NHL’ers who played another Pro Sport

[carjackmalone]

Compiling a list of NHL players who were or were close to being two sports athletes I’ll start with the obvious

Kirk Macaskill NHL-MLB
Tom Glavin who didn’t play in the NHL but was a second round pick of the kings(could have been linemates with Gretzky in Hindsight)

Bob Bourne and Clark Gillies both played Triple A Baseball

Jack Bionda NHL-WLA considered the Gordie Howe of Lacrosse

Peter Zezel NHL-NASL-CSL excellent Soccer player

Click to read more...

 

[Overrated]

Bobrov was an elite soccer player.

 

[Staniowski]

Many early-era hockey players were very good at other sports...baseball, American football....

A lot of NHLers were excellent lacrosse players. Nieuwendyk, Oates, etc. Lacrosse is only popular is certain areas of Canada, especially the GTA.

MLB player Matt Stairs was an elite hockey player, probably better at hockey than baseball, but he decided to pursue baseball due to an injury when he was a teenager that affected hockey more than baseball. He definitely had NHL talent; he was the best hockey player in the Atlantic Provinces of his age.

Hockey players love to play golf...was anybody good enough at golf? Dan Quinn, Grant Fuhr?

Was Pierre Turgeon good enough to pursue baseball? I don't know...

 

[Michael Farkas]

Jim Riley - Jim Riley (ice hockey) - Wikipedia

 

[Ducati Boy]

Larry Walker was a highly touted goalie prospect back in midget in Maple Ridge. Regina Pats wanted to sign him.

 

[Overrated]

Many Soviet players were very good at youth soccer though they didn't end up playing professionally. Kharlamov and Maltsev come to mind.

 

[Hockey Stathead]

Lionel Conacher - hockey, football, baseball, lacrosse, wrestling, boxing

 

[MadLuke]

Some nhler got involved in price fighting, Brashear did some MMA not sure if he got paid a lot but he had a 3 fight contract.

Back in the days I imagine lot of boxing before-after-during career.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Tom Glavine was drafted by the kings

 

[carjackmalone]

Gerry James played in the Stanley cup final and CFL Season opener both on the same day

 

[tabness]

Hockey players love to play golf...was anybody good enough at golf? Dan Quinn, Grant Fuhr?

Ray Sheppard was ranked number two by Golf Digest of best golfers among pros in other sports in 2007, same handicap as first place Rick Rhoden

Ranking the Top Golfers from the World of Sports

Golf Digest: The #1 Golf Publication!

Golf Digest: The #1 Golf Publication!

web.archive.org

 

[overpass]

Going back 100 years to the 1920s, Babe Dye was an NHL-leading goal scorer who spent his offseasons playing minor pro baseball as a 0.300 hitter with Buffalo of the International League.

Doug Harvey delayed the start of his pro hockey career so he could play top level Canadian football, and he continued to play minor league baseball in his first few NHL offseasons.

Johnny Quilty attended pro football and pro hockey training camps in Montreal after finishing high school. The Canadiens offered him more money, so he chose hockey.

Gump Worsley is remembered as a great goaltender but not a great athlete. And yet Gump played centre forward in soccer and captained a Montreal team to the senior amateur finals of Canada, where he scored a goal in a loss. He also scored a goal against Tottenham Hotspur in their 1952 tour of North America.

Milt Schmidt was invited to a tryout by the St Louis Cardinals and turned it down. There are probably many cases like this - for example, Gordie Howe often took batting practice with the Detroit Tigers, and the Tigers thought Howe could have played major league baseball.

 

[JackSlater]

Doug Harvey played professional baseball for a while and possibly made some money in football as well.

 

[MeHateHe]

Hall of Fame referee Red Stoey played pro football for the Toronto Argonauts and won two Grey Cups.

Canada Sports Hall of Fame | Hall of Famers Search

www.sportshall.ca

 

[ES]

Kari Eloranta played football (the one which Americans call soccer) in the top Finnish league in 1980s.

