Defencemen that played forward? (who, when and how much, and some Coffey)

[doakacola*]

Pre 1967 expansion there were swingmen who could play a couple of forward positions and defense. They were valuable because they took up one roster spot but in case of injury could fill multiple roles. Are you interested in such players?



What about forwards that played defense at times?

Bobby Orr played a handful of games up front in his rookie year in 1966-67.

 

[Hoser]

Rick Hampton - California Golden Seals/Cleveland Barons/LA Kings

He was never known as an enforcer but there's a video on Youtube of him going toe-to-toe with Terry O'Reilly in the Garden and he gets his share of shots in.

I didn't even think of Hampton, but another Golden Seal jumped to mind immediately: Carol Vadnais.

In the Seals' early years it wasn't all that uncommon for defenceman to be forced into playing a forward position, probably because the Seals were so thin on talent up front. Gerry Odrowski and Tom Thurlby were nominally defencemen but both played on the wings in the NHL.

Coincidentally they were two of a handful of players that made the transition with the team from the WHL to the NHL.

 

[plusandminus]

I've just made the following list (1960-2011), based on hockeydb, with some coding (Pos not being just "D","C","L","G","R" and "D" occuring in Pos):

Seas |Seas2 |Team |Pos |NameFirst | NameLast |GP |G |A |Pts | +/- |PIM
1961 |1962 |TOR |C/D |Red | Kelly |58 |22 |27 |49 | 0 |6
1981 |1982 |BUF |D/R |Lindy | Ruff |79 |16 |32 |48 | 1 |194
1961 |1962 |BOS |D/R |Doug | Mohns |69 |16 |29 |45 | 0 |74
1970 |1971 |STL |D/R |Jimmy | Roberts |72 |13 |18 |31 | 7 |77
1969 |1970 |STL |D/R |Jimmy | Roberts |76 |13 |17 |30 | 18 |51
1962 |1963 |BOS |D/L |Doug | Mohns |68 |7 |23 |30 | 0 |63
1963 |1964 |BOS |D/L |Doug | Mohns |70 |9 |17 |26 | 0 |95
1983 |1984 |TOR |D/L |Jim | Korn |65 |12 |14 |26 | -33 |257
1973 |1974 |MTL |D/R |Jimmy | Roberts |67 |8 |16 |24 | 27 |39
1975 |1976 |TOR |D/L |Bob | Neely |69 |9 |13 |22 | -15 |89
1962 |1963 |BOS |D/L |Irv | Spencer |69 |5 |17 |22 | 0 |34
1974 |1975 |MTL |D/R |Jimmy | Roberts |79 |5 |13 |18 | 18 |52
1961 |1962 |CHI |W/D |Reggie | Fleming |70 |7 |9 |16 | 0 |71
1962 |1963 |CHI |W/D |Reggie | Fleming |64 |7 |7 |14 | 0 |99
1998 |1999 |DET |R/D |Mathieu | Dandenault |75 |4 |10 |14 | 17 |59
2000 |2001 |COL |L/D |Eric | Messier |64 |5 |7 |12 | -3 |26
1960 |1961 |CHI |W/D |Reggie | Fleming |66 |4 |4 |8 | 0 |145
1960 |1961 |DET |R/D |Howie | Young |29 |0 |8 |8 | 0 |108
1961 |1962 |DET |D/R |Leo | Labine |48 |3 |4 |7 | 0 |30
1961 |1962 |DET |R/D |Howie | Young |30 |0 |2 |2 | 0 |67
1962 |1963 |TOR |D/L |Norm | Armstrong |7 |1 |1 |2 | 0 |2
1962 |1963 |TOR |L/D |Rod | Seiling |1 |0 |1 |1 | 0 |0
1962 |1963 |TOR |D/R |Jim | Mikol |4 |0 |1 |1 | 0 |2
1961 |1962 |MTL |L/D |Chuck | Hamilton |1 |0 |0 |0 | 0 |0

Any comments?

 

[tjcurrie]

... Wasn't Mark Howe a forward before he was a defenseman? Playing on a line with his dad and brother in the old WHA?

And, as I recall, he played some forward for Detroit and for Philadelphia.

