John Tavares (ice hockey)

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For other persons of the same name, see John Tavares.


Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 203 lb (92 kg; 14 st 7 lb)
OHL Team	Oshawa Generals
Nationality	Canada
Born	September 20, 1990 (1990-09-20) (age 18), Mississauga, Ontario
Pro career	TBA – present

John Tavares (born September 20, 1990) is a Canadian major junior ice hockey centre currently playing with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He is considered a front-runner to be taken first overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.^[1]

1 Playing career
- 1.1 Prospective NHL career
2 International play
3 Awards
4 Career statistics
- 4.1 International statistics
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Playing career

Tavares played the 2004-05 season with the Toronto Marlboros Minor Midget AAA team against opponents one year older than himself. During that season, he accumulated 158 points, with 91 goals and 67 assists. Still in the 2004–05 season, Tavares made the jump to junior hockey with the Milton Icehawks of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJHL), scoring another 13 goals and 15 assists in 20 games.^[2]

In the summer of 2005, Tavares became the first player ever to be granted "exceptional player" status by the OHL, which allowed him to be drafted at the age of 14, several months before his 15th birthday. The usual minimum age to be included in the OHL Priority Selection is 16 years old by December 31. Consequently, Tavares is the youngest player to ever be drafted in the OHL, although Bobby Orr was signed and had played at a younger age. This exceptional player rule was adopted by all of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as part of the implementation of Hockey Canada's new development model.^{[citation needed]}

Tavares taking a faceoff

Eligible for the OHL draft two years in advance, the Oshawa Generals selected Tavares first overall in the 2005 OHL Priority Selection. As a result, he was presented the Jack Ferguson Award, which is awarded annually to the player picked first overall in the OHL Priority Selection.^[2] Tavares then played his first OHL game on September 23, 2005, just three days after his 15th birthday. He scored in his debut, but the Generals were defeated by the Kingston Frontenacs at the Kingston Memorial Centre.^{[citation needed]} Tavares had a quick start in the OHL, scoring 5 goals in his first 4 games^{[citation needed]} and finished with 77 points total, including 45 goals. Tavares was named the CHL Rookie of the Year and the OHL Rookie of the Year for the 2005–06 season.

The following season, in 2006–07, Tavares was selected to represent the OHL for two games in January for the annual ADT Canada-Russia Challenge, including one game in Oshawa. Later that month, on January 25, 2007, Tavares registered a 7-point night in a 9-6 win versus the Windsor Spitfires. He scored four goals and three assists, including his 50th goal of the season in his 44th game.^[3] Towards the end of the season, on March 16, 2007, Tavares broke a mark previously held by Wayne Gretzky for most goals by a sixteen-year-old in the OHL with his 70th and 71st goals of the season.^[4] At the end of his second junior season, he was awarded the Red Tilson Trophy as the most outstanding player in the league^[5] and named the CHL Player of the Year.^[6]

In 2007–08, Tavares' goal production dipped significantly to 40. However, he still managed a 118-point season, third overall in the OHL.

Due to Tavares's performance in his first two OHL seasons and his 'goal-scorer' style of play, he has already drawn comparisons to hockey legends such as Mike Bossy.^[7]

[edit] Prospective NHL career

Having been born just five days after the 2008 NHL Entry Draft cut-off date (September 15, 1990), Tavares had to return for a fourth and, most likely, final season with the Oshawa Generals. In preparation of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Tavares has been working out twice a week to maintain the strength he gained over the summer of 2008.^[8] He is presently ranked as the top OHL skater by NHL Central Scouting in its preliminary 2009 draft rankings.

[edit] International play

Medal record
Competitor for Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold	2008 Czech Republic
Gold	2009 Canada

During his rookie season in the OHL, Tavares competed for Team Ontario in the 2006 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in Saskatchewan as a fourteen-year-old, but failed to medal. Later that year, at the end of the 2005–06 OHL season, he was selected to join Team Canada's under-18 team for the 2006 IIHF World U18 Championships in Sweden, but failed to medal once more, falling to the Czechs in the bronze medal game. Later in the off-season, he was invited to the under-18 team's summer camp to prepare for the 2006 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but a knee injury rendered him unable to play.^{[citation needed]}

During the following season, Tavares was invited to Canada's national junior selection camp for the 2007 World Junior Championships, but was not named to the final team.^[9]^[10] After completing his second OHL season, however, he was named to the Canada's under-20 team for the 2007 Super Series against Russia. Tavares scored 4 goals and 1 assist as Canada won the series 7-0-1. He earned another invite to the selection camp for the 2008 World Junior Championships and made the final roster for the tournament on his second try.^[11] Tavares scored 4 goals to help Canada to its fourth straight gold medal.

