Dennis Kearns
Encyclopedia
Dennis McAleer Kearns is a retired professional ice hockey
defenceman who spent his entire career with the Vancouver Canucks
of the National Hockey League
.
, Kearns served a four year apprentice in the minor leagues, principally with the Portland Buckaroos
of the Western Hockey League
. Between the 1969 and 1971 seasons, Kearns was a First or Second Team league All-Star all three years.
In the summer of 1971, Chicago - then being deep on defence, behind perennial All-Stars Pat Stapleton and Bill White - exposed Kearns in the Intra-League Draft, and he was claimed by Vancouver, for whom he made his NHL debut that fall. Kearns would play his next ten years in Vancouver, his entire NHL career, becoming a star playmaker with noteworthy skill on offense and the power play despite his small size for a defenceman. His best years were between 1976 and 1978, when having recovered from injuries the previous two years he averaged nearly fifty assists a season, was named to the Canadian national team at the World Championships twice, and was called by The Hockey News the "Denis Potvin
of the West." Unfortunately, his feats on the ice never translated to success in the playoffs; during his career Kearns played in only eleven playoff games, and the Canucks won only three playoff matches in his tenure.
His production declined sharply after the 1979 season, and no longer a frontline defenceman as the team moved younger players into prominence, retired after the 1981 season.
and 1978 World Ice Hockey Championships
.
at the end of the 2009 season
; he remains the franchise leader in assists by a defenceman.
In retirement, he and his family live in Vancouver, where he owns an insurance business and his son, Bracken Kearns
, made his NHL debut with the Florida Panthers
on October 20, 2011 against the Buffalo Sabres
.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
defenceman who spent his entire career with the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
.
Playing career
His rights being held by the Chicago Black HawksChicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
, Kearns served a four year apprentice in the minor leagues, principally with the Portland Buckaroos
Portland Buckaroos
The Portland Buckaroos was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in Portland, Oregon.-PCHL/NWHL era :The first incarnation of Portland Buckaroos played their home games at the Portland Ice Arena. The Buckaroos initially played in the four-team Pacific Coast Hockey League from...
of the Western Hockey League
Western Hockey League (minor pro)
The Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...
. Between the 1969 and 1971 seasons, Kearns was a First or Second Team league All-Star all three years.
In the summer of 1971, Chicago - then being deep on defence, behind perennial All-Stars Pat Stapleton and Bill White - exposed Kearns in the Intra-League Draft, and he was claimed by Vancouver, for whom he made his NHL debut that fall. Kearns would play his next ten years in Vancouver, his entire NHL career, becoming a star playmaker with noteworthy skill on offense and the power play despite his small size for a defenceman. His best years were between 1976 and 1978, when having recovered from injuries the previous two years he averaged nearly fifty assists a season, was named to the Canadian national team at the World Championships twice, and was called by The Hockey News the "Denis Potvin
Denis Potvin
Denis Charles Potvin is a former defenseman and team captain for the New York Islanders in the National Hockey League and cornerstone for the Islanders' four Stanley Cup championship teams in the early 1980s. His brother, Jean Potvin, was also an NHL defenseman and the brothers were teammates for...
of the West." Unfortunately, his feats on the ice never translated to success in the playoffs; during his career Kearns played in only eleven playoff games, and the Canucks won only three playoff matches in his tenure.
His production declined sharply after the 1979 season, and no longer a frontline defenceman as the team moved younger players into prominence, retired after the 1981 season.
International career
Kearns was a member of Team Canada at the 19771977 World Ice Hockey Championships
The 1977 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Vienna, Austria from 21 April to 8 May. Eight teams took part, first playing each other once, then the four best teams advancing to a new round. The tournament was also the 55th ice hockey European Championship...
and 1978 World Ice Hockey Championships
1978 World Ice Hockey Championships
The 1978 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 26 April to 14 May. Eight teams took part, with each team playing each other once in the first round, and then the four best teams meeting in a new round. This was the 45th World Championships, and also the 56th ice...
.
Retirement
Kearns finished his career with 31 goals and 290 assists for 321 points in 677 games, adding 386 penalty minutes. His 55 assists in 1977 remains the franchise record for defencemen. His 321 career points was the all-time mark for Canucks defencemen for over three decades until surpassed by Mattias ÖhlundMattias Öhlund
Mattias Öhlund is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman and an alternate captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League . Prior to joining the Lightning, he played eleven seasons with the Vancouver Canucks...
at the end of the 2009 season
2008–09 NHL season
The 2008–09 NHL season was the 92nd season of operation of the National Hockey League . It was the first season since prior to the 2004–05 lockout in which every team played each other at least once during the season, following three seasons where teams only played against two divisions in the...
; he remains the franchise leader in assists by a defenceman.
In retirement, he and his family live in Vancouver, where he owns an insurance business and his son, Bracken Kearns
Bracken Kearns
Bracken Kearns is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for the Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League...
, made his NHL debut with the Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their games at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise and are the...
on October 20, 2011 against the Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...
.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... |
Team | League | GP | G Goal (ice hockey) In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to... |
A Assist (ice hockey) In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal... |
Pts Point (ice hockey) Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one... |
PIM Penalty (ice hockey) A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,... |
GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1967–68 | Portland Buckaroos Portland Buckaroos The Portland Buckaroos was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in Portland, Oregon.-PCHL/NWHL era :The first incarnation of Portland Buckaroos played their home games at the Portland Ice Arena. The Buckaroos initially played in the four-team Pacific Coast Hockey League from... |
WHL | 68 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 62 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 1968–69 | Portland Buckaroos | WHL | 74 | 2 | 42 | 44 | 81 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 13 | ||
| 1969–70 | Portland Buckaroos | WHL | 72 | 11 | 42 | 53 | 67 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 9 | ||
| 1970–71 | Dallas Black Hawks Dallas Black Hawks The Dallas Black Hawks were a minor-league professional ice hockey team in Dallas, Texas. They were a member of the Central Hockey League and played home games at State Fair Coliseum.... |
CHL | 65 | 8 | 44 | 52 | 65 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 14 | ||
| 1971–72 | Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,... |
NHL National Hockey League The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States... |
73 | 3 | 26 | 29 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 72 | 4 | 33 | 37 | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 52 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974–75 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 49 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1975–76 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 80 | 5 | 46 | 51 | 48 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1976–77 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 80 | 5 | 55 | 60 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 80 | 4 | 43 | 47 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 78 | 3 | 31 | 34 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1979–80 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 67 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1980–81 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 46 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 677 | 31 | 290 | 321 | 386 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||||