Don Blackburn

John Donald Blackburn (May 14, 1938 – February 4, 2023)^[1][2] was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars. He also played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the New England Whalers. After retiring in 1976 he became a coach with the Whalers, and remained in that position through 1981, serving as their first coach when they joined the NHL in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers.

Except for a six-game stint with the Boston Bruins, Blackburn spent the majority of the early portion of his career with various minor league teams. He was a dominant force with the Quebec Aces of the AHL during the mid-1960s, including a 36-goal performance in 1965–66. He was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL expansion draft and was a regular contributor during the first two years of the fledgling team's existence. In the 1968 Stanley Cup playoffs, Blackburn scored three goals for the Flyers, with his goal in Game 6 of the Quarterfinals against the St. Louis Blues being the first playoff overtime goal in Flyers history.^[3] In 1969, he was traded to the New York Rangers, but he played sparingly in two years with the team. He was claimed by the New York Islanders in the 1972 expansion draft, but was traded to the Minnesota North Stars late in the season. He finished his career with three seasons with the WHA's Whalers, scoring 59 points in 1973–74.

On December 26, 1975, Blackburn became coach of the New England Whalers when Jack Kelley resigned as general manager/coach to the acceptance of general partner Howard Baldwin (Kelley did not leave coaching for long, as he accepted the position at Colby College to begin in June of 1976). Blackburn won seven of his first nine games (which included his first game on the 26th by a score of 4–3 over the Cincinnati Stingers) before hitting a slump that saw him go 14–18–3 before he resigned from his position on March 11 (with just twelve games remaining) which saw him replaced by Harry Neale, who had been coaching the Minnesota Fighting Saints before the team went under.^[4][5][6] Afterwards, Blackburn served as an assistant coach.

On April 1, 1979, near the end of the 1978-79 WHA season, Blackburn, by then the head scout of the Whalers, was appointed with nine games remaining to replace Bill Dineen as head coach.^[7] He went 4-5-0 and led the team as they competed in the 1979 WHA playoffs, where they won the first round matchup against Cincinnati before falling to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. After the end of the season, the team rebranded itself as the "Hartford Whalers" and Blackburn was retained as coach. He led them to a 27–34–19 record in the 1979–80 NHL season. In the playoffs, the Whalers were swept by Montreal in three games. On February 20, 1981, with the Whalers having won just two of their last 25 games with a record of 15–29–16, Blackburn was fired by the Whalers and was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Larry Pleau that director of operations Jack Kelley said was due to "a lack of success and obvious frustration that has been building up within the club".^[8]

Blackburn died in Sarasota, Florida on February 4, 2023. He was buried at Miramichi Cemetery in his native Northumberland County in New Brunswick, Canada.^[9]

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database