John Brophy (ice hockey)
Encyclopedia
John Brophy is a Canadian ice hockey
coach and former hockey player who has spent most of his career in minor professional leagues, including 18 years as a player in the Eastern Hockey League
and 13 seasons as a coach in the East Coast Hockey League. From 1986 to 1988 the native of Antigonish was head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs
of the National Hockey League
.
, racking up nearly 4,000 career penalty minutes between 1955 and 1973—the most in EHL history—playing parts of nine seasons with the Long Island Ducks
and retiring at the age of 40. He was reported to be the model for the character Reggie Dunlop (played by Paul Newman
) in the movie Slap Shot
.
On August 5, 1967, Brophy was involved in a car crash. He survived but his passenger, Dorothea Schiavone, was killed.
He had a part as a referee in a Schaeffer Beer commercial which aired for about five years on various New York television stations.
for four seasons until the team folded during the 1977–78 season. He then joined the Birmingham Bulls
of the World Hockey Association
as assistant to coach Glen Sonmor
, becoming head coach in 1978–79 when Sonmor joined the Minnesota North Stars
. His team finished last in the league, but included several future NHL stars at the beginning of their professional careers: Rick Vaive
, Michel Goulet
, Rob Ramage
, Craig Hartsburg
, and Gaston Gingras
, as well as a 36-year-old Paul Henderson
. Even though his team was the only one in the league not to make the playoffs, Brophy was awarded the Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy
as the WHA's coach of the year.
After the collapse of the WHA, Birmingham moved to the Central Hockey League and Brophy coached the team for another two seasons. In 1981, Brophy was hired by the Montreal Canadiens
to return home and coach their AHL affiliate, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs
. He held the job for three seasons.
organization, first as an assistant coach with the Leafs, then briefly as head coach of the Leafs' AHL team, the St. Catharines Saints
, and then as head coach of the Leafs for the 1986–87 season. The Leafs showed some promise during Brophy's first season as coach, despite finishing the year with a losing record, but it all went downhill from there with an embarrassing season in 1987–88. Brophy feuded with general manager Gerry McNamara
, who tried to have Brophy fired but ended up being fired himself. After an equally poor start to the 1988–89 season, and despite being a favourite of Leafs owner Harold Ballard
, Brophy was fired in December 1988, 33 games into the season.
with the Hampton Roads Admirals
of the East Coast Hockey League. He coached the team for 11 seasons, from 1989 to 2000, winning the league championship
in 1991, 1992, and 1998. The Admirals did not have a losing season with Brophy behind the bench.
After a game in January 1999, a fight broke out on the ice, and fans were throwing batteries. Brophy was accused of assaulting two security guards, but the guards said they were trying to keep him away from the Roanoke fans. In the end, Brophy pleaded guilty, was fined $1,000, and suspended for six games.
On June 25, 2000, Brophy was badly injured in a car accident near New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
. He was listed in critical condition with a broken leg and a head injury. Brophy had fallen asleep at the wheel while driving.
After a successful recuperation, Brophy returned to the ECHL in 2001 as coach of the Wheeling Nailers
for two seasons and retired. The ECHL's coach of the year award was renamed the John Brophy Award
in 2003. As of 2006, Brophy is the all-time leader among ECHL coaches in regular season wins (480), playoff games (94) and playoff wins (55) and was inducted into the ECHL Hall Of Fame in 2009.
. For 2006–07, at age 73, he went back to Virginia
as head coach of the Richmond Renegades
of the Southern Professional Hockey League
.
As a professional hockey coach, Brophy has accumulated 1,027 victories, the second highest amount in all of professional hockey, behind only Scotty Bowman
.
After one season with the Richmond Renegades
, it was announced that Brophy would be released from his contract. His replacement in Richmond was former team captain Brian Goudie.
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...
coach and former hockey player who has spent most of his career in minor professional leagues, including 18 years as a player in the Eastern Hockey League
Eastern Hockey League
-Eastern Amateur Hockey League :The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League . The league was founded by Thomas Lockhart, who served as its commissioner from 1933 to 1972...
and 13 seasons as a coach in the East Coast Hockey League. From 1986 to 1988 the native of Antigonish was head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
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
Brophy was a tough defenceman who played 18 seasons in the Eastern Hockey LeagueEastern Hockey League
-Eastern Amateur Hockey League :The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League . The league was founded by Thomas Lockhart, who served as its commissioner from 1933 to 1972...
