Craig Janney

Craig Janney
Janney in 1987
Born (1967-09-26) September 26, 1967
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
St. Louis Blues
San Jose Sharks
Winnipeg Jets
Phoenix Coyotes
Tampa Bay Lightning
New York Islanders
National team  United States
NHL draft 13th overall, 1986
Boston Bruins
Playing career 1987–1999

Craig Harlan Janney (born September 26, 1967) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1987–88 until 1998–99, when blood clots ended his career prematurely.

Playing career

Known as an excellent puck-distributing center, Janney averaged nearly one point per game in his NHL career. Janney was drafted in the first round, 13th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1986 NHL entry draft, and also played in the 1987 World Ice Hockey Championships, 1991 Canada Cup and the 1994 World Ice Hockey Championships for Team USA.

Prior to his NHL career, Janney attended Enfield High School in Enfield, Connecticut before attending Deerfield Academy. Janney played for the Boston College Eagles during his collegiate years, and he also played on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team that finished seventh at the Calgary Olympic Games, where he had six points in five Olympic contests. He is a member of the Varsity Club Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2009.[1]

Janney played in just 15 games in his rookie season for Boston but he was a healthy presence for the team during their run in the 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs that saw him play in 23 games and record six goals with 10 assists as the Bruins lost in the Stanley Cup Final. Janney was second in assists for the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs with 19 (second only to Rick Middleton for one postseason and not matched since) as the Bruins once again reached (and lost) the Stanley Cup Final.[2] On February 7, 1992, the Boston Bruins traded Janney with Stephane Quintal to the St. Louis Blues for Adam Oates.[3] In the 1992-93 season, Janney had 24 goals and a career-high 82 assists for a total of 106 points to become the fifth Blues player to record 100 points in a season.[4] In March 1994, the St. Louis Blues signed restricted free agent Petr Nedvěd, who was in a contract dispute with the Vancouver Canucks. An arbitrator awarded the Canucks a second-round draft pick along with Janney.[5] Janney refused to play for Vancouver due to being unwilling to leave St. Louis or his family. As such, the Canucks (who had demanded Brendan Shanahan in the first place) traded Janney back to the Blues for Jeff Brown, Bret Hedican and Nathan LaFayette.[6] In the middle of the 1994-95 season, Janney saw his playing time decrease and he left the team on February 18. On March 6, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Jeff Norton and a conditional draft pick.[7] He recorded 82 points in 98 games with the Sharks while later expressing his fond memories of playing in San Jose.[8] One year later, Janney was traded to the Winnipeg Jets for Darren Turcotte and a second-round draft pick.[9][10] Janney joined the team when it relocated to become the Phoenix Coyotes, before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 11, 1998, along for the rights to Louie DeBrusk and a fifth round pick in 1998.[11] Janney suffered a blood clot in his right leg on March 23, 1999 that saw him committed to the hospital. He would recover from the clot but never played hockey again.[12][13][14] When he retired, he was 23rd in playoff assists with 86.[15]

In 2004, Craig Janney was honored as having "The Softest Hands in Hockey" by the NHL Alumni Board. On February 13, 2007 Janney was named the interim head coach of the Lubbock Cotton Kings of the CHL. He would finish the season, but the Lubbock Cotton Kings would cease operations at the end of the 2007 season.

Recently, Janney has been appearing on NESN for Hockey East coverage. He currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife, former model Kim Janney and daughter Barrette Janney.

