Dale Allen McCourt, (born January 26, 1957), is a 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 ...
. He was drafted first overall by the
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
in the
1977 NHL amateur draft.
Junior hockey
McCourt played major junior in the
Ontario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...
(OHA, renamed OMJHL during his tenure, today's
OHL OHL or Ohl may refer to:
Initialisms
*Latvian Hockey Higher League, known in Latvian as the ''Optibet hokeja līga''
*Oberste Heeresleitung, the Supreme Army Command of Germany in World War I
*Obrascón Huarte Lain, a Spanish construction company
* ...
). As a 15-year-old, he was already playing
Tier II junior hockey when called up by the
Sudbury Wolves
The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...
for part of the
1972–73 OHA season
This is a list of OHA standings and season-by-season summaries of the Ontario Hockey Association's Junior A division from 1933 to 1972, and its Tier I division from 1972 to 1974.
;Legend
* GP = games played
* W = wins
* L = losses
* T = ties
* P ...
. He joined the
Hamilton Red Wings
The Hamilton Red Wings were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1960 to 1974. The team was based in Hamilton, Ontario, at the Barton Street Arena, also known as the Hamilton Forum.
History
The Hamilton Tiger Cubs we ...
for the full
1973–74 OHA season
This is a list of OHA standings and season-by-season summaries of the Ontario Hockey Association's Junior A division from 1933 to 1972, and its Tier I division from 1972 to 1974.
;Legend
* GP = games played
* W = wins
* L = losses
* T = ties
* P ...
, and was team captain by the time the (renamed)
Hamilton Fincups
The Hamilton Fincups were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for 4 years, from 1974 to 1978. The team played in Hamilton, Ontario for three years, and in St. Catharines, Ontario for one. The Hamilton Fin ...
won the
1975–76 OMJHL Championship and then the national
1976 Memorial Cup
The 1976 Memorial Cup occurred from May 9 to 16 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. It was the 58th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Participating teams ...
championship.
In
1976–77, McCourt led the relocated St. Catharines Fincups as the team won the
OMJHL Regular Season Championship. That season, McCourt was awarded the
Red Tilson Trophy
The Red Tilson Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the most outstanding player (MVP) as voted by OHL writers and broadcasters. It was donated by ''The Globe and Mail,'' and first awarded in the 1944–45 OHA season by the O ...
as the league's Most Outstanding Player and was voted the nationwide
CHL Player of the Year
The CHL Player of the Year award is given out annually to the player judged to be the most outstanding in the Canadian Hockey League. It is selected from three most valuable players of the respective leagues; the Red Tilson Trophy of Ontario Hock ...
. Dale was also awarded the
William Hanley Trophy
The William Hanley Trophy is awarded annually by Ontario Hockey League to the most sportsmanlike player. It is named for Bill Hanley, a former secretary-manager of the Ontario Hockey Association who served in that capacity for twenty-five years. T ...
as the OMJHL's Most Sportsmanlike Player in both
1975–76 and 1976–77.
In the
1977 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, McCourt scored 18 points, a Canadian record he shares with
Brayden Schenn
Brayden Michael Schenn (; born August 22, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings fifth overall in the 2009 ...
and one point more than
Eric Lindros
Eric Bryan Lindros (; born February 28, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Lindros was born in London, Ontario, but grew up in Toronto. He played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Oshawa Generals pr ...
and
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 ...
.
McCourt was drafted 1st overall by the
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
in the
1977 NHL amateur draft. He made an impression on the Detroit Red Wings after being the first NHL amateur pick in 1977. He successfully scored 33 goals in the first year with the team. He was entitled to NHL rookie of the year with the Red Wings.
Professional career
McCourt led the Red Wings in scoring during his
1977–78 rookie season, finishing second only to
Calder Memorial Trophy
The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...
winner
Mike Bossy
Michael Dean Bossy (January 22, 1957April 15, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League. He spent his entire NHL career, which lasted from 1977 to 1987, with the Islanders, and ...
for rookie scoring in the NHL that year.
Legal battle
Before the start of the
1978–79 season, Red Wings
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
Ted Lindsay
Ted Lindsay (born Robert Blake Theodore Lindsay; July 29, 1925 – March 4, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played as a forward for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Lindsa ...
signed
Rogatien Vachon
Rogatien Rosaire "Rogie" Vachon (born September 8, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League.
