Douglas Paul Bodger (born June 18, 1966) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

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 ...

. Selected by the

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 ...

ninth overall in the 1984 NHL Draft he would play in over 1,000 games in the NHL with the Penguins,

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 ...

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

, New Jersey Devils,

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 ...

, and the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

. A standout junior player in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

, Bodger was twice named the best defenceman on the

Kamloops Junior Oilers Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

. He was also named a WHL all-star in both his junior seasons. He also represented Canada at three

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, winning a silver medal at the 1996 tournament.

Playing career

Bodger played his minor hockey with the Cowichan Midget Capitals before joining the

of the

. In his first season with Kamloops, he scored 26 goals and 92 points, being named to the WHL Second All-Star Team. The following season, Bodger scored 21 goals and added 77 assists for 98 points, earning First All-Star Team honours. Both seasons he was named the team's top defenceman. With 190 points in two seasons of junior hockey, Bodger was one of the top prospects going into 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 lowe ...

, being ranked the seventh greatest prospect by the

NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League that ranks prospects for the NHL Entry Draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate to the profe ...

. As a top prospect, Bodger was expecting to be selected early in the draft. He had earlier conversations with the Detroit Red Wings, who told Bodger there was a "90 per cent chance" they would pick him at seventh overall, going so far as to ask he wear a red tie to match the team colours. However, the Red Wings instead chose

Shawn Burr Shawn Christopher Burr (July 1, 1966 – August 5, 2013) was a professional ice hockey left winger. Burr played in the NHL for parts of 16 seasons from 1985 to 2000. Playing career Burr was drafted in the first round (seventh overall) by the De ...

. Instead, the

made Bodger their second choice of the draft; they had selected

Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux (; ; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played parts of 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2006, and he assumed ownership of the f ...

, who would become one of the greatest players in NHL history, first overall. Bodger made his NHL debut alongside Lemieux on October 11, 1984, against the

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 ...

. A shoulder separation limited his first season to 65 games, in which he had 5 goals and 26 assists. Bodger cited Lemieux, who led the team with 100 points, for helping him earn a lot of assists. The next season, he appeared in 79 games, scoring 37 points. Starting the 1988–89 season with the Penguins, Bodger was traded along with

Darrin Shannon Darrin Arthur Shannon (born December 8, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Buffalo Sabres and the Winnipeg Jets/ Phoenix Coyotes. He is the younger brother of Darryl Shannon and has 3 daughters with his w ...

to the

on November 12, 1988, for Tom Barasso and a third-round draft choice in the 1990 draft. He played 61 games with the Sabres that season, scoring 7 goals and 40 assists, to make a total of 8 goals and 44 assists for the entire year. He would retire on December 14, 1999, with the

as the highest scoring defenceman from British Columbia.

Off the ice

Bodger has a wife, Tracy, and two children, son Ryne and daughter Rachel. In 2006, he was inducted into the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame.

International play

Bodger played for Canada at three World Championships, in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, 1996, and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

. Joining the Canadian national team for the first time in 1987, Bodger played in all ten games, scoring one goal and one assist as Canada finished fourth in the tournament. His next appearance in the World Championships was in 1996. In eight games, Bodger contributed three assists and was named the team's best defenceman as Canada won the silver medal. His third and final appearance for the national team was at the 1999 World Championships, where he scored three assists in ten games for the fourth place Canadians.

Awards

WHL

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodger, Doug 1966 births Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from British Columbia Kamloops Junior Oilers players Living people Los Angeles Kings players National Hockey League first-round draft picks New Jersey Devils players People from the Cowichan Valley Regional District Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players San Jose Sharks players Vancouver Canucks players