Chris Clifford (born May 26, 1966) 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 ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

, who played two games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He filled in for

Murray Bannerman Murray Bannerman (born April 27, 1957) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. He spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, though also briefly played for the Vancouver Canucks, who selected him in the 1977 NHL amateur dr ...

in a 1985 game and for

Ed Belfour Edward John Belfour (born April 21, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Belfour was born in Carman, Manitoba and grew up playing hockey. He played junior hockey for the Winkler Flyers before going to the University of ...

in a 1989 game. He won the

Bobby Smith Trophy The Bobby Smith Trophy is awarded annually to the Ontario Hockey League Scholastic Player of the Year, who best combines high standards of play and academic excellence. The trophy is named for Bobby Smith, a former Ottawa 67's player. It is symbo ...

in 1985–86. Clifford was drafted in the sixth round of the

1984 NHL Entry Draft The 1984 NHL Entry Draft was the 22nd NHL Entry Draft. It took place on June 9, 1984, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The 1984 Entry Draft is noted for the unusually high number of future Hall of Famers picked, particularly in lower ...

. He later became a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

Playing career

Clifford was born in Kingston,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He spent his junior career with the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

Kingston Canadians The Kingston Canadians were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League from 1973 to 1988. The team played home games at the Kingston Memorial Centre in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. History The Kingston Canadians arrival in the Ontario ...

and most of his professional career with various teams in the International Hockey League. Clifford became the first goaltender in

history to score a goal. In December 2019, Chris Clifford had his jersey number retired by the

Kingston Frontenacs The Kingston Frontenacs are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The Frontenacs play home games at Leon's Centre, which opened in 2008. Team history predates the OHA, back to 1945, to a te ...

joining 4 other players in the franchise's history. Chris remains an active member of the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawk Alumni networks.

Post-playing career

After his hockey career, Chris attended law school at Queen's University and is now a partner at Bergeron Clifford LLP in Ontario, Canada. Chris has consistently ranked as one of the top injury lawyers in Canada. He is a recognized Top Lawyer in Canada. Since 2015, Chris has been recognized as a Best Lawyer in Canada for his work in personal injury litigation. Along with his business partner Edward Bergeron, Chris has also received recognition from the

Law Society of Ontario The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...

as a Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation. Chris also served as a trustee to the Law Foundation of Ontario until 2016.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Chicago Blackhawks draft picks Chicago Blackhawks players Fort Wayne Komets players Ice hockey people from Ontario Kingston Canadians players Louisville Icehawks players Muskegon Fury players Muskegon Lumberjacks players Saginaw Hawks players Sportspeople from Kingston, Ontario Virginia Lancers players {{Canada-icehockey-goaltender-stub