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Marty McSorley
Marty McSorley
Position Defenceman/Right Wing
Shot Right
Height
Weight
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
235 lb (107 kg)
Teams Pittsburgh Penguins (19831985)
Edmonton Oilers (19851988)
Los Angeles Kings (19891993)
Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–1994)
Los Angeles Kings (19941996)
New York Rangers (1996)
San Jose Sharks (19961998)
Edmonton Oilers (1998–1999)
Boston Bruins (1999–2000)
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born (1963-05-18)May 18, 1963,
Hamilton, ON, CAN
Pro Career 1982 – 2001

Martin James McSorley (born May 18, 1963) is a retired Canadian professional hockey player, who played in the National Hockey League from 1983 to 2000. A versatile player, he was able to play both the forward and defense positions. He is also a former head coach of the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League (2002–2004). In addition to his hockey career, he has also worked as an actor, appearing in several film and television roles.

Biography[]

Early life and hockey career[]

McSorley was born in Hamilton, Ontario, but grew up in Cayuga, a small town in Haldimand County.

He made his NHL debut in October, 1983, with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but rose to fame after a trade in September 1985 brought him to the Edmonton Oilers. McSorley's arrival and physical presence soon made Edmonton's incumbent enforcer Dave Semenko expendable, and McSorley inherited the title of "Wayne Gretzky's Bodyguard".

This title would follow McSorley to Los Angeles in 1988, when both he and Gretzky - along with Mike Krushelnyski - were obtained by the Kings. The Kings reached the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens, but in Game 2 with the Kings up 2-1, McSorley was caught with an illegal stick, contributing to the Canadiens game-tying goal. Montreal ending up winning that game in overtime and ultimately took the series in five games. McSorley otherwise had ten points in the playoffs and was the only King to score during the final game.

McSorley would remain with the Kings until an August 1993 trade sent him to Pittsburgh in exchange for offensive forward Shawn McEachern; however, his stay in Pittsburgh would be brief, lasting 47 games. The Los Angeles Kings, realizing that trading McSorley had been a mistake, re-acquired him on February 16, 1994. Back with the Kings, McSorley assisted on Gretzky's goal which broke Gordie Howe's all-time record.

On March 14, 1996, McSorley left the Kings' organization for good, as he was traded to the New York Rangers in a multi-player deal.

After completing the 1995-96 season with the Rangers, McSorley returned to the west coast when he was acquired by the San Jose Sharks in August, 1996. He would spend two injury-plagued seasons with the Sharks before returning to Edmonton as a free agent in October, 1998. Confined to a part-time role in his second stint in Edmonton, he left after one season and signed with the Boston Bruins in December, 1999. With the Bruins, McSorley's NHL career would come to a sudden and infamous end in a game against the Vancouver Canucks on February 21, 2000.

Assault incident[]

On February 21, 2000, McSorley, playing for the Boston Bruins, swung his stick and hit Donald Brashear in the head with 3 seconds left in the game. Brashear fell backward and hit his head hard on the ice as a result of the stick's contact with his head and helmet. As a result of the fall and hard contact with the ice, Brashear lost consciousness and suffered a grade 3 concussion.

As a result of the stick incident, McSorley was charged with assault and suspended by the NHL for the remainder of the 1999–2000 season (including playoffs) missing 23 games. On October 4, 2000, a jury found McSorley guilty of assault with a weapon for his attack on Brashear. He was sentenced to 18 months probation. The trial was the first for an on-ice attack by an NHL player since 1988.

After his assault conviction his NHL suspension was extended to one full year (through February 21, 2001).[1] This suspension was the longest in NHL history, and McSorley would never play in another NHL game.

United Kingdom[]

During his suspension McSorley attempted to continue playing hockey in the United Kingdom with the London Knights where his elder brother Chris was coaching but this move was blocked by the International Ice Hockey Federation in respect to the NHL.[2] A similar intention to play in Germany for the Munich Barons also failed. McSorley would play for the Grand Rapids Griffins in their final IHL season, dressing for 14 contests.

In the autumn of 2001, following the completion of his suspension, McSorley again looked towards the other side of the Atlantic. He considered purchasing the then struggling Cardiff Devils team with his brother[3] in order to pursue a new player-coach role and to develop interest in the sport in the UK.

McSorley appeared as a guest player for both Great Britain and the Cardiff Devils during a series of exhibition games in November 2001,[4] but the business deal failed to materialise.

Career statistics[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1981–82 Belleville Bulls OHL 58 6 13 19 234 - - - - -
1982–83 Belleville Bulls OHL 70 10 41 51 183 4 0 0 0 7
1982–83 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 2 0 0 0 22 - - - - -
1983–84 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 72 2 7 9 224 - - - - -
1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 15 0 0 0 15 - - - - -
1984–85 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 58 6 24 30 154 14 0 7 7 47
1985–86 Edmonton Oilers NHL 59 11 12 23 265 8 0 2 2 50
1985–86 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 9 2 4 6 34 - - - - -
1986–87 Edmonton Oilers NHL 41 2 4 6 159 21 4 3 7 65
1986–87 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 7 2 2 4 48 - - - - -
1987–88 Edmonton Oilers NHL 60 9 17 26 223 16 0 3 3 67
1988–89 Los Angeles Kings NHL 66 10 17 27 350 11 0 2 2 33
1989–90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 75 15 21 36 322 10 1 3 4 18
1990–91 Los Angeles Kings NHL 61 7 32 39 221 12 0 0 0 58
1991–92 Los Angeles Kings NHL 71 7 22 29 268 6 1 0 1 21
1992–93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 81 15 26 41 399 24 4 6 10 60
1993–94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 47 3 18 21 139 - - - - -
1993–94 Los Angeles Kings NHL 18 4 6 10 55 - - - - -
1994–95 Los Angeles Kings NHL 41 3 18 21 83 - - - - -
1995–96 Los Angeles Kings NHL 59 10 21 31 148 - - - - -
1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 9 0 2 2 21 4 0 0 0 0
1996–97 San Jose Sharks NHL 57 4 12 16 186 - - - - -
1997–98 San Jose Sharks NHL 56 2 10 12 140 - - - - -
1998–99 Edmonton Oilers NHL 46 2 3 5 101 3 0 0 0 2
1999–00 Boston Bruins NHL 27 2 3 5 62 - - - - -
2000–01 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 14 0 2 2 36 - - - - -
NHL totals 961 108 251 359 3381 115 10 19 29 374

Coaching career[]

McSorley coached the American Hockey League team the Springfield Falcons between 2002 and 2004.


Awards & Achievements[]

Transactions[]

  • August 27, 1993 - Traded by the Los Angeles Kings to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Shawn McEachern.
  • February 16, 1994 - Traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Jim Paek, to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Shawn McEachern and Tomas Sandstrom.
  • October 1, 1998 - Signed as a free agent with the Edmonton Oilers.
  • December 9, 1999 - Signed as a free agent with the Boston Bruins.


External links[]

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Preceded by
Paul Cavallini
Co-winner of the NHL Plus/Minus Award
(with Theoren Fleury)

1991
Succeeded by
Paul Ysebaert

References[]

  1. "McSorley must miss a year", Associated Press, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2000-11-08. Retrieved on 2007-03-11. 
  2. Newman, Paul (23 Jan 2001). Ice Hockey: McSorley foiled by ban. Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-11-10.
  3. Hardman McSorley dices with Devils. BBC News (8 November 2001). Retrieved on 2008-11-10.
  4. "Ice fans snap up tickets", BBC News, 6 November 2001. Retrieved on 2008-11-10. 
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