John Brophy (hockey)
| John Brophy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
January 20, 1933 Antigonish, NS, CAN |
||
| Died | May 23, 2016 (aged 83) Antigonish, NS, CAN |
||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Baltimore/Charlotte Clippers Jersey Devils Long Island Ducks Milwaukee Chiefs Moncton Hawks New Haven Blades Philadelphia Ramblers Troy Uncle Sam Trojans |
||
| NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 1952–1973 | ||
John Duncan Brophy (January 20, 1933 – May 23, 2016) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and former hockey player who spent most of his career in minor professional leagues, including 18 years as a player in the Eastern Hockey League and 13 seasons as a coach in the East Coast Hockey League. From 1986 to 1988 the native of Antigonish was head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League.
Brophy was a tough defenceman who played 18 seasons in the Eastern Hockey League, racking up nearly 4,000 career penalty minutes between 1955 and 1973—the most in EHL history—playing parts of nine seasons with the Long Island Ducks and retiring at the age of 40.
On August 5, 1967, Brophy was involved in a car crash. He survived but his passenger, Dorothea Schiavone, was killed.
He had a part as a referee in a Schaeffer Beer commercial which aired for about five years on various New York television stations.
Brophy had briefly been player-coach with the Ducks in the 1968–69 season, and became a full-time coach following his retirement as a player. He coached the Hampton Gulls for four seasons until the team folded during the 1977–78 season. He then joined the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association as assistant to coach Glen Sonmor, becoming head coach in 1978–79 when Sonmor joined the Minnesota North Stars. His team finished last in the league, but included several future NHL stars at the beginning of their professional careers: Rick Vaive, Michel Goulet, Rob Ramage, Craig Hartsburg, and Gaston Gingras, as well as a 36-year-old Paul Henderson. Even though his team was the only one in the league not to make the playoffs, Brophy was awarded the Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy as the WHA's coach of the year.
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