Yes. He actually never played a game of defense until the bigs, either the WHA or NHL. I'm pretty sure that's the case anyways.

Darryl Sydor has been called upon to play forward at times though his career. I remember watching him as a winger a few times with the Stars. Did quite well too.

 

[Fourier]

(On how much Paul Coffey played forward.)



Are you sure? I've heard it several times, both in the 80s and later on, that he used to play as a forward. And it was said he did it during at least a fairly long period (or periods, and I'm not meaning hockey periods).

I was an Oiler STH for all of Coffey's years in Edmonton, and I saw every home game he played for them, al but two or three live. I also saw many of the Oiler away games and listened to almost all of the others. I have no memory of Coffey ever playing forward, especially not with Gretzky.

I just don't think it happened, but if it did we might be talking a couple of shifts at the very most.

 

[GJB]

Dustin Byfuglien and Jason Strudwick

 

[Axxellien]

..Doug Mohns..Eddie Westfall...

 

[doakacola*]

..Doug Mohns..Eddie Westfall...

Jay Miller & Jeff Lazaro........

 

[plusandminus]

I've just made the following list (1960-2011), based on hockeydb, with some coding (Pos not being just "D","C","L","G","R" and "D" occuring in Pos):

Seas |Seas2 |Team |Pos |NameFirst | NameLast |GP |G |A |Pts | +/- |PIM
1961 |1962 |TOR |C/D |Red | Kelly |58 |22 |27 |49 | 0 |6
1981 |1982 |BUF |D/R |Lindy | Ruff |79 |16 |32 |48 | 1 |194
1961 |1962 |BOS |D/R |Doug | Mohns |69 |16 |29 |45 | 0 |74
1970 |1971 |STL |D/R |Jimmy | Roberts |72 |13 |18 |31 | 7 |77
1969 |1970 |STL |D/R |Jimmy | Roberts |76 |13 |17 |30 | 18 |51
1962 |1963 |BOS |D/L |Doug | Mohns |68 |7 |23 |30 | 0 |63
1963 |1964 |BOS |D/L |Doug | Mohns |70 |9 |17 |26 | 0 |95
1983 |1984 |TOR |D/L |Jim | Korn |65 |12 |14 |26 | -33 |257
1973 |1974 |MTL |D/R |Jimmy | Roberts |67 |8 |16 |24 | 27 |39
1975 |1976 |TOR |D/L |Bob | Neely |69 |9 |13 |22 | -15 |89
1962 |1963 |BOS |D/L |Irv | Spencer |69 |5 |17 |22 | 0 |34
1974 |1975 |MTL |D/R |Jimmy | Roberts |79 |5 |13 |18 | 18 |52
1961 |1962 |CHI |W/D |Reggie | Fleming |70 |7 |9 |16 | 0 |71
1962 |1963 |CHI |W/D |Reggie | Fleming |64 |7 |7 |14 | 0 |99
1998 |1999 |DET |R/D |Mathieu | Dandenault |75 |4 |10 |14 | 17 |59
2000 |2001 |COL |L/D |Eric | Messier |64 |5 |7 |12 | -3 |26
1960 |1961 |CHI |W/D |Reggie | Fleming |66 |4 |4 |8 | 0 |145
1960 |1961 |DET |R/D |Howie | Young |29 |0 |8 |8 | 0 |108
1961 |1962 |DET |D/R |Leo | Labine |48 |3 |4 |7 | 0 |30
1961 |1962 |DET |R/D |Howie | Young |30 |0 |2 |2 | 0 |67
1962 |1963 |TOR |D/L |Norm | Armstrong |7 |1 |1 |2 | 0 |2
1962 |1963 |TOR |L/D |Rod | Seiling |1 |0 |1 |1 | 0 |0
1962 |1963 |TOR |D/R |Jim | Mikol |4 |0 |1 |1 | 0 |2
1961 |1962 |MTL |L/D |Chuck | Hamilton |1 |0 |0 |0 | 0 |0

Any comments?

Anyone like to comment upon how much these guys played as D compared to F?

It is good to know when analyzing for example points production by defencemen compared to forwards.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Wade Belak was a jack of all trades.

