Tom McCarthy (ice hockey, born 1960)
Thomas Joseph McCarthy (born July 31, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 460 games in the National Hockey League for the Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins. McCarthy is currently the owner of the Espanola Express hockey team.
| Tom McCarthy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
July 31, 1960 Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
NHL Minnesota North Stars Boston Bruins AHL Moncton Golden Flames Maine Mariners | ||
| NHL Draft |
10th overall, 1979 Minnesota North Stars | ||
| Playing career | 1979–1988 | ||
Playing career
McCarthy was born in Toronto, Ontario. He was the first overall pick in the 1977 OMJHL Midget Draft, making him one of two players drafted ahead of Wayne Gretzky. He had 69 goals for the Oshawa Generals in the 1978–79 season.
In the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, he was chosen in the first round (tenth overall) by the Minnesota North Stars. He was selected to play in the 1983 NHL All-Star Game and finished the season with 39 goals. He went on to play seven seasons for the North Stars and two for the Boston Bruins, finishing his career with 178 goals and 399 points. He had 12 goals and 38 points in the playoffs.
Legal trouble
After he retired from the NHL, living in Minnesota, he became involved with drug dealer Carl Thompsen. His activities ended up with McCarthy receiving a sentence of five years and ten months for conspiracy to traffic a truck full of marijuana in 1994.[1] As he was considered an illegal alien by U.S. authorities, he was sent to the U.S. Federal Leavenworth Penitentiary. He started a hockey program at Leavenworth, earning the respect of his fellow inmates and, eventually, a transfer to a prison in Canada to complete the final year of his full sentence.[1]
Coaching career
After release from prison, McCarthy coached junior hockey in Mississauga, Ontario, before becoming head coach of the Huntsville Otters of the OPJHL, and later the Trenton Golden Hawks of the OJHL.
On June 27, 2011, he was named head coach of the North Bay Trappers Junior "A" Hockey Club of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). He remained there for two seasons, leading them to a NOJHL championship in 2013. In 2013, the Trappers' owner, Tim Clayden, created an expansion team called the Espanola Rivermen in the 2013–14 NOJHL season and McCarthy was brought on as head coach. McCarthy stayed with the Rivermen when they left the NOJHL to join Clayden's newly created league, the Canadian International Hockey League. That league only lasted one season and folded in 2015.
In May 2015, the NOJHL announced another expansion team in Espanola called the Express with McCarthy as one of the owners and head coach.[2]
In August 2016, McCarthy announced he was taking a head coaching position with HSC Csíkszereda in the Romanian Hockey League but would continue to remain involved with the Express as one of the owners.[3] He resigned as Csíkszereda‘s coach in late November 2016 and returned to Espanola as the Express‘ head coach for the 2017–18 season.[4]
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1976–77 | North York Rangers | OPJHL | 43 | 49 | 47 | 96 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | Kingston Canadiens | OMJHL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | Oshawa Generals | OMJHL | 62 | 47 | 46 | 93 | 72 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 1978–79 | Oshawa Generals | OMJHL | 63 | 69 | 75 | 144 | 98 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 1979–80 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 68 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 39 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 20 | ||
| 1980–81 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 62 | 23 | 25 | 48 | 62 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1981–82 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 40 | 12 | 30 | 42 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1982–83 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 80 | 28 | 48 | 76 | 59 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | ||
| 1983–84 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 66 | 39 | 31 | 70 | 49 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1984–85 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 44 | 16 | 21 | 37 | 36 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1985–86 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 25 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 68 | 30 | 29 | 59 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1986–87 | Moncton Golden Flames | AHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 18 | ||
| 1987–88 | Maine Mariners | AHL | 17 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | HC Asiago | ITA | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 18 | ||
| NHL totals | 460 | 178 | 221 | 399 | 330 | 68 | 12 | 26 | 38 | 67 | ||||
References
- Morrison, Scott (March 25, 2008). "Tom McCarthy Interview". Hockey Night in Canada. CBC Television. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- "ESPANOLA SCORES NEW JR. "A" HOCKEY TEAM". The Junior Hockey News. May 13, 2015.
- "ESPANOLA EXPRESS HEAD COACH TAKES PRO COACHING JOB". The Junior Hockey News. August 5, 2016.
- "ESPANOLA EXPRESS ANNOUNCE RETURN OF TOM MCCARTHY AS HEAD COACH". NOJHL. April 10, 2017.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database
- article at Slam Sports
- U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons listing
- page at Hockey Draft Central
- CBC - Tom McCarthy Story - Hockey night in Canada
- Former NHLer living the dream again . . . but in a different way
| Preceded by Craig Hartsburg |
Minnesota North Stars first round draft pick 1979 |
Succeeded by Brad Palmer |