John Blue (ice hockey)

John Blue
Born (1966-02-19) February 19, 1966 (age 58)
Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Right
Played for Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
University of Minnesota
National team  United States
NHL draft 197th overall, 1986
Winnipeg Jets
Playing career 1987–1997

John Thomas Blue (born February 19, 1966) is an American former ice hockey goaltender. He played 46 games in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres between 1992 and 1996. The majority of his career, which lasted from 1987 to 1995, was spent in various minor leagues. Internationally Blue was part of the American national team at the 1988 Winter Olympics, but he did not play. He also was part of the American team at three World Championships, though only played one game, in the 1990 and 1997 tournaments.

Playing career

Blue was the starting goaltender for each of his three seasons on the University of Minnesota hockey team (1984–87). He was named a WCHA First Team All-Star in 1986[1] and won 64 games during his Gopher career, the fourth highest win total in team history.[2]

During the 1983–84 season he played in the USHL for the Des Moines Buccaneers.[3] He was drafted in the tenth round, 197th overall, by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft. Blue made his NHL debut on January 7, 1993 against the Quebec Nordiques.[4] He played in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres and was the first Californian goaltender in the history of the National Hockey League.

International play

He was a backup goalie for the American national team at the 1988 Winter Olympics, but did not play any games.[5] Blue was also part of the American team at the 1990 and 1992 World Championships, only played 5 games in 1990. Named to the national team once more for the 1997 World Championships, he played in one game.

Personal life

Blue was born in Huntington Beach, California, then left for Spokane, Washington at age 5. He began ice skating in Spokane, then after his family moved to San Jose, he became youth goaltender for the Santa Clara Blackhawks [6] in Northern California.[7]

Throughout his career, he called Huntington Beach his offseason home. He currently works as a pastor after having become deeply involved in religious studies during his playing days.[8]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1983–84 Des Moines Buccaneers USHL 15 — — — 753 63 0 5.02 — — — — — — — — —
1984–85 University of Minnesota WCHA 34 23 10 0 1964 111 2 3.39 .886 — — — — — — — —
1985–86 University of Minnesota WCHA 29 20 6 0 1588 80 2 3.02 .890 — — — — — — — —
1986–87 University of Minnesota WCHA 33 21 9 1 1889 99 3 3.14 .889 — — — — — — — —
1987–88 United States Intl 13 3 4 1 588 33 0 3.37 — — — — — — — — —
1987–88 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 15 3 8 4 847 65 0 4.60 .874 1 0 1 40 6 0 9.00 —
1988–89 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 17 8 6 0 970 69 0 4.27 .879 — — — — — — — —
1988–89 Virginia Lancers ECHL 10 — — — 570 38 0 4.00 .896 — — — — — — — —
1989–90 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 19 5 10 3 986 92 0 5.65 .853 — — — — — — — —
1989–90 Knoxville Cherokees ECHL 19 6 10 1 1000 85 0 5.15 .877 — — — — — — — —
1989–90 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 4 2 1 1 232 18 0 4.65 .892 — — — — — — — —
1990–91 Maine Mariners AHL 10 3 4 2 545 22 0 2.42 .927 1 0 1 40 7 0 10.50 —
1990–91 Albany Choppers IHL 19 11 6 0 1077 71 0 3.96 — — — — — — — — —
1990–91 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 1 1 0 0 64 2 0 1.88 — — — — — — — — —
1990–91 Peoria Rivermen IHL 4 4 0 0 240 12 0 3.00 .896 — — — — — — — —
1990–91 Knoxville Cherokees ECHL 3 1 1 0 149 13 0 5.23 .849 — — — — — — — —
1991–92 Maine Mariners AHL 43 11 23 6 2168 165 1 4.57 .862 — — — — — — — —
1992–93 Boston Bruins NHL 23 9 8 4 1322 64 1 2.90 .893 2 0 1 96 5 0 3.12 .898
1992–93 Providence Bruins AHL 19 14 4 1 1159 67 0 3.47 .898 — — — — — — — —
1993–94 Boston Bruins NHL 18 5 8 3 944 47 0 2.99 .885 — — — — — — — —
1993–94 Providence Bruins AHL 24 7 11 4 1298 76 1 3.51 .880 — — — — — — — —
1994–95 Providence Bruins AHL 10 6 3 0 577 30 0 3.11 .888 4 1 3 219 19 0 5.19 .854
1995–96 Buffalo Sabres NHL 5 2 2 0 255 15 0 3.52 .891 — — — — — — — —
1995–96 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 8 1 5 0 309 21 0 4.07 .866 — — — — — — — —
1995–96 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 5 1 2 2 249 19 0 4.58 .844 — — — — — — — —
1995–96 Rochester Americans AHL 14 4 6 1 672 41 0 3.66 .878 1 0 1 27 1 0 2.24 .909
1996–97 Austin Ice Bats WPHL 33 17 11 5 1955 113 1 3.47 .906 2 0 2 97 11 0 6.82 .836
NHL totals 46 16 18 7 2522 126 1 3.00 .890 2 0 1 96 5 0 3.12 .898

International

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1990 United States WC 5 2 2 0 204 17 0 4.99 —
1997 United States WC 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1.00 .958
Senior totals 6 3 2 0 264 18 0 4.09 —

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-WCHA Second Team 1984–85 [9]
All-WCHA First Team 1985–86 [9]

References

  1. ^ "John Blue". NHL Player Search: Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  2. ^ "Goaltending Records". Gophersports.com. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  3. ^ "John Blue at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com.
  4. ^ "Quebec Nordiques at Boston Bruins Box Score — January 7, 1993 - Hockey-Reference.com". Hockey-Reference.com.
  5. ^ "Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- Player -- John Blue". www.legendsofhockey.net.
  6. ^ "Blackhawks Soaring to New Heights" (PDF). calirubber.com. Good Sport Media. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  7. ^ "Orange County Register - John Blue spent life as hockey goalie, then God called (June 12, 2013)". 2013-06-12.
  8. ^ "livinglightnews.org - livinglightnews Resources and Information". www.livinglightnews.org.
  9. ^ a b "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.