John McFarland (born April 2, 1992) is a Canadian 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 hock ...

winger 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) with the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

. He was taken first overall in the 2008

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

(OHL) Priority Selection by the

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...

. He was selected by the Panthers in the second round, 33rd overall, of the

2010 NHL Entry Draft The 2010 NHL Entry Draft was the 48th NHL Entry Draft, held on June 25–26, 2010 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, home arena of the Los Angeles Kings. This was the first time Los Angeles hosted the NHL Entry Draft. An unofficial re ...

. McFarland retired from professional hockey on February 6, 2019. In 2021, he was hired as an assistant coach for the OHL's

Kingston Frontenacs The Kingston Frontenacs are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The Frontenacs play home games at Leon's Centre, which opened in 2008. Team history predates the OHA, back to 1945, to a te ...

Playing career

In 2007, McFarland was turned down in his request to play in the OHL because of a

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

provision. Instead McFarland played the 2007–08 season with the

Toronto Jr. Canadiens The Toronto Jr. Canadiens are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were known as the Wexford Raiders until the end of the 2005–06 season and are a part of Ontario Junior Hockey Lea ...

, where he accumulated 165 points, with 96 goals, and 69 assists. McFarland was named the tournament's most valuable player at the 2008 OHL Showcase tournament, where he captained the Jr. Canadiens to an

OHL Cup The Ontario Hockey League Showcase Cup (more commonly known as the OHL Cup) is a tournament hosted by the Ontario Hockey League and operated by the Greater Toronto Hockey League with the purpose of providing an additional scouting opportunity to min ...

win. The Sudbury Wolves drafted McFarland first overall in the 2008 OHL Priority Selection. McFarland was the winner of the Jack Ferguson Award, which the OHL presents annually to the player picked first overall in the OHL Priority Selection. He then signed with the Wolves in August 2008. McFarland played his first OHL game on September 19, 2008. McFarland scored his first goal in the OHL on October 17, 2008 against

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

Trevor Cann from the Peterborough Petes in a 5–4 win. He then went on to win the OHL Rookie of the Month for October 2008, finishing the month with 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in 12 games. McFarland was drafted by the

33rd Overall in the

. On December 9, 2010, Sudbury traded McFarland (along with defenseman

Ben Chiarot Ben Chiarot (born May 9, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Chiarot was drafted 120th overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He has previ ...

and a third-round pick in 2011) to the Saginaw Spirit in exchange for

Michael Sgarbossa Michael Sgarbossa (born July 25, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). ...

, Alex Racino, Frank Schumacher and a fourth-round pick. After four seasons as a professional within the

organization, McFarland left as a free agent to sign a one-year contract with Finnish club, SaiPa of the top-tier

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

on July 24, 2016. McFarland spent two seasons abroad, with SaiPa of Finland and Swiss second division outfit

HC La Chaux-de-Fonds HC La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss professional ice hockey team who currently play in the Swiss League (SL). Founded in 1919, La Chaux-de-Fonds play at the Patinoire des Mélèzes in front of a capacity 7,200. History Hockey Club La Chaux-de-Fonds ...

before opting to return to North America as a free agent, and later securing a one-year AHL contract with the

Bakersfield Condors The Bakersfield Condors are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Bakersfield, California. The team is owned by and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their home g ...

, an affiliate to the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

, on August 1, 2018. In the 2018–19 season, McFarland opened the campaign with the Condors before he was reassigned to ECHL affiliate, the Wichita Thunder. He registered 4 assists in 10 games with the Thunder, before returning to the Condors. On February 1, 2019, McFarland was released from his contract with the Condors after opting to retire from professional hockey.

International play

During his rookie season in the OHL, McFarland competed for Team Ontario in the

2009 World U-17 Hockey Challenge The 2009 World U-17 Hockey Challenge was an international ice hockey tournament held in Campbell River, Courtenay, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, and Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada between December 29, 2008 and January 4, 2009. The ven ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

where his Team Canada won the gold medal. He was the tournament scoring leader, with a total of 12 points, and was also on the tournament all-star team. McFarland was named captain when he played for Team Canada at the

2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament The 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament was an under-18 ice hockey tournament held in Břeclav, Czech Republic and Piešťany, Slovakia from August 11–15, 2009. The two venues were Alcaplast Arena in Břeclav and Patrícia Ice Arena 37 in Pie� ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McFarland, John 1992 births Living people Bakersfield Condors players Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) players Florida Panthers draft picks Florida Panthers players Ice hockey people from Ontario HC La Chaux-de-Fonds players Ottawa 67's players Portland Pirates players Sportspeople from Richmond Hill, Ontario Saginaw Spirit players SaiPa players San Antonio Rampage players Sudbury Wolves players Wichita Thunder players