Mark Major (born March 20, 1970) 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 h ...
left 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 played two 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 ...
with the
Detroit Red Wings during the
1996–97 season. He was drafted 25th overall 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 ...
in the
1988 NHL Entry Draft. Major acquired many
penalty minutes
A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...
over his career due to his playing style, which involved battling in front of the net for loose pucks, scoring
garbage goals, and blocking the
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 ...
s view. Major only played in two
NHL
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 ...
games, for the
Detroit Red Wings. He also enjoyed a short career as a professional
roller hockey player in
Roller Hockey International
Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey.
History
League president Dennis Murphy had been involved in th ...
(RHI). Taking into account all of his hockey games played at a professional level, Major played in 1,339 games and acquired 4,334 penalty minutes, giving Major an average of 3.24 penalty minutes per game during his career. After 4 seasons and 2 Championships as head coach of the Amherstview Jets Junior A team, Major is taking a year off to help coach his daughter's Kingston Ice Wolves' Peewee AA team.
Professional career
Junior and early minor-league career
Major started receiving attention from NHL scouts while playing for the
Don Mills Flyers of the
MTHL in 1986. He advanced to the
North Bay Centennials
The North Bay Centennials were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, who played from 1982–2002. The team was based in North Bay, Ontario.
History
The North Bay Centennials or "Cents" as they were popularly known, were named afte ...
of the
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 overa ...
for the 1987–88 season and put up 33 points in 57 games to go along with a whopping 272 penalty minutes (PIM). Major averaged almost 5 penalty minutes a game, but his hard-nosed style was admired by NHL scouts and Major was selected 25th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the
1988 NHL Entry Draft. Now as an NHL prospect, Major gained confidence and began the 1988–89 season again with the Centennials before being traded 11 games into the
Kingston Raiders. He would remain in Kingston for that season and the next (when they were renamed the
Kingston Frontenacs), scoring 112 points and 361 PIMs, before moving up to the
Muskegon Lumberjacks
The Muskegon Lumberjacks are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League. They play in Muskegon, Michigan, at Mercy Health Arena. The Lumberjacks replaced the International Hockey League franchi ...
of the
International Hockey League. Major remained with the Lumberjacks for three seasons, scoring 77 points and 617 PIMs. He led the team in penalties during the 1991–92 season with 302 and would add another 29 PIMs in the Lumberjacks' playoff run which saw them lose four games to none in the finals to the
Kansas City Blades
The Kansas City Blades were a professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League (IHL) from 1990 until 2001, when the league folded. The Blades were based in Kansas City, Missouri, at Kemper Arena.
Team history
Russ and Diane Pa ...
. After his last season with the Lumberjacks, that included relocation to
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Major was let go by the parent club Pittsburgh and quickly signed as a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
by 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 ...
on July 22, 1993.
Major started play with Boston's affiliate the
Providence Bruins of 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 ...
. He scored 26 points along with 176 PIMs during the
1993–94 season, but Providence failed to make the playoffs. He was let go by the Bruins, and joined the
Detroit Vipers
The Detroit Vipers were an International Hockey League team. The team was founded in 1994, and played at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Their mascot was a polar bear named Vipe-bear.
History
Beginning
The Vipers were originally formed as the S ...
of the IHL for the following season. He continued to play aggressively, with his 36 points and 229 PIMs helping push the Vipers into the playoffs, but his play couldn't help them past the second round.
Major again caught the attention of an NHL team, when the Detroit Red Wings signed him as a free agent on June 26, 1995. He began play for the
Adirondack Red Wings
The Adirondack Red Wings were a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Glens Falls, New York, United States at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The team was affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings of the Nation ...
of the AHL in the
1995–96 season and scored 29 points while racking up 234 PIMs for second on the team. He was known as a player who wouldn't back down from a
fight, and he was involved in several fights during Adirondack's short playoff run that season, receiving 21 PIMs in just three games.
NHL appearance
Major received his first shot in the big leagues during the
1996–97 NHL season
The 1996–97 NHL season was the 80th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Philadelphia Flyers in four games and won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 42 years.
T ...
when he was brought up from Adirondack for two games starting on November 2, 1996. In his first game, halfway through the second period, Major
fought veteran instigator
Tie Domi
Tahir "Tie" Domi (born November 1, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Known as an enforcer, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets over a 16-year NHL career. He is the Maple Leafs' all ti ...
of the
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 ...
