Fred Creighton (June 24, 1930 in Port Arthur,

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 C ...

– September 28, 2011) was a Canadian

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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

and coach. Creighton is best known for his time as an NHL head coach. Creighton grew up in rural Manitoba. After completing his journeyman hockey career, he played in a variety of minor leagues between 1951 and 1964. He served as an assistant and later the head coach of the Charlotte Checkers of the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart ...

. He led the team from behind the bench for eight years, guiding the club to two Walker Cup Titles in 1970–71 and 1971–72. Creighton then coached the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

from

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. ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, making the playoffs in his final four seasons as coach but losing in the first round of each year's postseason. Creighton was hired as coach of 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 ...

, but failed to mesh with powerful GM and former coach

Harry Sinden Harry James Sinden (born September 14, 1932) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and executive. He served as a coach, general manager, and team president for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL), and was the coach of T ...

, who fired Creighton with 15 days left in the regular season. In 1981, Creighton was then hired to coach the

Indianapolis Checkers The Indianapolis Checkers were a minor league professional ice hockey team from Indianapolis, Indiana. The Checkers' home arena was the Fairgrounds Coliseum from 1981 to 1985 and Market Square Arena from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1985 to 1987. Th ...

, the top Central Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, where he led the team to Adams Cup championships in 1982 and 1983 and a spot in the CHL Finals in 1984. He became the Checkers' general manager when the team moved to the International Hockey League in 1984–85, and served as interim coach in the playoffs. In 1985, he again became the head coach of the Islanders' top affiliate, the AHL's Springfield Indians, full-time in 1985–86, and as a midseason replacement the following two years. After retirement, Creighton became a franchisee for

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pizza. He died in 2011 due to complications from Alzheimer's disease.

NHL coaching stats

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Creighton. Fred 1930 births 2011 deaths Atlanta Flames coaches Boston Bruins coaches Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Charlotte Checkers (EHL) players Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Eastern Hockey League coaches Flin Flon Bombers players Fort Wayne Komets players Ice hockey people from Ontario New Haven Blades players New Westminster Royals (WHL) players Portland Buckaroos players Providence Reds players Saskatoon Quakers players Seattle Americans players Spokane Comets players Sportspeople from Thunder Bay Neurological disease deaths in North Carolina