Bruce Landon
Bruce Landon (born October 5, 1949) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender who was the longtime part-owner, president and general manager of the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League.
| Bruce Landon | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
October 5, 1949 London, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | ||
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Goalie | ||
| Played for | New England Whalers | ||
| Playing career | 1969–1978 | ||
Playing career
Following a successful junior career with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, Landon was selected in the fourth round of the 1969 amateur draft by the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. He played three seasons for their minor-league affiliate Springfield Kings, backing up future Hockey Hall of Famer Billy Smith as the Kings won the AHL's Calder Cup championship in 1971. In 1973, Landon signed with the upstart World Hockey Association's New England Whalers and was the team's backup goaltender for five seasons. His best season was 1976, where despite a losing record provoked by the Whalers' anemic offense, he had a goals against average of 3.47, good for 9th place in the high scoring WHA.
He had a second stint with Springfield at the start of the 1977–78 AHL season, but suffered a career-ending knee injury in practice and retired at age 28.
Landon finished his WHA career with 50 wins, 50 losses and 9 ties in 122 games, recording two shutouts and a 3.46 goals against average.
Hockey executive
After his retirement, Landon was hired by the Springfield Indians as an executive and broadcaster, and won the AHL's Ken McKenzie Award as the individual who best promoted his team in 1979 and the James C. Hendy Memorial Award in 1981 as the league's top executive. In 1982, Landon became the general manager of the Springfield AHL team, and remained in that position for the remainder of the Indians' existence, leading the franchise to its final two Calder Cup championships in 1990 and 1991.
When the Indians were sold to out-of-town interests in 1994 and moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, Landon put together an investment group to secure an expansion franchise from the AHL, the Springfield Falcons. The league, which is based in nearby West Springfield, was keen to maintain a presence in a city that has been hosted a team in the AHL and its predecessors for all but seven years since 1926. Landon was the president and general manager of the Falcons until 2014.
On November 3, 2007, the American Hockey League, in recognition of his years of service to hockey, held a "Bruce Landon Night" in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center.[1]
On February 4, 2014, Landon ended an era, stepping down as President, General Manager and co-owner of the Springfield Falcons, and was named director of hockey operations by the team until the spring of 2016, when he retired shortly before the team was relocated to Tucson, Arizona. He was subsequently named a senior consultant by its successor franchise, the Springfield Thunderbirds, from which position he is retiring at the end of the 2016-17 AHL season.
Landon was honored by the city of Springfield on June 15, 2016, by the renaming of a downtown street "Bruce Landon Way."
References
- The Hockey News, November 20, 2007, page 41