Robbie Ftorek

Robbie Ftorek
Ftorek in 2020
Born	(1952-01-02) January 2, 1952 (age 73) Needham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	155 lb (70 kg; 11 st 1 lb)
Position	Forward
Shot	Left
Played for	Detroit Red Wings Phoenix Roadrunners Cincinnati Stingers Quebec Nordiques New York Rangers
National team	United States
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	1972–1986
Medal record Men's ice hockey Representing  United States Olympic Games 1972 Sapporo Team

Robert Brian Ftorek (born January 2, 1952) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He played over 300 games in both the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association. In the 1976-77 season, he scored 46 goals and recorded 71 assists for the Phoenix Roadrunners on his way to winning the Gordie Howe Trophy as the WHA's most valuable player. He was the first American to ever be named the most valuable player of a professional hockey league and the only one for nearly 40 years. In over 700 games as a professional hockey player, Ftorek scored 750 points. After his playing career ended, he became a head coach, where he coached in the minor leagues and the NHL for decades; he won the Calder Cup with Albany in 1995.

Ftorek was inducted in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.^[1]

Playing career

In 1962, 1963 and 1964, Ftorek played in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with his Boston youth team.^[2] He played on the United States Olympic Hockey team that won the silver medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics. He also played for Team USA at the 1972 "Pool B" Ice Hockey World Championship and was selected to the tournament all-star team.

In 1972, Ftorek was drafted by the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association (WHA), but he signed instead with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Red Wings regarded him as too small to make it as a professional at 5 foot 9 inches and 155 pounds. He appeared in only 15 games with the team over two seasons, spending most of that time in the minors with the Virginia Wings of the American Hockey League (AHL). In 1974, Ftorek decided to move over to the WHA began playing for the Phoenix Roadrunners, to whom the Whalers had traded their rights to him. He collected 100 points in the 1975-76 season, becoming the first American to do so.

Ftorek quickly became the Roadrunners' biggest star. In the 1976-77 season, on a team that finished in last place, he won the Gordie Howe Trophy as the league's most valuable player and he became the first American professional ice hockey player to be named a league MVP.^[3][4][5] He was the first player from a professional sports franchise playing in the state of Arizona to win a league MVP and the only one for nearly two decades. Ftorek confirmed his status as the most accomplished American player of the 1970s in the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup, where he was Team USA's leading scorer and the team's most valuable player. After three seasons the Roadrunners folded, and Ftorek signed with the Cincinnati Stingers.

In 1979, after the WHA folded, Ftorek signed with the Quebec Nordiques of the NHL and served as the team's captain in 1981. He played for Team USA at the 1981 Canada Cup tournament. He was traded to the New York Rangers during the 1981–82 NHL season and finished his NHL career with them in 1985. Ftorek was a member of the Tulsa Oilers CHL team that went into receivership and played only road games for the final six weeks of the 1983–84 season, but went on to win the league's championship.^[6]

Ftorek completed his NHL career with 77 goals, 150 assists, 227 points, and 262 penalty minutes in 334 games.^[7] In the WHA, Ftorek tallied 216 goals, 307 assists, 523 points, and 365 penalty minutes in 373 games,^[7] making him sixth on the WHA's all-time points list, and ninth in both the WHA's all-time career goal and assist leaders. He played in the WHA All-Star game in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. He made the All-WHA First Team in 1977 and 1979, and the All-WHA Second Team in 1976 and 1978.^[7]

Coaching career

Ftorek began his coaching career with the AHL's New Haven Nighthawks in 1985. He remained with them until the 1987–88 season when he moved up to the NHL as the Los Angeles Kings' head coach. On May 2, 1989, he was fired by the Kings for what was reported as because of his problems in communication with players, most notably with Wayne Gretzky.^[8] Following this, he was an assistant coach for the Quebec Nordiques and New Jersey Devils in the NHL. In 1992, he was named head coach of the AHL's Utica Devils - New Jersey's top farm team - and remained as head coach when the team became the Albany River Rats. In 1995, the same year the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup, Ftorek led the River Rats to the Calder Cup in the AHL. In 1996, Ftorek began his second stint as a New Jersey Devils assistant coach, then took the head coach's position in 1998. On January 29, 2000, the Devils played a memorable game against Detroit. In the second period, the Devils' Jay Pandolfo was involved in a collision with Detroit's Mathieu Dandenault that left Pandolfo's face bloody after a collision with the boards in the Red Wings zone.^[9] The officials allowed play to continue, only for Kirk Maltby to skate down to the other end of the rink and score a goal that gave Detroit a 3–1 lead.^[9] So irate was Ftorek over play not being stopped because of Pandolfo's injury, that Ftorek hurled the Devils' wooden bench onto the ice, resulting in Ftorek's ejection from the game, and subsequent one-game suspension.^[9]

