SOME long-awaited, yet well deserved accolades were distributed last week to one of the many standouts to come out of the Lakehead, in the late Dave Creighton.
The American Hockey League had announced that Creighton was one of four individuals selected for induction to the AHL Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on February 7, 2022.
In his early days, Creighton was a standout in junior locally with the fabled Port Arthur West End Bruins.
This included leading the Port Arthur side to a Memorial Cup title in 1948.
After pacing the Bruins offensively that season, averaging well over a point-per-game, his efforts led his team to a local junior crown.
Moving on to the western Canada playdowns, Creighton once again excelled in series wins over squads from Lethbridge, Alta., and Winnipeg before sweeping the Barrie Flyers in four straight games at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto where they claimed the Canadian crown.
In 17 outings in the quest for the Memorial Cup, Creighton was a star, scoring 21 times and helping set-up 15 others for 36 points.
This outstanding achievement earned him a free agent contract with the National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins.
So in the fall of 1948, Creighton, still just 18, began an amazing run of 21 consecutive seasons playing professionally.
His time in Boston would prove to be the longest stop of his career as he dressed in 295 games over six campaigns with trips to the AHL’s Hershey Bears mixed in.
Creighton also had three-year stints with both the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs along with one season with the Chicago Blackhawks.
No slouch on any of the organizations he played with, his efforts saw him named an NHL All-Star in both 1952 and ’56 with the Bruins and Rangers respectively, collecting one assist over the course of a couple of 1-1 draws.
In all, he would appear in 616 NHL games where he tallied 140 times and doled out 174 assists for 314 points along the way.
After skating in his final contest with an Original Six franchise in 1960 with Toronto, Creighton was far from done in hockey.
He went on to play nine more seasons in the ever-competitive AHL, putting up solid numbers the majority of the time.
Despite playing his last AHL contest over five decades ago, Creighton still ranks 25th in all-time offensive numbers in the league, having etched his name and number on a game sheet on 692 occasions with 258 tallies and 434 assists to his credit in 800 games played over 14 years.
No slouch right to the end he earned AHL Most Valuable Player laurels in his second to last season in the league as a 37-year-old with the Providence Reds where he racked up 75 points in 72 contests.
His time in the AHL also featured the stops with Hershey previously along with the Rochester Americans, Buffalo Bisons and Baltimore Clippers after that.
Just how versatile and consistent was Creighton throughout his playing days?
Well, sporting such a lengthy run in the game’s top two leagues, he is just one of four skaters to play 600, or more, match-ups in both the NHL and AHL.
The other three to accomplish this feat were fellow AHL Hall of Fame honouree Jim Morrison as well as Shawn Thornton and Tom Kostopoulos.
Later his son Adam would help the pair become the first father-son duo to win a Memorial Cup with the younger Creighton eventually going to appear 708 times in the NHL.
In all, Dave Creighton played in 1,429 contests where he amassed 1,052 points on 425 markers and 627 helpers.
Such striking numbers and a stellar career for one of our local greats earned him an honoured place in the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.
Long awaited AHL Hall call for Creighton
From a Memorial Cup champion and an 18-year-old rookie with the Boston Bruins in 1948, to a two-time NHL All-Star and AHL MVP honouree with the Providence Reds in 1968, at age 37, Dave Creighton was one of the best players the Lakehead has ever produced. Images courtesy Hilary Kaszor.