, racking up nearly 4,000 career penalty minutes between 1955 and 1973—the most in EHL history—playing parts of nine seasons with the Long Island Ducks
Long Island Ducks (ice hockey)
The Long Island Ducks were a minor league hockey team in the Eastern Hockey League owned by Al and Renee Baron that played their home games at the Long Island Arena...
and retiring at the age of 40. He was reported to be the model for the character Reggie Dunlop (played by Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
) in the movie Slap Shot
Slap Shot (film)
Slap Shot is a 1977 film comedy starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean directed by George Roy Hill. It depicts a minor league hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity in a declining factory town.- Plot :...
.
On August 5, 1967, Brophy was involved in a car crash. He survived but his passenger, Dorothea Schiavone, was killed.
He had a part as a referee in a Schaeffer Beer commercial which aired for about five years on various New York television stations.
Early coaching career
Brophy had briefly been player-coach with the Ducks in the 1968–69 season, and became a full-time coach following his retirement as a player. He coached the Hampton GullsHampton Gulls
The Hampton Gulls were a professional ice hockey team based in Hampton, Virginia and were a farm team for the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA. The Gulls were a member of the Southern Hockey League for three seasons from 1974–75 to 1976–77, and the American Hockey League for one season in 1977–78...
for four seasons until the team folded during the 1977–78 season. He then joined the Birmingham Bulls
Birmingham Bulls
The Birmingham Bulls were a professional ice hockey team based in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1976 to 1979 and the Central Hockey League from 1979 to 1981. The Bulls played their home games at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center.Prior to being...
of the World Hockey Association
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
as assistant to coach Glen Sonmor
Glen Sonmor
Glen Sonmor is a former professional hockey player, scout and coach.-Early life:In high school, Sonmor played for Moose Jaw and was a multi-sport star; playing point guard in basketball, quarterback in football and left wing in hockey, as well as pitching in semi-pro baseball...
, becoming head coach in 1978–79 when Sonmor joined the Minnesota North Stars
Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...
. His team finished last in the league, but included several future NHL stars at the beginning of their professional careers: Rick Vaive
Rick Vaive
Richard Claude Vaive is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League from 1979 to 1992, and is best remembered as the first 50 goal scorer in Toronto Maple Leafs franchise history.-Bio:...
, Michel Goulet
Michel Goulet
This page is about the ice hockey player. For the sculptor, please see Michel Goulet .Michel Goulet is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Birmingham Bulls in the World Hockey Association and the Quebec Nordiques and Chicago Blackhawks in the National Hockey League...
, Rob Ramage
Rob Ramage
George Robert Ramage is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota North Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers...
, Craig Hartsburg
Craig Hartsburg
Craig William Hartsburg is a retired Canadian professional hockey player and associate coach in the National Hockey League for the Calgary Flames. He also coached in the Ontario Hockey League. He has previously been an NHL head coach with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and...
, and Gaston Gingras
Gaston Gingras
Gaston Reginald Gingras is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League....
, as well as a 36-year-old Paul Henderson
Paul Henderson
Paul Henderson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames...
. Even though his team was the only one in the league not to make the playoffs, Brophy was awarded the Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy
Howard Baldwin Trophy
The Howard Baldwin Trophy was presented annually to the World Hockey Association's coach of the year.It was named in honour of New England Whalers co-founder Howard Baldwin...
as the WHA's coach of the year.
After the collapse of the WHA, Birmingham moved to the Central Hockey League and Brophy coached the team for another two seasons. In 1981, Brophy was hired by the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
to return home and coach their AHL affiliate, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs
Nova Scotia Voyageurs
The Nova Scotia Voyageurs were a professional ice hockey team, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They played in the American Hockey League, from 1971 to 1984. The Voyageurs played their first two seasons , as the Montreal Voyageurs....
. He held the job for three seasons.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Brophy then joined the Toronto Maple LeafsToronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
organization, first as an assistant coach with the Leafs, then briefly as head coach of the Leafs' AHL team, the St. Catharines Saints
St. Catharines Saints
The St. Catharines Saints was a minor league ice hockey team in St. Catharines, Ontario. It played in the American Hockey League from 1982–1986 as the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs....
, and then as head coach of the Leafs for the 1986–87 season. The Leafs showed some promise during Brophy's first season as coach, despite finishing the year with a losing record, but it all went downhill from there with an embarrassing season in 1987–88. Brophy feuded with general manager Gerry McNamara
Gerry McNamara (ice hockey)
Gerald Lionel McNamara is a former scout and general manager with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. Prior to that, McNamara was also a minor league goaltender, but made seven total game appearances with the Maple Leafs.-Awards and achievements:*OHA-Sr. First All-Star Team...
