Jeff Jackson (1965)



Jeff Jackson (born April 24, 1965 in Chatham, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 263 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Quebec Nordiques, and Chicago Blackhawks.

He started out with the junior Brantford Alexanders of the Ontario Hockey League. A two time OHL All-Star, Jackson was drafted 28th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft.

He turned pro in the 1984-85 season with the Leafs but was assigned to the gold medal winning Canadian World Junior team at the annual World Junior U20 tournament in Finland. Following the annual Christmas tournament, he returned to his junior club in Hamilton and led them to the division finals. He was named the team's MVP for the playoffs that season.

Jackson was traded to the New York Rangers near the end of the 1986-87 season and flourished on a line with Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne and Kelly Kisio scoring 6 goals in the team's final 10 regular season games. Jackson became one of many victims of notorious serial trader, "Trader Phil" Esposito, and was sent to the Quebec Nordiques in a multi-player deal involving among others, former 50 goal scorer, John Ogrodinick. After three effective years with the Nords, he was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent in 1991. He only played one game with them and at the end of the 1991-92 season he retired.

After retirement in 1992, Jeff attended Law School at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. Upon graduating, he accepted a position at the Toronto law firm of Heenan Blaikie LLP where he practised Sports and Entertainment Law for eight years.

He was hired in June 2006 by the Toronto Maple Leafs organization as their Director of Hockey Administration. On August 24, 2007, Jackson was promoted to Assistant General Manager & Director of Hockey Operations with the Leafs, working alongside then General Manager John Ferguson, Jr.. When Ferguson was fired by the Leafs on January 22, 2008, Jackson still retained his job as Assistant General Manager when Cliff Fletcher replaced Ferguson. On September 12, 2008, Jackson was appointed the new General Manager of the Toronto Marlies, the farm club for the Maple Leafs. He also maintained his role as Assistant General Manager to Fletcher and Director of Hockey Operations. After Brian Burke was hired as the new General Manager, Jackson remained with the team for one year. When Burke brought in some of his people, namely Dave Nonis and Dave Poulin, Jackson left the organization. He is currently working as a consultant in the sports and entertainment industries.