Tom Laidlaw
Thomas John Laidlaw (born April 15, 1958) is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman.[1][2]
Tom Laidlaw | |||
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Brampton, Ontario, Canada | April 15, 1958||
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 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
Regular season and playoffs
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
Chinguacousy Township Section 'A' Novice Champions [Bramalea Merchants] | 1967-68 | [11] |
All-CCHA First Team | 1978-79 | [12] |
All-CCHA First Team | 1979-80 | [12] |
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team | 1980 | [13] |
Survivor
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
- Allen, Kevin (2 December 2010). "College hockey becoming bigger pipeline to NHL". USA Today. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
- Springer, Steve (22 November 1990). "Promising defence Is One Thing, Delivering It Puts Kings on Track". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
- Allen, Kevin (12 October 1999). "Keeping NHL mayhem in check Key could be building more r-e-s-p-e-c-t". USA Today. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
Laidlaw, who retired in 1990, saw the game changing even when he was playing.
- "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. 5 April 1991. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
- 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.
- "Agent Details - Tom Laidlaw". National Hockey League Players' Association. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
- Forfar, Ailish (9 September 2019). "Former NHL defenceman Tom Laidlaw to be on upcoming season of Survivor". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- Murphy, Mike (9 September 2019). "Former Ranger Tom Laidlaw is a cast member on the 39th season of Survivor". Blueshirt Banter. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- Adams, Abigail (9 September 2019). "How Ex-NHL Defenseman Tom Laidlaw Ended Up On Season 39 Of 'Survivor'". New England Sports Network. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0470736194. Retrieved 2020-02-03.
- Bramalea Guardian circa 1967
- "CCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
External links
- 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