Oshawa Generals to honour Dave Andreychuk with jersey retirement ceremony October 6

More than forty years after his last game in a Generals uniform and six years after his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Dave Andreychuk will get to see his #9 jersey hoisted to the rafters at the Tribute Communities Centre October 6.

Andreychuk will become the seventh player to have his number retired in Oshawa Generals’ history, joining Albert ‘Red’ Tilson, Bobby Orr, Eric Lindros, John Tavares, Marc Savard and Tony Tanti.

“It makes perfect sense as an organization to continue the tradition of honouring Generals alumni that went on the achieve some of the highest honours the game has to offer,” said Vice President Roger Hunt.

Drafted 62nd overall by the Generals in 1980, Andreychuk played parts of three seasons in Oshawa. In 148 regular season games, he scored 87 goals and added 89 assists for 176 points. Andreychuk added another 10 points in 13 OHL playoff games.

During the 1981-1982 season, Andreychuk had his breakout year, scoring 57 goals and adding 43 points for a 100-point season, leading to the big winger being drafted in the first round in 1982 by the Buffalo Sabres with the 16th overall pick.

Fourteen games into what would be an OHL championship year for the Generals, Andreychuk – who also played for Canada at the World Juniors in 1983, leading Canada in scoring with 11 points – would be called up by the Sabres.

The rookie impressed Sabres brass enough to stick around the rest of the NHL season – officially beginning his illustrious NHL career. In 43 games, he scored 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points.

Andreychuk would go on to have a 23-season NHL career with stops in Buffalo, Toronto, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, Boston and Colorado. Through 1,639 NHL games, Andreychuk recorded 640 goals and 698 assists, good for 1,338 points. In 162 postseason games, Andreychuk added another 97 points.

Following four successful seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Andreychuk signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning to begin the 2001-2002 season. Named captain in 2002, Andreychuk led the Lightning to their first playoff berth in seven seasons. The next season, Andreychuk he captained the team to the 2004 Stanley Cup championship in 2004 with a seven-game series victory over the Calgary Flames.

Dave Andreychuk with the Stanley Cup in 2004

He was a two-time NHL all star: 1990 with Buffalo and 1994 with the Leafs, when he scored 53 to become just the third Leaf to crack the half-century mark in goals, a season after he scored a career-high 54 in a season split between the two clubs.

Andreychuk sits 10th in all-time NHL games played with 1,639, and is second in power play goals with 274, behind only Alexander Ovechkin.

Andreychuk also took part in the 1986 IIHF World Hockey Championships with Team Canada, helping Canada earn a bronze medal.

After his career with the Lightning came to an end in 2006 he joined Tampa’s front-office staff as Community Representative. Today, Andreychuk is still with the Lightning as their Vice President of Corporate and Community Affairs.

On June 26th, 2017, Andreychuk received highest hockey honour, earning his place among the game’s greats with his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. He is one of five Generals to be inducted, alongside Alex Delvecchio, Eric Lindros, Ted Lindsay and Bobby Orr.

“Honouring Dave on October 6 can conclude the playing honours and putting the Andreychuk name and number 9 into the rafters with the other Gens legends is a fitting way to honour Dave Andreychuk,” said Hunt.

Single-game tickets for this special night, and all 34 regular season games, will go on sale Tuesday tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.