Janney is a 1996 inductee of the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame.[16]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1984–85 Deerfield Academy HS-Prep 17 35 33 68 6 — — — — —
1985–86 Boston College HE 34 13 14 27 8 — — — — —
1986–87 Boston College HE 37 28 55 83 6 — — — — —
1987–88 United States Intl 52 26 44 70 6 — — — — —
1987–88 Boston Bruins NHL 15 7 9 16 0 23 6 10 16 11
1988–89 Boston Bruins NHL 62 16 46 62 12 10 4 9 13 21
1989–90 Boston Bruins NHL 55 24 38 62 4 18 3 19 22 2
1990–91 Boston Bruins NHL 77 26 66 92 8 18 4 18 22 11
1991–92 Boston Bruins NHL 53 12 39 51 20 — — — — —
1991–92 St. Louis Blues NHL 25 6 30 36 2 6 0 6 6 0
1992–93 St. Louis Blues NHL 84 24 82 106 12 11 2 9 11 0
1993–94 St. Louis Blues NHL 69 16 68 84 24 4 1 3 4 0
1994–95 St. Louis Blues NHL 8 2 5 7 0 — — — — —
1994–95 San Jose Sharks NHL 27 5 15 20 10 11 3 4 7 4
1995–96 San Jose Sharks NHL 71 13 49 62 26 — — — — —
1995–96 Winnipeg Jets NHL 13 7 13 20 0 6 1 2 3 0
1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 77 15 38 53 26 7 0 3 3 4
1997–98 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 68 10 43 53 12 6 0 3 3 0
1998–99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 38 4 18 22 10 — — — — —
1998–99 New York Islanders NHL 18 1 4 5 4 — — — — —
NHL totals 760 188 563 751 170 120 24 86 110 53

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1985 United States WJC 7 4 2 6 0
1986 United States WJC 3 1 1 2 2
1987 United States WC 10 1 0 1 0
1988 United States OG 6 3 1 4 2
1991 United States CC 8 4 2 6 0
1994 United States WC 7 2 5 7 0
Junior totals 10 5 3 8 2
Senior totals 31 10 8 18 2

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-Hockey East First Team 1986–87 [17]
AHCA East First-Team All-American 1986–87 [18]
Hockey East All-Tournament Team 1987 [19]
Named One of Top 100 Best Bruins Players of all Time 2024 [20]

References

  1. ^ "Varsity Club Hall of Fame". Boston College Athletics. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  2. ^ "For single seasons, playing skater, playing for the Boston Bruins, in the postseason, sorted by descending Assists". Stathead. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  3. ^ "Blues Trade Assist Leader Oates to Bruins". The Los Angeles Times. February 8, 1992.
  4. ^ "For single seasons, up to 1992-93, playing skater, playing for the St. Louis Blues, in the regular season, sorted by descending Points". Stathead.
  5. ^ Brophy, Mike (March 25, 1994). "Blues pay for Nedved, Janney pays price". The Hockey News Archives. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  6. ^ Adams, J.J. (January 17, 2020). "Canucks at 50: Petulant or principled, Nedved set up '94 memory with contract dispute". The Province.
  7. ^ "Blues Trade Janney for Sharks' Norton". The Los Angeles Times. Associated Press.
  8. ^ Cowley, Ryan (April 7, 2021). "30 Sharks: Craig Janney Remembers Constantine's "Ballsy" Call". San Jose Hockey Now.
  9. ^ "SHARKS-JETS TRADE". The Tampa Bay Times. March 19, 1996.
  10. ^ "Craig Janney Stats and Profile". hockeydb.com.
  11. ^ "First and Last trade for every Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager". SBNation. September 29, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  12. ^ Berman, Marc (March 24, 1999). "MILBURY CAN'T UNLOAD EVERYONE". New York Post.
  13. ^ "JANNEY STILL GETS A GAME 7 RUSH". Hartford Courant. May 14, 2009. Archived from the original on March 8, 2026.
  14. ^ El-Bashir, Tarik (March 24, 1999). "HOCKEY; Can Things Get Worse For Isles? It's a Cinch". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "For combined seasons, up to 1998-99, playing skater, in the postseason, sorted by descending Assists". Stathead. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  16. ^ "Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame". www.enfieldathletichof.org. Archived from the original on January 13, 2018.
  17. ^ "Hockey East All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  18. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  19. ^ "2013-14 Hockey East Media Guide". Hockey East. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  20. ^ "Bruins Announce "Historic 100" Ahead of All-Centennial Team Reveal | Boston Bruins". www.nhl.com. September 12, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
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