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Jim Schoenfeld
Jimschoendeld
Position Defence
Shot Left
Height
Weight
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
206 lb (94 kg)
Teams Buffalo Sabres
Detroit Red Wings
Boston Bruins
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born (1952-09-04)September 4, 1952,
Galt, ON, CAN
NHL Draft 5th overall, 1972
Buffalo Sabres
Pro Career 1972 – 1985

James Grant Schoenfeld (born September 4, 1952) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He most recently was the assistant general manager with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as an interim assistant coach. He was previously a player and a head coach in the NHL for several teams.

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). In 2007, he was promoted from the head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League to assistant general manager of the New York Rangers, the Wolf Pack's NHL affiliate. At the time, he was also assigned to be the general manager of the Wolf Pack until he was relieved of those duties in 2017.[1]

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 falsely 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.[2][3] 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. The Devils went on to win the game by a score of 3–1, but Schoenfeld was later suspended for game 5, fined $1,000, his team $10,000, and the officials returned to work.[4]

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 defence 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.[5] On April 26, 2009, while serving as interim assistant coach for the Rangers under head coach John Tortorella, Schoenfeld stepped in to act as head coach for game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Washington Capitals following Tortorella's one-game suspension for inappropriate fan contact in game 5 of the series.[6] He stepped down from his positions of senior vice president and assistant general manager on May 16, 2019.[7]

Broadcasting career[]

In 1992, he joined ESPN as color commentator for regular season games with play-by-play man Gary Thorne.[8] However, in the 1993 playoffs, he worked as the studio analyst with Al Morganti, the other studio analyst, and host John Saunders.[9][10][11]

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 (before Valby's turn toward more ribald material). The first, Schony, was released in 1973 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.[12]

Career statistics[]

    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 1,132 75 3 13 16 151

Coaching record[]

Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
BUF 1985–86 43 19 19 5 (43) (fired)
NJD 1987–88 30 17 12 1 (35) 4th in Patrick Lost in Conference Finals
NJD 1988–89 80 27 41 12 66 5th in Patrick Missed playoffs
NJD 1989–90 14 6 6 2 (14) (fired)
WSH 1993–94 37 19 12 6 (44) 3rd in Atlantic Lost in Conference Semifinals
WSH 1994–95 48 22 18 8 52 3rd in Atlantic Lost in Conference Quarterfinals
WSH 1995–96 82 39 32 11 89 4th in Atlantic Lost in Conference Quarterfinals
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 Conference Quarterfinals
PHX 1998–99 82 39 31 12 90 2nd in Pacific Lost in Conference Quarterfinals
Total 580 256 246 78     6 playoff appearances

References[]

External links[]

Preceded by
Rick Martin
Buffalo Sabres first round draft pick
1972
Succeeded by
Morris Titanic
Preceded by
Gerry Meehan
Buffalo Sabres captain
19741977
Succeeded by
Danny Gare
Preceded by
Scotty Bowman
Head coach of the Buffalo Sabres
1985–1986
Succeeded by
Scotty Bowman
Preceded by
Doug Carpenter
Head coach of the New Jersey Devils
1987–1990
Succeeded by
John Cunniff
Preceded by
Terry Murray
Head coach of the Washington Capitals
1994–1997
Succeeded by
Ron Wilson
Preceded by
Don Hay
Head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes
1997–1999
Succeeded by
Bob Francis

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