. Major held his own against Domi but was rewarded with a bloody nose and a five-minute major. Major played the following night and failed to impress the Detroit staff, which resulted in him being sent back down to the minors. Finishing the season with Adirondack, and leading the team in PIMs with 213, Major was let go by Detroit.
Late minor-league career
Major still had NHL interest and was quickly signed as a free agent on August 20, 1997, by the
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...
. He started out in their farm system playing for the
Portland Pirates of the AHL. In his
first season, Major was first on his team and second in the league for penalty minutes with 355. This was his career-high for PIMs in a season and as of 2007, he still holds the team record for penalty minutes in a single season. Major wasn't finished with 355 and added 52 more PIMs in 10 playoff games that year. The
following season he again led the team in PIMs and saw his point production decrease to only nine points in 66 games. He was let go by Washington and began play for the
Houston Aeros of the IHL in 1999. After just 20 games (with 81 PIMs), Major was signed as a free agent by the
Flint Generals
The Flint Generals were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at Perani Arena and Event Center. The Generals won two league championship ...
of the
United Hockey League
The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...
. He was named team
captain and finished out the 1999–00 season with the Generals scoring 41 points, his highest point total in years, and helped the team win the
Colonial Cup. He put up great numbers the following season when he finished with 46 points and 163 PIMs. Generals coach
Billy Thurlow had this to say about Major's style of play:
Anytime he's on the ice, people have to respect us. Nobody's going to shove us around.
He would also go on to join the AHL's
Hershey Bears
The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season maki ...
for two games in the
2000–01 season. In 2001, he joined the
Wheeling Nailers
The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey Lea ...
of the
East Coast Hockey League
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 E ...
and would go on to score 84 points in two seasons with the Nailers. The coach,
John Brophy, had this to say about Major returning for his second season in Wheeling:
We are very fortunate to have Mark return to the Nailers, not only are we getting a great player and a natural team leader, but a guy who is good in the community and represents the Nailers and Penguins organizations with class.[
]
The 2003–04 season would be Major's last, playing in 40 games for the
Laval Chiefs
Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of:
People
* House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne
* Laval (surname)
Places Belgium
* Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...
of the
QSMHL and 12 games for the
Kalamazoo Wings
The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate ...
of the UHL.
Playing roller hockey
Major was also an active member of the
Roller Hockey International League for its entire lifespan. Major played on the
Buffalo Stampede
The Buffalo Stampede was a basketball team in the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) that started as a franchise in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) in the 2009 season. The team was originally the NexxNow Buffalo Dragons (c ...
in 1994 and 1995, winning the
Murphy Cup
Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey.
History
League president Dennis Murphy had been involved in the ...
in 1994. He joined the
Empire State Cobras in 1996 and the
New Jersey Rockin' Rollers
The New Jersey Rockin' Rollers were a professional roller hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States that played in Roller Hockey International.
Club formation
Roller hockey in the Garden State almost never happened, as the ...
in 1997. When the RHI folded in 1997, Major continued playing with the
Buffalo Wings
A Buffalo wing in American cuisine is an unbreaded chicken wing section ( flat or drumette) that is generally deep-fried and then coated or dipped in a sauce consisting of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter prior to ser ...
of
Major League Roller Hockey
Major League Roller Hockey (MLRH) is a limited liability company which operates multiple inline hockey leagues and tournaments. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, MLRH is one of the only full-contact inline hockey competitions in the world.
...
in 1998 and joined the newly re-formed Roller Hockey International with Buffalo in 1999. The league folded for good after the 1999 season.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Roller hockey
Awards and achievements
*Murphy Cup Champion: 1994 (Buffalo Stampede – RHI)
*Colonial Cup Champion: 2000 (Flint Generals – UHL)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major, Mark
1970 births
Living people
Adirondack Red Wings players
Buffalo Stampede players
Buffalo Wings (inline hockey) players
Canadian ice hockey left wingers
Detroit Red Wings players
Detroit Vipers players
Empire State Cobras players
Flint Generals players
Hershey Bears players
Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players
Kingston Frontenacs players
Kingston Raiders players
Muskegon Lumberjacks players
New Jersey Rockin' Rollers players
North Bay Centennials players
Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks
Portland Pirates players
Providence Bruins players
Sportspeople from Toronto
Wheeling Nailers players