 

[member 83027]

All one time St Louis Blues

Larry Sacharuk
Bob Hess
Dwight Schofield

Dave Christian played defense on the 1980 US Olympic team but don't think he ever played it in the NHL.

 

[overpass]

Discussion about Tim Horton and other defencemen playing forward.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

Wade Belak was a jack of all trades.

and master of none

 

[Bjorn Le]

Paul Reinhart (Flames 80s) played forward in junior but not sure if he did at the NHL level. It's possible I guess.

 

[Rices]

Sami kapanen played D a bit I believe.

 

[JSmith81x]

Dit Clapper - RD/RW (1930s and 40s)

Nathan Dempsey - RD/RW
John Scott - LD/RD/LW
Rob Zettler - LD/LW

Jordan Hendry played a few games at LW/RW this past season.

 

[quoipourquoi]

Anyone like to comment upon how much these guys played as D compared to F?

If I recall, Eric Messier switched to play wing full-time because the Avalanche had too much depth on their blue line and needed some talented defensive forwards. In 2001, he played with Podein and Yelle at even strength on the third line, and with Yelle on the first penalty kill. Great shot blocker. The penalty kill may have been the exhaust port on Colorado's Death Star, but Messier was the best forward on that penalty kill.


EDIT: Oh, and count me among Paul Coffey's fans. Isolate his 15-year prime (1982-1996), and he's second in points only to Gretzky. If we end up doing another HOH 100, you can all look forward to arguing with me about his placement next to Red Kelly.

 

[SealsFan]

I remember Seals defenseman Marshall Johnston scoring a hat trick in 72-73 and being quite amazed, but I was just re-reading "Shorthanded- The Story of the Seals" and I find out that he was moved up to wing for that game, which they lost anyway, 8-4 to Boston.

 

[DaveG]

Wasn't Bret Hedican drafted as a forward? I know Scott Walker went the other way where he was drafted as a dman becoming a forward later.

 

[NikolaiCakebreaker]

Orpik played a game on LW a few years ago

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...-as-left-winger-to-be-different-weird-378405/

 

[whatname]

I believe when Wendel Clark was drafted first overall, he was drafted as a defenceman, and then switched to forward. He switched to forward for his NHL career. So to be first overall as a defenceman, he must have had some defensive abilities.

 

[LeBlondeDemon10]

Savard and Lapointe would play forward on the Montreal pp in the late 70's mainly to get a big body in front of the goalie. Lafleur would usually take the right point position. You can see some of this in the 1979 CF's. I don't know for sure if they did this against any other team other than Boston.

 

[blogofmike]

Obscure, but Bob Manno was an all-star d-man in Toronto and I believe he was one of Yzerman's first linemates.

And as for Coffey, people say he played LIKE a 4th forward, but he never actually lined up at wing. Gretzky played with him on the point for power plays though.

 

[BubbaBoot]

Mike Mottau played some wing on the Bruins 4th line late this season when Paille got hurt. Bruins called up Lane McDermid later.

Carol Vadnais played some forward with the Seals in 69/70 when he scored 24 goals. I thought he was the first defenseman to score 20+ and get 200+ PIMs in a season until an old Seals fan informed me otherwise.

Other Bruins listed:
as C/D
Art Chisolm
Jack Pratt
Milt Schmidt
Phil Stevens

as D/C
Martin Lauder

as D/LW
Reggie Fleming
Ross Lowe

as D/RW
Bill Hutton
Norm Shay
Eddie Westfall

as LW/D
Hap Emms
Percy Galbraith
Frank Jerwa
Bert McInenly
Doud Mohns
George Redding (also played goal for 10 mins in a game in 1925)
Babe Siebert

as RW/D
Dit Clapper
Roger Jenkins
Ed Jeremiah
Bobby Rowe
Archie Wilcox

Forward Jerry Toppazzini played 1 minute as a GK for the Bruins in 1961

 

[seventieslord]

I believe when Wendel Clark was drafted first overall, he was drafted as a defenceman, and then switched to forward. He switched to forward for his NHL career. So to be first overall as a defenceman, he must have had some defensive abilities.

maybe as a defenseman he did, but as a forward he sure didn't. And he was my favourite player growing up.