Craig Harlan Janney (born September 26, 1967) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League from 1987–88 until 1998–99, when blood clots ended his career prematurely.

Craig Janney
Janney in 1987
Born (1967-09-26) September 26, 1967 (age 56)
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
St. Louis Blues
San Jose Sharks
Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes
Tampa Bay Lightning
New York Islanders
National team  United States
NHL Draft 13th overall, 1986
Boston Bruins
Playing career 1987–1999

Playing career edit

Known as an excellent puck-distributing center, Janney averaged nearly one point per game in his NHL career. Janney was drafted in the first round, 13th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, and also played in the 1987 World Ice Hockey Championships, 1991 Canada Cup and the 1994 World Ice Hockey Championships for Team USA.

Prior to his NHL career, Janney attended Enfield High School in Enfield, Connecticut before attending Deerfield Academy. Janney played for the Boston College Eagles during his collegiate years, and he also played on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team that finished seventh at the Calgary Olympic Games, where he had six points in five Olympic contests.

In 1992, the Boston Bruins traded Janney with Stephane Quintal to the St. Louis Blues for Adam Oates. Two years later, the St. Louis Blues signed restricted free agent Petr Nedvěd who was in a contract dispute with the Vancouver Canucks. An arbitrator awarded the Canucks a second round draft pick along with Craig Janney. Both teams were not satisfied with the decision and the Canucks traded Janney back for Jeff Brown, Bret Hedican and Nathan LaFayette. In 1995, the St. Louis Blues traded Janney to the San Jose Sharks for Jeff Norton and a conditional draft pick. One year later, Janney was traded to the Winnipeg Jets for Darren Turcotte and a second round draft pick.[1] Janney joined the team when it relocated to become the Phoenix Coyotes, before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 11, 1998, along for the rights to Louie DeBrusk and a 5th round pick in 1998.[2]

In 2004, Craig Janney was honored as having "The Softest Hands in Hockey" by the NHL Alumni Board. On February 13, 2007 Janney was named the interim head coach of the Lubbock Cotton Kings of the CHL. He would finish the season, but the Lubbock Cotton Kings would cease operations at the end of the 2007 season.

Recently, Janney has been appearing on NESN for Hockey East coverage. He currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife, former model Kim Janney and daughter Barrette Janney.

Janney is a 1996 inductee of the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame.[3]

Career statistics edit

Regular season and playoffs edit

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1984–85 Deerfield Academy HS-Prep 17 35 33 68 6
1985–86 Boston College HE 34 13 14 27 8
1986–87 Boston College HE 37 28 55 83 6
1987–88 United States Intl 52 26 44 70 6
1987–88 Boston Bruins NHL 15 7 9 16 0 23 6 10 16 11
1988–89 Boston Bruins NHL 62 16 46 62 12 10 4 9 13 21
1989–90 Boston Bruins NHL 55 24 38 62 4 18 3 19 22 2
1990–91 Boston Bruins NHL 77 26 66 92 8 18 4 18 22 11
1991–92 Boston Bruins NHL 53 12 39 51 20
1991–92 St. Louis Blues NHL 25 6 30 36 2 6 0 6 6 0
1992–93 St. Louis Blues NHL 84 24 82 106 12 11 2 9 11 0
1993–94 St. Louis Blues NHL 69 16 68 84 24 4 1 3 4 0
1994–95 St. Louis Blues NHL 8 2 5 7 0
1994–95 San Jose Sharks NHL 27 5 15 20 10 11 3 4 7 4
1995–96 San Jose Sharks NHL 71 13 49 62 26
1995–96 Winnipeg Jets NHL 13 7 13 20 0 6 1 2 3 0
1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 77 15 38 53 26 7 0 3 3 4
1997–98 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 68 10 43 53 12 6 0 3 3 0
1998–99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 38 4 18 22 10
1998–99 New York Islanders NHL 18 1 4 5 4
NHL totals 760 188 563 751 170 120 24 86 110 53

International edit

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1985 United States WJC 7 4 2 6 0
1986 United States WJC 3 1 1 2 2
1987 United States WC 10 1 0 1 0
1988 United States OG 6 3 1 4 2
1991 United States CC 8 4 2 6 0
1994 United States WC 7 2 5 7 0
Junior totals 10 5 3 8 2
Senior totals 31 10 8 18 2

Awards and honors edit

Award Year
All-Hockey East First Team 1986–87 [4]
AHCA East First-Team All-American 1986–87 [5]
Hockey East All-Tournament Team 1987 [6]

References edit

  1. ^ "Craig Janney Stats and Profile". hockeydb.com.
  2. ^ "First and Last trade for every Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager". SBNation. September 29, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  3. ^ "Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame". www.enfieldathletichof.org. Archived from the original on 2018-01-13.
  4. ^ "Hockey East All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  5. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  6. ^ "2013-14 Hockey East Media Guide". Hockey East. Retrieved 2014-05-19.

External links edit

Sporting positions
Preceded by Boston Bruins first round draft pick
1986
Succeeded by
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Hockey East Scoring Champion
1986–87
Succeeded by