Returning the next year with Zach Boychuk, P.K. Subban and Thomas Hickey from the previous year's gold medal winning team, Tavares was selected to compete in the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa.^[1] He scored three points in the first round-robin game against the Czech Republic, an 8–1 win, and was named player of the game.^[12] In the final round-robin game against the United States, Tavares scored a hat trick for his twelfth career goal of the tournament to tie Eric Lindros and Jeff Carter for the all-time Canadian junior record.^[13] In doing so, he helped propel Team Canada to a 7–4 win for top spot in their pool and a bye to the semi-final. He was also named player of the game for the second time in the tournament.^[14] Meeting Russia in the semi-final and down 5–4 with 5.4 seconds left in regulation, Tavares directed a shot towards the goal that was blocked but retrieved by Jordan Eberle to dramatically tie the game. Then, as the game was forced into a shootout, Tavares scored to put Canada up 2–0 in the tie-breaker and into the gold medal game against Sweden. Recording an assist in the final, he helped Canada defeat Sweden 5–1 to capture their fifth straight gold medal. Tavares finished the tournament with 8 goals and 7 assists for 15 points in 6 games, second to Cody Hodgson in tournament scoring. He was named one of the top three players on Team Canada by the coaching staff,^[15] as well as a tournament All-Star, Top Forward and MVP.^[16]

[edit] Awards

Major Junior

Awarded the Jack Ferguson Award as the OHL Priority Draft's first overall selection in 2005.
Awarded the Emms Family Award as OHL rookie of the year in 2006.
Named CHL Rookie of the Year in 2006.
Awarded the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL MVP in 2007.
Named CHL Player of the Year in 2007.

International

Named to the World Junior Championships All-Star Team in 2009.
Named the World Junior Championships Top Forward in 2009.
Named the World Junior Championships MVP in 2009.

[edit] Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2004–05	Milton Icehawks	OPJHL	20	13	15	28	10	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Oshawa Generals	OHL	65	45	32	77	72	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Oshawa Generals	OHL	67	72	62	134	60	9	7	12	19	6
2007–08	Oshawa Generals	OHL	59	40	78	118	69	15	3	13	16	20
OHL Totals			191	157	172	329	201	24	10	25	35	26

[edit] International statistics

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2007	Canada	SS	7	4	1	5	2
2008	Canada	WJC	7	4	1	5	2
2009	Canada	WJC	6	8	7	15	0
Junior Int'l Totals			20	16	9	25	4

Your the best hockey player everr!

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Austin Kent. "The Epic of John Tavares". The Good Point. Retrieved on 2008-12-17.
^ ^a ^b "Tavares to be selected first overall in OHL Priority Selection", Canoe - Slam! Sports (May 4, 2005).
^ "OHL: Tavares has seven-point night", TSN.ca (Jan 25, 2007).
^ "OHL: Tavares Breaks Gretzky's OHL Goals Record", TSN.ca (Mar 16, 2007).
^ "Tavares wins Red Tilson Trophy as OHL's Most Outstanding Player", Ontario Hockey League (May 2, 2007).
^ Cayley, Shawn (May 31, 2007). "Tavares earns top CHL honour: Sensational sophomore wins player of the year award", DurhamRegion.com.
^ "Ahead of his time", Canoe - Slam! Sports (May 5, 2005).
^ Austin Kent. "Young and Restless: The Story of John Tavares and his Last OHL Season". The Good Point. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
^ "Tavares is making a bid for the National Team", Ontario Hockey League (Dec 1, 2006).
^ "John Tavares cut by Team Canada", CBC.ca (Dec 14, 2006).
^ "13 OHL stars invited to Canada’s Final Evaluation Camp", Ontario Hockey League (December 3, 2007).
^ "Canada 8 - Czech Republic 1: Canadian Offence Erupts in Tournament-Opening Win". Hockey Canada (2008-12-26). Retrieved on 2008-12-30.
^ "Canada defeats United States in a thriller at the World Juniors". TSN (2009-01-01). Retrieved on 2009-01-01.
^ "IIHF World U20 Championships - Best Players Per Game" (PDF). IIHF. Retrieved on 2009-01-01.
^ "IIHF World U20 Championship - Three Best Players Per Team Selected By Coaches" (PDF). IIHF. Retrieved on 2009-01-06.
^ "Tavares named MVP". IIHF (2009-01-05). Retrieved on 2009-01-06.

[edit] External links

Preceded by Alexander Radulov	CHL Player of the Year 2007	Succeeded by Justin Azevedo

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