Graeme Scott Townshend (born October 23, 1965) is a Jamaican-born Canadian retired

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 ...

right 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 ...

. He was the first Jamaican-born player to play 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), and played 45 games in the NHL between 1990 and 1993. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1989 to 1999, was spent in the minor leagues.

Playing career

Prior to starting his professional career, Townshend played four seasons at RPI in

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

, serving as a team captain during the 1987–88 season. He also played for the Mimico Monarchs of the Central Junior "B" Hockey League. Townshend started his

career with 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 ...

. He scored his first NHL goal on February 2, 1991 in Boston's 6-2 loss at Pittsburgh. He also played with the New York Islanders and

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

. His NHL career lasted from

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

. He played in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) for the Maine Mariners,

Capital District Islanders The Capital District Islanders were a team in the American Hockey League based in Troy, New York, which is located within a region popularly called the Capital District. The Islanders were the principal minor league affiliate of the National Hock ...

, and

Prince Edward Island Senators The Prince Edward Island Senators were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1993 to 1996. Originally located in New Haven, Connecticut, for 21 seasons, including one as the affiliate of the National ...

. Townshend also played in the International Hockey League with the Houston Aeros,

Minnesota Moose The Minnesota Moose were an American professional ice hockey team based out of Saint Paul, Minnesota that played in the International Hockey League from 1994 to 1996. History Following the departure of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Nor ...

, and

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Star ...

and in the

Western Professional Hockey League The Western Professional Hockey League (abbreviated WPHL) is a defunct minor professional ice hockey league. The WPHL operated from 1996 to 2001 with teams based in the southern United States, primarily Texas and Louisiana. The league started with ...

for the Lake Charles Ice Pirates. His professional playing career lasted for 10 seasons. Townshend was distinguished by the International Hockey League and the Western Professional Hockey League as the Man of The Year for his leadership on and off the ice and for his contributions to his community.

Post-playing career

After his retirement, Townshend coached professional hockey for the Macon Whoopee of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

and the

Greensboro Generals The Greensboro Generals were an East Coast Hockey League team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and played at the Greensboro Coliseum from 1999 to 2004. The name was originally used by the Greensboro Generals in the Eastern Hockey League. Th ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. For four years, he served as the player development coordinator for the NHL's

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 ...

(one of only 3 in the NHL). His primary responsibility was to prepare all Sharks players and prospects with the skills required for the "new" NHL, most notably, enhancing their skating skills. On September 9, 2008, he was hired as the skating coach for the NHL's

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 ...

. He held the position until the end of the 2012 season. In December 2011, Townshend was approached by E. J. Phillipps, co-founder of the

Jamaican Olympic Ice Hockey Federation The Jamaican Olympic Ice Hockey Federation (JOIHF) is the governing body of ice hockey in Jamaica. History The JOIHF was founded in late 2011, and was accepted into the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on 18 May 2012. The JOIHF has b ...

(JOIHF) and asked to serve as its first head coach. As a head coach, he organized the first player identification and tryout camp for the new organization in August 2014. Townshend continues to be a head coach of the Jamaica men's national junior team, with aspirations of making it to the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. Townshend was inducted into the Canadian Black Hockey Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Townshend was born in Kingston, Jamaica, but was raised in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario, Canada when his family moved there in 1969. He has a brother, Kurt, who was also born in Kingston, Jamaica, and sister, Laurie, who was born in Toronto, Ontario. He is married to Lori-Ann Townshend.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Townshend, Graeme 1965 births Living people Black Canadian ice hockey players Boston Bruins players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey right wingers Capital District Islanders players ECHL coaches Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey people from Ontario Jamaican emigrants to Canada Jamaican expatriates in Canada Jamaican ice hockey players Lake Charles Ice Pirates players Maine Mariners players Minnesota Moose players New York Islanders players Ottawa Senators players Prince Edward Island Senators players Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni RPI Engineers men's ice hockey players San Jose Sharks coaches Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Sportspeople from Toronto Toronto Maple Leafs coaches Undrafted National Hockey League players Utah Grizzlies (IHL) players