James Lawrence Niekamp (March 11, 1946 – October 10, 2022) was an American 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 ...

player who played 383 games in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

and 29 games 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 ...

from 1970 to 1977. Niekamp played for 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 ...

Los Angeles Sharks The Los Angeles Sharks were an ice hockey team that played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 to 1974. Their primary home arena was the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena but they sometimes played at the Long Beach Sports Arena when ...

and Phoenix Roadrunners. Niekamp lived in the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

area and was the color commentator for the radio broadcasts of Phoenix RoadRunners home games. He died on October 10, 2022, at the age of 76.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

* 1946 births 2022 deaths American men's ice hockey defensemen Baltimore Clippers players Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Detroit Red Wings players Fort Worth Wings players Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) players Ice hockey people from Detroit Los Angeles Sharks players Phoenix Roadrunners (PHL) players Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA) players Tidewater Wings players Toledo Blades players {{US-icehockey-defenceman-stub