minnesota had not expected Canada to win and did not have a recording of "O Canada".

Post-retirement

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After being forced to retire prematurely, Kluzak enrolled at Harvard University, graduating in 1994 with a degree in Economics, and spent two years as the Chief of Staff for the state lottery. He then returned to Harvard, earning an MBA in 1998. Since then, he has worked for Goldman Sachs.

Kluzak also worked as a color commentator on Bruins telecasts from 1995–96 through 2003–04. He worked for NESN as a studio analyst from 2005-15.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1980–81 Billings Bighorns WHL 68 4 34 38 160 5 0 1 1 4
1981–82 Billings Bighorns WHL 38 9 24 33 110 — — — — —
1982–83 Boston Bruins NHL 70 1 6 7 105 17 1 4 5 54
1983–84 Boston Bruins NHL 80 10 27 37 135 3 0 0 0 0
1985–86 Boston Bruins NHL 70 8 31 39 155 3 1 1 2 16
1987–88 Boston Bruins NHL 66 6 31 37 135 23 4 8 12 59
1988–89 Boston Bruins NHL 3 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
1989–90 Boston Bruins NHL 8 0 2 2 11 — — — — —
1990–91 Boston Bruins NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
NHL totals 299 25 98 123 543 46 6 13 19 129

International

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Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1982 Canada WJC 7 0 1 1 4

Awards

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  • World Junior Championships: 1982 (gold medal)
  • World Junior Championships Best Defenceman: 1982[2]
  • World Junior Championships All-Star First Team: 1982
  • WHL All-Star Second Team: 1981–82
  • Canadian Amateur Junior Male Athlete of Year: 1982
  • Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: 1989–90

References

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  1. ^ a b Palmer, Ian Stewart (2015-07-26). "Top 20 Worst Players in NHL History". thesportster.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-29. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  2. ^ Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009-10, p.514, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6
[edit]
Preceded by NHL first overall draft pick
1982 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Boston Bruins first round draft pick
1982 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bill Masterton Trophy Winner
1990 		Succeeded by
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