 

[Davenport]

Lionel Conacher - who has already been named - is on the very short list of athletes who have hoisted the Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup.

 

[Staniowski]

Kari Eloranta played football (the one which Americans call soccer) in the top Finnish league in 1980s.

Calgary had the two really good Finnish defensemen - Rautakallio and Eloranta - during the early '80s, neither of them played in the NHL for very long, so they're forgotten by many people.

Did he play football and hockey at different times?

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Not a professional runner, but Chara is turning in some eye popping performances in major marathons.

He just ran a 3 hour 11 minute time in London, and followed it up with a 10 hour 20 min Ironman time (average finisher was 13 hours)

 

[MS]

Nyjer Morgan never seems to get mentioned in these lists despite being much more recent than Glavin/McKaskill.

Nyjer Morgan Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Nyjer Morgan. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Nyjer Morgan Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics of Nyjer Morgan, a hockey player from San Francisco, CA born Jul 2 1980 who was active from 1997 to 2000.

www.hockeydb.com

 

[Brodeur]

Brandon Montour is/was a high level lacrosse player, but not sure if he was close to going pro.



Anders Lee had D1 scholarship offers for football but opted for hockey. But I think the football option might have scared off some teams at that draft.

Don't know if he was on the MLB radar but I recall that Jamie Benn was a good baseball player and some teams were worried he'd go in that direction.

Justin Morneau

www.hockeycanada.ca

A Memorial Cup champion in 1998 with the Portland Winterhawks – he [Justin Morneau] was the team’s third goaltender, and never saw regular season action – Justin Morneau is perhaps better known as the 2006 American League MVP and 2008 Home Run Derby champion as a member of the Minnesota Twins. The New Westminster, BC native, who wears #33 in honour of his idol, Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, played competitive hockey right through his high school years at New Westminster Secondary School.

Kinda fun picturing Marian Hossa sniping on Morneau in practice.

 

[Staniowski]

Rod Langway was a pro prospect in 3 sports: football, hockey, baseball. He was a quarterback and a catcher.

I think he dropped baseball and wanted to play both football and hockey in college. UNH offered him the opportunity to play both, while some colleges offered only football. He went to UNH on football scholarship, I believe.

I think his original intention was to play in the NFL, but his first pro offer was in hockey so that's why he chose hockey.

 

[hypereconomist]

Jean Beliveau was offered semi-pro baseball contract in the US while he was playing junior. Obviously, he stuck to hockey, which was probably the best decision.

Mark Scheifele and Claude Giroux are good enough at golf to be ranked globally amongst pro and semi-pro golfers.

 

[VanIslander]

A lot of NHLers were excellent lacrosse players. Nieuwendyk, Oates, etc.

Newsy Lalonde! Arguably the best ever!

Lacrosse is only popular in certain areas of Canada, especially the GTA.

Indeed. I've spent a quarter century in B.C. and have never seen lacrosse equipment even! Heck, i once saw a rugby match. I once saw a cricket pitch. (I say match and pitch uncomfortably because i want to say game and field but i have seen those sports ON TV / ON LINE in New Zealand & India!

Lacrosse in Canada? I feel more likely to see Big Foot than it in my province.

 

[steve141]

Sven Tumba played for the Swedish National Team in both hockey and football. He was also a professional golfer.

 

[Staniowski]

Newsy Lalonde! Arguably the best ever!

Indeed. I've spent a quarter century in B.C. and have never seen lacrosse equipment even! Heck, i once saw a rugby match. I once saw a cricket pitch. (I say match and pitch uncomfortably because i want to say game and field but i have seen those sports ON TV / ON LINE in New Zealand & India!

Lacrosse in Canada? I feel more likely to see Big Foot than it in my province.

I've never seen a lacrosse match in my life. I don't remember ever hearing of a lacrosse match being played. I even lived in Toronto for many years, but I never saw a lacrosse game there either, although I knew it was being played there, somewhere.