Biography

Playing career

After a junior career with the London Knights, Hamilton Red Wings, and Niagara Falls Flyers, he was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres and would play eleven seasons with that team, including spending time as the team's captain. He also played for the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins. He retired from hockey in 1985.

Coaching/general management career

Since retirement, he has served as the head coach of several NHL teams, including the Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, and Phoenix Coyotes. As an NHL head coach, Schoenfeld has compiled a record of 256-246-78 (.509). He is currently the general manager of the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, and assistant general manager of the New York Rangers.

Schoenfeld is remembered for an altercation with NHL referee Don Koharski after Game 3 of the 1988 Wales Conference Finals after his New Jersey Devils lost 6-1 to the Boston Bruins. During the argument Koharski fell down and accused Schoenfeld of pushing him. As people yelled at Schoenfeld, at least one saying "you're done", believing that he'd pushed Koharski, Schoenfeld continued arguing with Koharski who said he hoped that the entire exchange was on videotape. Schoenfeld yelled back, "Good, 'cause you fell, you fat pig! Have another doughnut! Have another doughnut!" as Koharski and the other officials headed to their dressing room. Schoenfeld was suspended by League disciplinarian Brian O'Neill for the following game, but the Devils sought a court order to overturn the suspension. About 40 minutes before the start of the game, New Jersey Superior Court Judge James F. Madden issued a restraining order allowing Schoenfeld to coach, subsequently triggering a walkout by the scheduled Game 4 officials,: referee Dave Newell and linesmen Gord Broseker and Ray Scapinello. After more than an hour's delay, three local off-ice officials - Paul McInnis, Jim Sullivan and Vin Godleski - were tracked down to work the game. Schoenfeld was later suspended for Game 5 and the officials returned to work.

This incident was parodied later in the movie Wayne's World, when a rather large and apathetic police officer named Officer Koharski hung out at the counter of Stan Mikita's Doughnut Shop. The movie used Stan Mikita's as the name of a doughnut shop, as a parody reference to the chain Tim Hortons. Coincidentally, during the final part of his career, Tim Horton himself teamed on defense with a young Jim Schoenfeld with the Buffalo Sabres. Later, Schoenfeld often paired with Jerry Korab.

On July 23, 2007, Schoenfeld was named New York Rangers assistant general manager to Glen Sather, replacing Don Maloney (who had become general manager of the Phoenix Coyotes franchise). Ken Gernander took over the head coach position in Hartford, while Schoenfeld retained his position of general manager for the farm team. On April 26, 2009, while serving as Interim Assistant Coach for the Rangers under Coach John Tortorella, Schoenfeld stepped in to act as Head Coach for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series against the Washington Capitals following Tortorella's one-game suspension for inappropriate fan contact in Game 5 of the series.

He had a strong positive effect on teams when he arrived mid-season.

Musical career

Schoenfeld also recorded two albums during his time in Buffalo, both of which were recorded in collaboration with Buffalo Music Hall of Fame singer and producer John Valby. The first, Schony, was released in 1972 and credited solely to Schoenfeld; the album consisted mostly of cover versions of a broad variety of songs (often radically rearranged from the originals), with two originals: the Valby-penned bluegrass tune "Barbecue in Heaven" and Schoenfeld's own "Before." He recorded a second album in 1974 entitled The Key Is Love; this album, which was credited to both Schoenfeld and Valby, consisted of all original songs.

Career statistics

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1969-70	London Knights	OHA-Jr.		16	1	4	5	81		—	—	—	—	—
1969-70	Hamilton Red Wings	OHA-Jr.		32	2	12	14	54		—	—	—	—	—
1970-71	Hamilton Red Wings	OHA-Jr.		25	3	19	22	120		—	—	—	—	—
1970-71	Niagara Falls Flyers	OHA-Jr.		30	3	9	12	85		—	—	—	—	—
1971-72	Niagara Falls Flyers	OHA-Jr.		40	6	46	52	215		6	0	0	0	32
1972-73	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		66	4	15	19	178		6	2	1	3	4
1973-74	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		28	1	8	9	56		—	—	—	—	—
1973-74	Cincinnati Swords	AHL		2	0	2	2	4		—	—	—	—	—
1974-75	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		68	1	19	20	184		17	1	4	5	38
1975-76	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		56	2	22	24	114		8	0	3	3	33
1976-77	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		65	7	25	32	97		6	0	0	0	12
1977-78	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		60	2	20	22	89		8	0	1	1	28
1978-79	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		46	8	17	25	67		3	0	1	1	0
1979-80	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		77	9	27	36	72		14	0	3	3	18
1980-81	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		71	8	25	33	110		8	0	0	0	14
1981-82	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		13	3	2	5	30		—	—	—	—	—
1981-82	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		39	5	9	14	69		—	—	—	—	—
1982-83	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		57	1	10	11	18		—	—	—	—	—
1983-84	Boston Bruins	NHL		39	0	2	2	20		—	—	—	—	—
1984-85	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		34	0	3	3	28		5	0	0	0	4
NHL totals				719	51	204	255	1132		75	3	13	16	151

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
		G	W	L	T	Pts	Division rank	Result
BUF	1985-86	43	19	19	5	(80)	5th in Adams	(Fired)
NJ	1987-88	30	17	12	1	(82)	4th in Patrick	Lost in Third round
NJ	1988-89	80	27	41	12	66	5th in Patrick	Missed Playoffs
NJ	1989-90	14	6	6	2	(83)	2nd in Patrick	(Fired)
WSH	1993-94	37	19	12	6	(82)	3rd in Atlantic	Lost in Second round
WSH	1994-95	48	22	18	8	52	3rd in Atlantic	Lost in First round
WSH	1995-96	82	39	32	11	89	4th in Atlantic	Lost in First round
WSH	1996-97	82	33	40	9	75	5th in Atlantic	Missed Playoffs
PHX	1997-98	82	35	35	12	82	4th in Central	Lost in First round
PHX	1998-99	82	39	31	12	90	2nd in Pacific	Lost in First round
Total		580	256	246	78	590

[ Source: Wikipedia ]