Born August 15, 1958, Craig MacTavish is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player who most
recently held the post of assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues. In 17 seasons as a center in the National Hockey
League, he won four Stanley Cups (1987, 1988, 1990, 1994) while playing with the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers,
New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, and St. Louis Blues. He was the final player in the NHL to play without a
helmet.
Later, MacTavish was an assistant coach with the Rangers and Oilers in addition to coaching the Oilers from 2000 to
2009. He most recently served as Team Canada’s coach at the 2019 Spengler Cup, following a brief period as the
KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s Russian counterpart. From 2022 to 2023, he was the St. Louis Blues’ assistant coach.
MacTavish was admitted as an MBA student at the University of Alberta when he ended his NHL career in 1997.
After deciding to accept a coaching post with the New York Rangers, he did not launch the program. He graduated
with an EMBA from Queen’s School of Business in 2011.
Between 1977 and 1979, MacTavish participated in two NCAA hockey seasons with the University of Lowell Chiefs
(now known as the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks). The Boston Bruins selected him with their
ninth pick (153rd overall) in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft. He split his time between the Bruins and different American
Hockey League teams for the following few years. In 1982–83, he made his permanent arrival to the Bruins and
spent two complete seasons with the team.[5]
In 1979, when MacTavish was still a rookie player, he got embroiled in the memorable confrontation between a
group of New York Rangers supporters and several Boston players.[6]
After being found guilty of vehicular homicide, MacTavish was unable to play in the 1984–85 season. He had struck
and killed a young woman while driving while intoxicated. On January 25, 1984, MacTavish entered a guilty plea to
charges of vehicular murder and driving while intoxicated in Peabody, Massachusetts. Four days after the collision,
Kim Radley, 26, of West Newfield, Maine, passed away from her injuries.[7] MacTavish received a year in prison as
punishment for the offense. He watched most of the games on television while he was detained.