, who tried to have Brophy fired but ended up being fired himself. After an equally poor start to the 1988–89 season, and despite being a favourite of Leafs owner Harold Ballard
Harold Ballard
Harold E. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League as well as their home arena, Maple Leaf Gardens. A member of the Leafs organization from 1940 and a senior executive from 1957, he became part-owner of the team in 1961 and was majority owner from February...
, Brophy was fired in December 1988, 33 games into the season.
ECHL
Brophy then found a home in Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
with the Hampton Roads Admirals
Hampton Roads Admirals
The Hampton Roads Admirals were an American professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They played in Norfolk, Virginia at the Norfolk Scope Arena....
of the East Coast Hockey League. He coached the team for 11 seasons, from 1989 to 2000, winning the league championship
Kelly Cup
The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the play-off champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup. The current cup is named after Patrick J. Kelly, the league's first commissioner. The cup is loaned to the winning...
in 1991, 1992, and 1998. The Admirals did not have a losing season with Brophy behind the bench.
After a game in January 1999, a fight broke out on the ice, and fans were throwing batteries. Brophy was accused of assaulting two security guards, but the guards said they were trying to keep him away from the Roanoke fans. In the end, Brophy pleaded guilty, was fined $1,000, and suspended for six games.
On June 25, 2000, Brophy was badly injured in a car accident near New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
New Glasgow is a town in Pictou County, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the banks of the East River of Pictou, which flows into Pictou Harbour, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait....
. He was listed in critical condition with a broken leg and a head injury. Brophy had fallen asleep at the wheel while driving.
After a successful recuperation, Brophy returned to the ECHL in 2001 as coach of the Wheeling Nailers
Wheeling Nailers
The Wheeling Nailers are an ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL....
for two seasons and retired. The ECHL's coach of the year award was renamed the John Brophy Award
John Brophy Award
The John Brophy Award goes to the ECHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success as voted by the coaches of each of the ECHL teams. The John Brophy Award has been awarded to teams since 1989. The award is named after John Brophy, who had coached in the league for 13 seasons...
in 2003. As of 2006, Brophy is the all-time leader among ECHL coaches in regular season wins (480), playoff games (94) and playoff wins (55) and was inducted into the ECHL Hall Of Fame in 2009.
Recent coaching positions
In 2004–05, he coached his hometown junior team, the Antigonish Bulldogs of the Maritime Junior A Hockey LeagueMaritime Junior A Hockey League
The Maritime Junior Hockey League is a Junior A ice hockey league under Hockey Canada, a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. It consists of four teams from New Brunswick and one team from Prince Edward Island, which make up the Roger Meek Division, and six teams from Nova Scotia which make...
. For 2006–07, at age 73, he went back to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
as head coach of the Richmond Renegades
Richmond Renegades
The Richmond Renegades was a SPHL ice hockey team in Richmond, Virginia. The team, owned by Allan B. Harvie Jr., the founder of the former ECHL Renegades franchise, began play in October 2006 at the Richmond Coliseum. The team's first head coach was John Brophy...
of the Southern Professional Hockey League
Southern Professional Hockey League
The Southern Professional Hockey League is a low-level professional ice hockey league based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with teams located in the southeastern United States.- History :...
.
As a professional hockey coach, Brophy has accumulated 1,027 victories, the second highest amount in all of professional hockey, behind only Scotty Bowman
Scotty Bowman
William Scott "Scotty" Bowman is a retired National Hockey League head coach. He holds the record for most wins in league history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He coached the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and...
.
After one season with the Richmond Renegades
Richmond Renegades
The Richmond Renegades was a SPHL ice hockey team in Richmond, Virginia. The team, owned by Allan B. Harvie Jr., the founder of the former ECHL Renegades franchise, began play in October 2006 at the Richmond Coliseum. The team's first head coach was John Brophy...
, it was announced that Brophy would be released from his contract. His replacement in Richmond was former team captain Brian Goudie.
Coaching record
| Team | |Regular season | BIR Birmingham Bulls The Birmingham Bulls were a professional ice hockey team based in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1976 to 1979 and the Central Hockey League from 1979 to 1981. The Bulls played their home games at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center.Prior to being... |
1978–79 | 80 | 32 | 42 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | 6th in WHA | Did not qualify | |||||
| TOR Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... |
1986–87 | 80 | 32 | 42 | 6 | ||
| 70 | 4th in Norris | Lost in second round | |||||
| TOR | 1987–88 | 80 | 21 | 49 | 10 | ||
| 52 | 4th in Norris | Lost in first round | |||||
| TOR | 1988–89 | 33 | 11 | 20 | 2 | ||
| (62) | 5th in Norris | (fired) |