John Davidson
John Davidson has been a fixture in the NHL for almost 50 years, as a player, announcer, and executive. He was drafted fifth overall in 1973 by the Blues. After two seasons in St. Louis, he joined the Rangers in 1975. His career in net wasn’t exactly stellar, but a highlight was taking the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1979 while nursing a knee injury that would eventually need surgery to correct.
Led by Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais (acquired from Boston in exchange for Rangers legends Brad Park and Jean Ratelle), New York won the first game and had a 2-0 lead in the second contest. It was all downhill from there, as Montreal took the Cup in five games. 1979 was the last meeting of Original Six teams in the Finals for 34 years.
Never able to keep free of injuries, Davidson retired in 1983 and entered the broadcast booth.
The St. Louis Blues named him team president in 2006. Six years later, he took the same position with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In May 2019, J.D. was named president of the New York Rangers, tabbed to lead the team through their post-Letter rebuilding phase.
John Davidson trivia:
Davidson and Martin Biron are the only two players in NHL history to wear the jersey number 00.
Davidson inspired a hit song. In the 1977 season, he suffered a concussion and was taken off the ice. Two members of the band Foreigner were watching the game and heard the announcers say the goalie would not return and was suffering from “double vision”. And the rest is rock history.