Tom Laidlaw

Summary

Thomas John Laidlaw (born April 15, 1958) is a Canadian retired ice hockey defenceman.[1][2]

Tom Laidlaw
Laidlaw in 2019
Born (1958-04-15) April 15, 1958 (age 66)
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for New York Rangers
Los Angeles Kings
NHL Draft 93rd overall, 1978
New York Rangers
Playing career 1979–1991

Laidlaw started his National Hockey League career with the New York Rangers in 1980, arriving from Northern Michigan University.[1] He also played for the Los Angeles Kings.[2] He left the NHL after the 1990 season.[3] He played one season for the Phoenix Roadrunners of the IHL before retiring from hockey. Afterward, he became the colour commentator on Kings' radio broadcasts.[4] He currently runs a sports management company[5] in Rye Brook, New York.[6] Laidlaw is also a motivational speaker and frequently uses his mantra of living a "True Grit Life".[7] Laidlaw promotes the "True Grit Life" through public speaking engagements and weekly podcast episodes.[8]

Laidlaw competed on Survivor: Island of the Idols, the 39th season in 2019 of the CBS series Survivor. He was the first Canadian-born person to be a contestant on the show.[9] He was voted out on Day 14, finishing in 16th place out of 20 contestants.

In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Laidlaw at No. 87 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.[10]

Career statistics edit

Regular season and playoffs edit

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1973–74 Bramalea Blues MetJHL
1974–75 Bramalea Blues MetJHL
1975–76 Bramalea Blues MetJHL
1976–77 Northern Michigan University CCHA 32 1 13 14 95
1977–78 Northern Michigan University CCHA 24 1 7 8 95
1978–79 Northern Michigan University CCHA 29 10 20 30 137
1979–80 Northern Michigan University CCHA 39 8 30 38 83
1979–80 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 1 0 0 0 0 10 1 6 7 27
1980–81 New York Rangers NHL 80 6 23 29 100 14 1 4 5 18
1981–82 New York Rangers NHL 79 3 18 21 104 10 0 3 3 14
1982–83 New York Rangers NHL 80 0 10 10 75 9 1 1 2 10
1983–84 New York Rangers NHL 79 3 15 18 62 5 0 0 0 8
1984–85 New York Rangers NHL 61 1 11 12 52 3 0 2 2 4
1985–86 New York Rangers NHL 68 6 12 18 103 7 0 2 2 12
1986–87 New York Rangers NHL 63 1 10 11 65
1986–87 Los Angeles Kings NHL 11 0 3 3 4 5 0 0 0 2
1987–88 Los Angeles Kings NHL 57 1 12 13 47 5 0 2 2 4
1988–89 Los Angeles Kings NHL 70 3 17 20 63 11 2 3 5 6
1989–90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 57 1 8 9 42
1990–91 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 4 0 1 1 2
NHL totals 705 25 139 164 717 69 4 17 21 78

Awards and honours edit

Chinguacousy Township Section 'A' Novice Champions [Bramalea Merchants] 1967-68 [11]
All-CCHA First Team 1978-79
1979-80
[12]
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1980 [13]

Survivor edit

Laidlaw was one of 20 castaways to compete on Survivor: Island of the Idols, the 39th season of the American reality competition show Survivor. At the start of the game, he was placed on the Lairo tribe, where he formed a bond with fellow tribemates Elaine Stott and Vince Moua. On Day Eight, Moua was voted out by the majority, despite Laidlaw's attempts to get tribemate Karishma Patel out of the game. On Day 12, Laidlaw and Stott were split up by the tribal swap; she was sent to Vokai while he remained on Lairo, where he was joined by five old Vokai members. On Day 14, Laidlaw again tried to get his tribe to vote out Patel, but the new members of the tribe, wary of Laidlaw's connections to his old tribemates, decided to vote him out instead.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Allen, Kevin (December 2, 2010). "College hockey becoming bigger pipeline to NHL". USA Today. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Springer, Steve (November 22, 1990). "Promising defence Is One Thing, Delivering It Puts Kings on Track". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  3. ^ Allen, Kevin (October 12, 1999). "Keeping NHL mayhem in check Key could be building more r-e-s-p-e-c-t". USA Today. Retrieved December 15, 2010. Laidlaw, who retired in 1990, saw the game changing even when he was playing.
  4. ^ "Kings Hit an Early Bump in Road to the Cup, 6-5 NHL playoffs: Canucks score three times in third period, erasing a 5-3 lead in series opener. Courtnall has three goals and sets up the winner". Los Angeles Times. April 5, 1991. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  5. ^ Dowbiggin, Bruce (2003). Money players: how hockey's greatest stars beat the NHL at its own game. M&S. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-55199-056-9.
  6. ^ "Agent Details – Tom Laidlaw". National Hockey League Players' Association. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  7. ^ Forfar, Ailish (September 9, 2019). "Former NHL defenceman Tom Laidlaw to be on upcoming season of Survivor". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  8. ^ Murphy, Mike (September 9, 2019). "Former Ranger Tom Laidlaw is a cast member on the 39th season of Survivor". Blueshirt Banter. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  9. ^ Adams, Abigail (September 9, 2019). "How Ex-NHL Defenseman Tom Laidlaw Ended Up On Season 39 Of 'Survivor'". New England Sports Network. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  10. ^ Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. p. 38. ISBN 978-0470736197. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  11. ^ Bramalea Guardian circa 1967
  12. ^ "CCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  13. ^ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 19, 2013.

External links edit

  • Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
  • Tom Laidlaw's True Grit Life
  • Official CBS biography page