Montrea ...
of the
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
, who was a
restricted free agent
A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...
at that time. An NHL arbitrator ruled that McCourt should be the compensation paid the Kings for Vachon's loss, but McCourt refused to report to the Kings. Ultimately, this led to McCourt suing the NHL,
National Hockey League Players' Association
NHLPA (french: AJLNH) is the trade union, labour union for the group of professional List of NHL players, hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the 32 member clubs in the National Hockey League (NHL) located in the United Stat ...
(NHLPA), the Red Wings, and Kings in order to prohibit being sent to the Los Angeles Kings as a part of any compensation package. During this lawsuit, McCourt remained playing for the Red Wings, finishing the season second in Red Wing scoring (behind by only two points) for 1978-79. The matter was resolved, and McCourt remained in Detroit, but he felt betrayed by the fact that his own NHLPA, led by executive director
Alan Eagleson
Robert Alan Eagleson (born April 24, 1933) is a disbarment, disbarred Canadians, Canadian lawyer, ice hockey, hockey Sports agent, agent and promoter. Clients that he represented included superstars Bobby Orr and Darryl Sittler, and he was the ...
, did not back him against the owners during the lawsuit. His legal case created a huge impact on sport and was the first sports case to challenge the antitrust laws during the bargaining agreement.
Trade
McCourt continued to be the Red Wings' top scorer in both his third (
1979–80) and fourth (
1980–81) seasons. Despite this, and while leading the team in scoring a third of the way through the
1981–82 season, management did not feel he had achieved their overall expectations, trading McCourt to the
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...
in December 1981—having produced at a point-a-game pace during his time with the Red Wings but failing to make the playoffs for three of his four years with the team. He played with Buffalo before being claimed on waivers by 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 ...
in October 1983, finishing his NHL career at the end of the
1983–84 NHL season
The 1983–84 NHL season was the 67th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers de-throned the four-time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders four games to one in the Cup finals.
League business
Not since World War ...
, with 478 points in 532 games played.
McCourt then played for 8 seasons for
HC Ambrì-Piotta
Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Switzerland, Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and b ...
, in the
top Swiss league. Ambrì-Piotta retired McCourt's number 15 jersey.
Hockey family
McCourt's brother Dan was an NHL linesman during the 1980s and early 1990s.
McCourt's uncle is
Hockey Hall of Fame
, logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg
, logo_upright = 0.5
, image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg
, caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992
, map_type =
, former_name =
, established = 1943
, location = 30 Y ...
member
George Armstrong. Armstrong won the
Red Tilson Trophy
The Red Tilson Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the most outstanding player (MVP) as voted by OHL writers and broadcasters. It was donated by ''The Globe and Mail,'' and first awarded in the 1944–45 OHA season by the O ...
as the OHA's Most Outstanding Player in both 1947–48 and
1949–50, the same award that McCourt received in 1976–77. Armstrong was the coach of the
Toronto Marlboros
The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...
when they won the national
Memorial Cup Championship in
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
and
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, the same championship that McCourt won as a player with the
Hamilton Fincups
The Hamilton Fincups were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for 4 years, from 1974 to 1978. The team played in Hamilton, Ontario for three years, and in St. Catharines, Ontario for one. The Hamilton Fin ...
in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
Awards and honours
*Directorate Award, Best Forward,
1977 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships[Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009–10, p.510, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ]
References
* (2010, January 26). Dale McCourt. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2010/1/26/1270526/dale-mccourt
* Shaw, W. (2017, January 24). The Dale McCourt Saga: The Beginning Of The End Of Team Loyalty. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/250882-the-dale-mccourt-saga-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-team-loyalty
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCourt, Dale
1957 births
Buffalo Sabres players
Detroit Red Wings captains
Detroit Red Wings draft picks
Detroit Red Wings players
First Nations sportspeople
Hamilton Fincups players
Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) players
HC Ambrì-Piotta players
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Indianapolis Racers draft picks
Living people
Memorial Cup winners
National Hockey League first-overall draft picks
National Hockey League first-round draft picks
Sportspeople from Greater Sudbury
Sudbury Wolves players
Toronto Maple Leafs players
Canadian ice hockey centres