Jamie Rivers

For the American football player of the same name, see Jamie Rivers (American football).
Jamie Rivers
Born (1975-03-16) March 16, 1975 (age 49)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 206 lb (93 kg; 14 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for St. Louis Blues
New York Islanders
Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins
Florida Panthers
Detroit Red Wings
Phoenix Coyotes
Spartak Moscow
HC Ambri-Piotta
KHL Medveščak
NHL draft 63rd overall, 1993
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 1995–2011

Jamie Rivers (born March 16, 1975) is a Canadian professional broadcaster and former professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player. He currently serves as the color commentator for St. Louis Blues broadcasts on Bally Sports Midwest, as well as a co-host on the 101 ESPN St. Louis radio program The Fast Lane. Rivers was the head coach and General Manager of the Central Hockey League's St. Charles Chill. Rivers played 454 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He last played in Europe for KHL Medveščak. He is Huron First Nations.[1]

Playing career

Rivers during his stint at KHL Medveščak

Rivers was drafted in the third round, 63rd overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Jamie Rivers also has a brother, Shawn, who played for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has represented Canada at the 2009 Spengler Cup.

On November 19, 2009, Rivers returned to Europe after a season in the American Hockey League with the Chicago Wolves to join HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss National League A.[2]

In the succeeding 2010–11 season, Rivers remained in Europe and following a trial signed with KHL Medveščak, at the time a member of the Austrian Hockey League, on December 16, 2010.[3] During his 14th game with Medveščak, Rivers suffered a ruptured spleen after completing a check. After initially going undiagnosed, a few days later Rivers was rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery. Suffering a large amount of internal bleeding, Rivers' heart stopped before he was electronically defibrillated back to life. Rivers was ruled out for the remainder of the season and returned to St. Louis, where he now lives with his wife Shannon, 22-year-old daughter Karson, 19-year-old twin boys Ashton and Braydon, and 14-year-old McKinnon.[4][5]

Post-playing career

On September 17, 2012, Rivers was named head coach of the St. Charles Chill of the Central Hockey League.[6][7] The team played for one season, 2013-2014, before ceasing operations.

On August 16, 2023, he was promoted as their color commentator for St. Louis Blues broadcasts on Bally Sports Midwest. Previously, he served as a studio analyst and fill-in color commentator for Darren Pang, a role he shared with Bernie Federko, in select games.[8][9][10][11]

Rivers is a co-host on the 101 ESPN St. Louis radio program The Fast Lane, with Anthony Stalter and Super Bowl Champion Carey Davis.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1990–91 Ottawa Jr. Senators CJHL 44 4 30 34 74 — — — — —
1991–92 Sudbury Wolves OHL 55 3 13 16 20 8 0 0 0 0
1992–93 Sudbury Wolves OHL 62 12 43 55 20 14 7 19 26 4
1993–94 Sudbury Wolves OHL 65 32 89 121 58 10 1 9 10 14
1994–95 Sudbury Wolves OHL 46 9 56 65 30 18 7 26 33 22
1995–96 Worcester IceCats AHL 75 7 45 52 130 4 0 1 1 4
1995–96 St. Louis Blues NHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1996–97 Worcester IceCats AHL 63 8 35 43 83 5 1 2 3 14
1996–97 St. Louis Blues NHL 15 2 5 7 6 — — — — —
1997–98 St. Louis Blues NHL 59 2 4 6 36 — — — — —
1998–99 St. Louis Blues NHL 76 2 5 7 47 9 1 1 2 2
1999–2000 New York Islanders NHL 75 1 16 17 84 — — — — —
2000–01 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2000–01 Ottawa Senators NHL 45 2 4 6 44 1 0 0 0 4
2001–02 Ottawa Senators NHL 2 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2001–02 Boston Bruins NHL 64 4 2 6 45 3 0 0 0 0
2002–03 Florida Panthers NHL 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2002–03 San Antonio Rampage AHL 50 6 19 25 68 3 0 1 1 10
2003–04 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 2 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2003–04 Detroit Red Wings NHL 50 3 4 7 41 2 0 0 0 2
2004–05 Hershey Bears AHL 50 7 13 20 46 — — — — —
2005–06 Detroit Red Wings NHL 15 0 1 1 12 — — — — —
2005–06 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 18 0 5 5 26 — — — — —
2006–07 St. Louis Blues NHL 31 1 3 4 36 — — — — —
2006–07 Peoria Rivermen AHL 30 4 19 23 24 — — — — —
2007–08 Spartak Moscow RSL 19 0 3 3 42 4 0 0 0 8
2008–09 Chicago Wolves AHL 69 4 24 28 72 — — — — —
2009–10 HC Ambrì–Piotta NLA 24 0 8 8 34 — — — — —
2010–11 KHL Medveščak EBEL 14 1 8 9 37 — — — — —
AHL totals 339 36 155 191 427 12 1 4 5 28
NHL totals 454 17 49 66 385 15 1 1 2 8

International

Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Red Deer
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
1995 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 3 3 6 2
Junior totals 7 3 3 6 2

Awards and honours

Award Year Notes
OHL
First All-Star Team 1993–94
Max Kaminsky Trophy 1993–94 [2]
CHL Second All-Star Team 1993–94
Second All-Star Team 1994–95
AHL
Second All-Star Team 1996–97

References

  1. ^ "National Hockey League embraces aboriginals - Indian Country Media Network". indiancountrymedianetwork.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  2. ^ a b "Former team Canada and World Junior Star signs with Ambri-Piotta" (in French). HC Ambri-Piotta. 2009-11-19. Retrieved 2010-04-02.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Rivers remains with Bears" (in Croatian). KHL Medveščak. 2010-12-16. Archived from the original on 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  4. ^ Strickland, Andy (2011-02-07). "Former NHL D-man nearly loses life playing overseas". TrueHockey.com. Archived from the original on 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  5. ^ Leeson, Ben (December 4, 2014). "Rivers looks back fondly on time in Sudbury". Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  6. ^ "St. Charles Chill Introduce Jamie Rivers as Head Coach". CentralHockeyLeague.com. Central Hockey League. September 17, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  7. ^ RUTHERFORD, JEREMY (2012-09-18). "Rivers named head coach of St. Charles Chill". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  8. ^ Rutherford, Jeremy. "Jamie Rivers named new Blues' TV color analyst: 'I'm not going to try to be Darren Pang'". The Athletic. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  9. ^ Clancy, Sam (August 16, 2023). "Jamie Rivers named lead TV analyst for Blues TV broadcasts, replacing Darren Pang". ksdk.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  10. ^ Caesar, Dan (2023-08-16). "Jamie Rivers to replace Darren Pang on Bally Sports Midwest's Blues telecasts this season". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  11. ^ Caesar, Dan (2023-08-18). "Jamie Rivers, succeeding Darren Pang on Blues TV, is 'going to be who I am:' Media Views". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.