Dean Sutherland Prentice (October 5, 1932 – November 2, 2019) was a Canadian 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 h ...
left winger
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
who played 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 ...
(NHL) for 22 seasons between
1952–53 and
1973–74. He had 10 NHL seasons with 20 or more goals. Over his NHL career, Prentice played for 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 ...
,
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
,
Detroit Red Wings,
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
, and
Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...
.
Early life
Prentice helped the
Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters
The Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1940 to 1942, and 1947 to 1960. The team was often known as the "Biltmores" and sponsored by the Guelph Biltmore Hat Company, a ...
win the
1952 Memorial Cup.
At the time the Mad Hatters were the New York Rangers' farm team, and Prentice made the jump to the parent club the following season.
Playing career
In the 1950s, Prentice, while on the NY Rangers, skated on a line with
Andy Bathgate
Andrew James Bathgate (August 28, 1932 – February 26, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right wing who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Pittsbu ...
and
Larry Popein. Prentice was 10th in the league with 358 points (163 goals)from 1955-56 through 1961-62.
On February 4, 1963, Prentice was traded to the Bruins for
Don McKenney
Donald Hamilton McKenney (April 30, 1934 – December 19, 2022) was a Canadian ice hockey forward and coach. He played in the National Hockey League between 1954 and 1968 with five teams, mostly with the Boston Bruins. After retiring he worked a ...
and
Dick Meissner.
On December 27, 1964, in
Chicago Stadium
Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. ...
, Prentice, while playing for the Bruins, was hauled down on a breakaway by
Stan Mikita. Initially knocked unconscious, Prentice came to and took the awarded penalty shot, scoring on Blackhawks' goaltender
Denis DeJordy
Joseph Denis Emile DeJordy (born November 15, 1938), is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played goal for four National Hockey League teams, most notably the Chicago Black Hawks. In 1966–67, he and Glenn Hall won the Vezina ...
. Back on the bench, Prentice was unable to leave the bench for his next shift when his back and legs locked up. After being stretchered off and undergoing x-rays, it was revealed that Prentice had scored with a broken back.
After the Rangers and Bruins failed to make the playoffs each season Prentice was there, he finally appeared in the
Stanley Cup playoffs
The Stanley Cup playoffs (french: Les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner ...
after a trade in 1966 sent him to Detroit. In his first season with Detroit, the Red Wings won the first two games of the
1966 Stanley Cup Final
The 1966 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1965–66 season, and the culmination of the 1966 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the defending champion Montreal ...
, before losing four straight. But it was Prentice who put up 10 points in 12 games during the Red Wings 1966 playoff run.
The Penguins claimed Prentice from Detroit in the 1969 Intra League Draft.
In the 1970 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis, Prentice scored the only goal for the West Division team in their 4-1 loss to the East Division. He was 37 years old at the time.
In October 1971 Prentice was traded from Pittsburgh to Minnesota for cash.
Prentice played 1378 career NHL games, scoring 391 goals and 469 assists for 860 points.
In 1976, Prentice staged a comeback of sorts, coming out of retirement at 44 years old by suiting up for the
Traverse City Bays of the
United States Hockey League
The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictl ...
for 28 games.
Coaching career
In 1974-75, he became the
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
of the
AHL's 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 ...
. In 1976-77, he became a
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
of the Traverse City Bays of the USHL.
From 1980-82, Prentice served as an
assistant coach
A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete.
History
The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...
with the
University of Guelph
, mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities"
, established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922)
, type = Public university
, chancellor ...
.
Personal life
Prentice and his wife June had two daughters, Kelly and Kerry.
His brother,
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
, played five games for 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 the
1943–44 NHL season. Former
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
premier
Jim Prentice
Peter Eric James Prentice (July 20, 1956 – October 13, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 16th premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a candidat ...
is Dean's nephew (and Eric's son). Prentice died on November 2, 2019 at the age of 87. Grandsons Phil and Dan Brewer were also hockey players, with Phil reaching the ECHL and AHL level.
Following his career, Prentice moved back to Ontario in 1977 and became
Ayr's director of recreation.
Legacy
In the 2009 book ''100 Ranger Greats'', the authors ranked Prentice at No. 37 all-time of the
901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first
82 seasons.
Career statistics
Awards
Prentice was named to the
NHL Second All-Star Team
The National Hockey League All-Star teams were first named at the end of the 1930–31 NHL season, to honor the best performers over the season at each position.
Representatives of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association vote for the all- ...
in
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Jan ...
after finishing with NHL career highs in goals (32) and points (66). He appeared the
NHL All-Star Game
The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...
five times (1957,
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
,
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
,
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...
), the final time in 1970 at age 37.
See also
*
List of NHL players with 1000 games played
The National Hockey League (NHL) is a major professional ice hockey league which operates in Canada and the United States. Since its inception in , 357 players have played at least 1,000 regular season games, varying in amounts between Patrick ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prentice, Dean
1932 births
2019 deaths
Boston Bruins players
Canadian ice hockey left wingers
Detroit Red Wings players
Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters players
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Memorial Cup winners
Minnesota North Stars players
New York Rangers players
Pittsburgh Penguins players
Sportspeople from Timmins