| Dave Christian | |
| |
| Position | Right wing |
| Shoots | Right |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Teams | Winnipeg Jets Washington Capitals Boston Bruins St. Louis Blues Chicago Blackhawks |
| Nationality |  American
|
| Born | September 22, 1957, Warroad, Minnesota |
| NHL Draft | 40th overall, 1979 Winnipeg Jets |
| Pro Career | 1980 – 1993 |
David William Christian (born May 13, 1959 in Warroad, Minnesota) is a retired American professional ice hockey forward. Christian comes from a family of hockey players. His father Bill and uncle Roger were members of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that won the Gold Medal. Another uncle, Gordon Christian, was a member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that won the Silver Medal. Bill and Roger also were the founders of the Christian Brothers hockey stick company based in Warroad, Minnesota.
Amateur career[]
He attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota where he played for the North Dakota Fighting Sioux and played in the 1979 national championship, where North Dakota lost the championship game to the University of Minnesota and Christian's future Olympic teammate, Neal Broten.
Professional and international career[]
Christian is best known for being a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal in an event known as the Miracle on Ice during the 1980 Olympics. He also played for the U.S. national team at the 1981 Canada Cup as well as the 1981 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments as an NHL rookie. His international career continued in the 1984 Canada Cup, 1989 Ice Hockey World Championship and 1991 Canada Cup tournaments.
Christian's professional hockey career started one week after the Miracle on Ice when he joined the Winnipeg Jets, who drafted him 40th overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. Christian set and still holds the record for the fastest goal by a player in his first NHL game, scoring after just 7 seconds. After a roller-coaster career in Winnipeg, he went on to play in the NHL with the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues. Between 1980 and 1993, he scored 340 goals and 433 assists in 1,009 NHL regular season games.
Post career[]
Christian was named head coach and general manager of the United States Hockey League Fargo-Moorhead Bears near the end of the 1997–98 season and held the positions through the 1999–2000 season.
Awards and achievements[]
- Christian was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.
- Christian played in the 1991 NHL All-Star Game
Career statistics[]
Regular season and playoffs[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1976–77 | Warroad High School | High-MN | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 38 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 40 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | United States | Intl | 59 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 15 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980–81 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 80 | 28 | 43 | 71 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981–82 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 80 | 25 | 51 | 76 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1982–83 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 55 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1983–84 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 29 | 52 | 81 | 28 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | ||
| 1984–85 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 26 | 43 | 69 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1985–86 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 41 | 42 | 83 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1986–87 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 76 | 23 | 27 | 50 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 1987–88 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 37 | 21 | 58 | 26 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 6 | ||
| 1988–89 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 34 | 31 | 65 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1989–90 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 28 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 50 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 8 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 1990–91 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 78 | 32 | 21 | 53 | 41 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 4 | ||
| 1991–92 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 78 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 41 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 60 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1993–94 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 40 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1994–95 | Minnesota Moose | IHL | 81 | 38 | 42 | 80 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1995–96 | Minnesota Moose | IHL | 69 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 1,009 | 340 | 433 | 773 | 284 | 102 | 32 | 25 | 57 | 27 | ||||
International[]
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | United States | WJC | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1980 | United States | OG | 7 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 6 | |
| 1981 | United States | WC | 8 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 6 | |
| 1981 | United States | CC | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 1984 | United States | CC | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
| 1989 | United States | WC | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | |
| 1991 | United States | CC | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Senior totals | 40 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 20 | |||
In popular culture[]
In the 1981 TV movie about the gold medal-winning hockey team entitled Miracle on Ice, Christian is played by Thomas F. Duffy.
In the 2004 Disney film Miracle, he is played by Steve Kovalcik.
See also[]
External links[]
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or ESPN.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database
- Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
| Preceded by Morris Lukowich |
Winnipeg Jets captain 1981–82 |
Succeeded by Lucien DeBlois |