Cameron Duncan Connor (born August 10, 1954) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and a

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

winner. Connor was inducted into the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named an ...

in October 2015.

Early life

Connor grew up best friends with

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously ind ...

wrestler

Rowdy Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his ...

, and they stayed friends until Piper's death.

Hockey career

In Connor's last year of junior hockey, he was named captain of the

Flin Flon Bombers The Flin Flon Bombers are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in Flin Flon, a city located on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan provincial border. The Bombers are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), which is a member of the Canadian ...

in the WCHL and scored 47 goals, 44 assists in 65 games, along with 376 penalty minutes. Connor won the Rookie of the Year Award. He claims a lot of this success is due to his coach Pat Ginnell having the confidence in him to make him captain. Because of Connor's junior success, he was selected by the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in the first round, fifth overall, of the 1974 NHL amateur draft. Connor was also selected by the Phoenix Roadrunners in the first round, fourth overall in the 1974 WHA Secret Amateur Draft. The Roadrunners offered Connor a lot of money, and he ended up choosing the WHA instead of the Canadiens, a move he says he now regrets. Montreal coach

Scotty Bowman William Scott Bowman, OC (born September 18, 1933) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) 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 and ...

offered to beat the WHA's offer, but Connor had already given his word and did not want to go back on it. Connor began his

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

career with the Phoenix Roadrunners before a stint with the Houston Aeros where he played with

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

and his sons Marty and

Mark Howe Mark Steven Howe (born 28 May 1955) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman and left winger who played sixteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) following six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA). He is curre ...

. He found great success in the WHA and was selected to the 1977 All Star Team. When the Houston Aeros folded he joined the Montreal Canadiens in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. Coached by Scotty Bowman, during the Habs' dynasty years, Montreal's roster was a tough line-up to crack, but Connor did suit up for 23 games that season. He is remembered for his double OT playoff goal to win game three against the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. During his time with the Habs, Connor was plagued by injuries and severe food poisoning, and league rules said Connor did not play enough playoff games to have his name engraved on the Cup. His teammates rallied around him and said if his name was not on the Cup, none of their names should be on the Cup. The league reversed their decision and his name was included on the Stanley Cup. For the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

' first year in the NHL, they selected Connor as the number one pick in the expansion draft. He played with a rookie

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

, making him one of two players to play with both Gretzky and

(Houston Aeros). Connor was coached by

Glen Sather Glen Cameron “Slats” Sather (born September 2, 1943) is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers ...

, and was traded to the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

before the end of that season, learning about his trade over the radio. Connor battled chronic injuries during his three seasons with the Rangers. He performed well in the 1982 playoffs, scoring 4 goals in 10 games. He broke his back in two spots and ended his career with the

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

After hockey

Connor became the assistant coach of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Islanders (1972–1973), New York Rangers (19 ...

following his playing career. For the first Heritage Classic, Connor was selected to the Montreal Canadiens legends team. He was one of two players present to have played on both the Oilers and Canadiens. Connor was inducted into the

in 2016. Connor has been seen at charity events, does motivational speaking, and hosts a podcast, "View from the Penalty Box". Connor competed on the All Athletes All Star edition of ''

Wipeout Canada ''Wipeout Canada'' is a Canadian English reality television series in which multiple contestants compete in numerous obstacle-based challenges. The series is produced by DTour and premiered on that channel on April 3, 2011. The studio hosts are J ...

'' on April 24, 2011.

Records and achievements

* Stanley Cup Champion with the Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) * WCHL Rookie of Year 1973-74

*WCHL All-Star Game 1973-74 *Selected to WHA All Star team in 1977 * Adams Cup (ice hockey), Adams Cup 1983-84 CHL champion as a member of the

team coached by Tom Webster *Represented the Montreal Canadiens legends team at the historic outdoor Heritage Classic hockey game in 2003. * Inducted into the

Career statistics

References

External links

* *Radio interview with Cam http://oilersnation.com/2011/4/25/nation-radio-april-23-2011 (Segment 1) *Cam talks with Reuters News about fighting in hockey and concussions https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nhl-deaths-idUSTRE7806LB2011090

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, Cam 1954 births Living people Canadian ice hockey right wingers Flin Flon Bombers players Houston Aeros (WHA) players Houston Apollos players Ice hockey people from Winnipeg Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players National Hockey League first-round draft picks New Haven Nighthawks players New York Rangers players Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA) players Phoenix Roadrunners draft picks St. Boniface Saints (ice hockey) players Springfield Indians players Stanley Cup champions Tulsa Oilers (1964–1984) players Winnipeg Jets (WHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States