In 2000, Ftorek led the Devils back into the playoffs but was fired by Lou Lamoriello with nine games remaining in the regular season amidst complaints from the players. Dissent sources included Ken Daneyko, whom Ftorek benched two games short of 1,000 games played, making him miss out on the achievement at home.^[10] Assistant coach Larry Robinson replaced Ftorek and the Devils went on to win their second Stanley Cup. He remained with the team as a scout, and had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup for the second time in that year.

Ftorek joined the Boston Bruins as head coach in 2001. However, after two years of poor efforts by his teams, Ftorek was fired late in the 2002–03 season, again with only nine games remaining in the season. Bruins general manager Mike O'Connell took over as coach for the rest of the season. In 2003, Ftorek rejoined the Devils as head coach of their AHL affiliate in Albany. When the Devils affiliation was moved to the Lowell Devils, Ftorek was retained as head coach of the team.

Ftorek holds the dubious distinction of being the only coach to be fired by two different teams in the final days of what was a winning regular season for that team – New Jersey in 1999–2000 and Boston in 2002–03. His record was 41–20–8–5 with the Devils and 33–28–8–4 with the Bruins.

In October 2007, Ftorek was hired as the head coach of the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), replacing Peter Sidorkiewicz. Ftorek led the Otters to a 15–34–4 record over their final 53 games as the team missed the playoffs for their third consecutive season. In 2008–09, the Otters returned to the post-season as they improved to a 34–29–5 record, earning 73 points. Erie was then eliminated by the London Knights in the first round of the playoffs. The Otters made their second straight playoff appearance in 2009–10, as they had a record of 33–28–7, earning 73 points once again. Erie was eliminated in the first round once again, as the Windsor Spitfires swept the Otters in four games. The Otters improved their point total further in 2010–11, winning 40 games, and earned 82 points and a third-straight post-season appearance. Erie took the two-time Memorial Cup champions Spitfires to seven games before being eliminated. The 2011–12 campaign for Ftorek and the Erie Otters was incredibly dismal, as the Otters dealt with a rebuilding roster after losing many large stars of the previous years, ending the season with the OHL's third-worst season by a single team in its history at 10-52-6. On November 29, 2012, the Otters announced that they had relieved Ftorek of his head coaching duties.^[11][12]

On August 7, 2013, the Calgary Flames hired Ftorek as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat.^[13]

On November 29, 2016, Ftorek was named head coach of the ECHL's Norfolk Admirals replacing Rod Aldoff.^[14] He was released by the Admirals following an ownership change in 2019.^[15]

Personal life

Ftorek and his wife Wendy have four children. His youngest daughter Anna Ftorek died suddenly of a heart attack at the family's home in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire in 2012 at the age of 23.^[16][17] His son, Sam, played professional hockey for 17 years, and has since followed in his footsteps as coach and was named the first coach of the Southern Professional Hockey League's expansion team, the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, on April 29, 2016.^[18]

Awards and accomplishments

• 1972 Ice Hockey World Championships Pool B all star team
• Most Valuable Player (Team USA ) (1976 Canada Cup)
• Won Gary Davidson Trophy (WHA Most Valuable Player) (1977)
• All-WHA First team (1977, 1979)
• All-WHA Second team (1976, 1978)
• Played in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 WHA All-Star game

A member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame since 1991, Ftorek was part of the initial group of players elected to the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in 2010.^[19] He was elected to the AHL Hall of Fame in 2020.^[20]

Career statistics

Head coaching record

References

External links

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