Age: 68
Dave Taylor
Age: 68
David Andrew Taylor (born December 4, 1955) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Los Angeles Kings from 1977-94. Following his playing career, he served as the Kings' general manager from 1997 to 2006, and currently serves as Vice President of Hockey Operations with the NHL's St. Louis Blues.
Playing career
Taylor played collegiate hockey at Clarkson University, where he still holds the school record for career points (251) goals (98) and assists (153) as well as single season goals (41) assists (67) and points (108) in the 1976-77 campaign; in comparison, opposing teams scored a combined 127 goals on Clarkson that year.
Taylor was a member of the Triple Crown Line along with centre Marcel Dionne and left winger Charlie Simmer. All three scored more than 100 points in the 1980-81 season with the Kings; Taylor scored 112 points that season (with Dionne and Simmer scoring 135 and 105 points, respectively). He holds the Kings record for games played with 1,111 and served as team captain from 1985-1989.
Taylor is the lowest-drafted player to net 1,000 career points, drafted in the 15th round (210th overall) of the 1975 NHL draft. The Los Angeles Kings have retired #18 in his honor.
Front office
Taylor was hired as the General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings in 1997 and held the position until 2006, when a front office reshuffling saw him assume the position of Director of Amateur Development. With a record of 290-261-74-31, Taylor was the winningest GM in Kings’ history. He later moved to the Dallas Stars and served as the team's Director of Player Personnel for three seasons.
Taylor was hired by the St. Louis Blues on July 1, 2010, as Vice President of Hockey Operations.
Personal
Taylor has dealt with stuttering since childhood. The speech disorder once forced him to drop a college class when he discovered that an oral presentation would be required. When interviewed after games early in his professional hockey career, Taylor would attempt to conceal his stuttering by faking hyperventilation as a means of providing him with fluency. Taylor credits Los Angeles-based Speech-Language Pathologist Vivian Sheehan for assisting him in his triumph over stuttering.
Taylor and his wife Beth currently reside near Los Angeles with their two daughters, Jamie and Katie.
Awards and honors
Award | Year |
---|---|
All-ECAC First Team | 1976-77 |
AHCA East All-American | 1976-77 |
- Selected to four NHL All-Star Games: 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1994
- NHL Second All-Star Team selection: 1981
- Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy winner: 1991
- King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner: 1991
Playing statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1973-74 | Onaping Falls Huskies | NOJHL | 45 | 67 | 76 | 143 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1974-75 | Clarkson Golden Knights | ECAC | 32 | 30 | 24 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1975-76 | Clarkson Golden Knights | ECAC | 31 | 26 | 33 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1976-77 | Clarkson Golden Knights | ECAC | 34 | 41 | 67 | 108 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1976-77 | Fort Worth Texans | CHL | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1977-78 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 64 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 47 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
1978-79 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 78 | 43 | 48 | 91 | 124 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
1979-80 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 61 | 37 | 53 | 90 | 72 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
1980-81 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 72 | 47 | 65 | 112 | 130 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | ||
1981-82 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 78 | 39 | 67 | 106 | 130 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 20 | ||
1982-83 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 46 | 21 | 37 | 58 | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1983-84 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 63 | 20 | 49 | 69 | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1984-85 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 79 | 41 | 51 | 92 | 132 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | ||
1985-86 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 76 | 33 | 38 | 71 | 110 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1986-87 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 67 | 18 | 44 | 62 | 84 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||
1987-88 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 68 | 26 | 41 | 67 | 129 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | ||
1988-89 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 70 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 80 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 19 | ||
1989-90 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 58 | 15 | 26 | 41 | 96 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | ||
1990-91 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 73 | 23 | 30 | 53 | 148 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||
1991-92 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 77 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 63 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 | ||
1992-93 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 48 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 49 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 31 | ||
1993-94 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 33 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
NHL totals | 1111 | 431 | 638 | 1069 | 1589 | 92 | 26 | 33 | 59 | 149 |
International
Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | Canada | WC | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | |
1985 | Canada | WC | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |
1986 | Canada | WC | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | |
Senior totals | 30 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 20 |