Jim Niekamp | |
---|---|
Born | March 11, 1946 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | ,
Died | October 10, 2022 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | (aged 76),
Height Weight |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb) |
Position | Defense |
Shoots | Right |
Pro clubs | Detroit Red Wings Los Angeles Sharks Phoenix Roadrunners |
Playing career | 1962–1978 |
James Lawrence Niekamp (March 11, 1946 – October 10, 2022) was an American professional ice hockey player who played 383 games in the World Hockey Association and 29 games in the National Hockey League in 1970–1977. Jim played for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Sharks and Phoenix Roadrunners.
He played junior hockey for the Saint Jerome Alouettes and the Hamilton Red Wings from 1964 to 1966. Turning pro in the Detroit Red Wings' system in 1966, Niekamp played in the minors until 1970-71. That season he got into 24 games for the Wings. The following season he played in five more games.
In 1972-73 he jumped to the Los Angeles Sharks of the World Hockey Association (WHA). After playing there for two years, Niekamp went to the Phoenix Roadrunners where he played for four seasons. He retired in 1978.
In 29 NHL games Niekamp scored 2 assists. In the WHA he scored 18 goals and 96 assists in 383 games.
Niekamp lived in the Phoenix area and was the color commentator for the radio broadcasts of Phoenix RoadRunners home games. He died on October 10, 2022, at the age of 76.[1]
Career statistics[]
Regular season and playoffs[]
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1964–65 | Saint-Jerome Alouettes | QJAHL | 33 | 10 | 31 | 41 | — | 8 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 38 | ||
1965–66 | Saint-Jerome Alouettes | QJAHL | 32 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 135 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 | ||
1965–66 | Hamilton Red Wings | OHA | 11 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1966–67 | Toledo Blades | IHL | 66 | 6 | 24 | 30 | 163 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | ||
1967–68 | Fort Worth Wings | CHL | 49 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 76 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 24 | ||
1968–69 | Fort Worth Wings | CHL | 63 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 113 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1969–70 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 47 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 114 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1970–71 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 46 | 9 | 29 | 38 | 93 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1970–71 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 24 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1971–72 | Tidewater Wings | AHL | 65 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 216 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1971–72 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1972–73 | Los Angeles Sharks | WHA | 78 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 155 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | ||
1973–74 | Los Angeles Sharks | WHA | 76 | 2 | 19 | 21 | 95 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1974–75 | Phoenix Roadrunners | WHA | 71 | 2 | 26 | 28 | 66 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
1975–76 | Phoenix Roadrunners | WHA | 79 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 77 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
1976–77 | Phoenix Roadrunners | WHA | 79 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1977–78 | Phoenix Roadrunners | PHL | 23 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
WHA totals | 383 | 16 | 96 | 112 | 484 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 18 | ||||
NHL totals | 29 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — |
References[]
- ↑ James Lawrence Niekamp obituary
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or ESPN.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database