Doug Wickenheiser
A first-overall draft pick whose hockey career was forever defined by a city's initial scorn and his subsequent, heartfelt redemption.
1961–1999 (age 38)·Canadian ice hockey player·Birthday: March 30·Baby Boomers
Biography
Doug Wickenheiser arrived in Montreal bearing the heaviest of crowns: the first overall pick in the 1980 NHL draft, selected by the Canadiens over local Quebecois hero Denis Savard. The weight of expectation in hockey's most demanding city crushed him from the start. Fans, longing for a francophone star, met the quiet Saskatchewan center with relentless boos, and his early seasons were a struggle to find his offensive touch. Traded to St. Louis in 1983, he began to rebuild his game, but his true Montreal moment came in the 1986 playoffs. In a dramatic overtime against Calgary, Wickenheiser scored the series-winning goal, a play forever known as 'The Monday Night Miracle.' The roar that greeted him was one of pure, unadulterated acceptance, a cathartic reversal of his early torment. His career was cut short by injury and later, a devastating diagnosis of cancer. His public battle with the disease, and the way the Montreal community finally rallied around him, completed a poignant story of resilience that transcended the sport.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Doug was born in 1961, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Doug Was Born
The biggest hits of 1961
#1 Movie
101 Dalmatians
Best Picture
West Side Story
#1 TV Show
Wagon Train
Doug's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1961Born
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1966Started school
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1974Became a teenager
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Could drive
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1979Could vote
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1982Turned 21
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1991Turned 30
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
1999Died at 38
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
Key Achievements
- Selected first overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft.
- Scored the series-winning 'Monday Night Miracle' overtime goal for Montreal in the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs.
- Played 556 regular season NHL games, scoring 111 goals and 165 assists for 276 points.
- Won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1988 for perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
Did You Know?
He was the first player born and trained in Western Canada to be drafted first overall in the NHL.
The 'Monday Night Miracle' goal was his only playoff goal for the Montreal Canadiens.
After his diagnosis, he established the Doug Wickenheiser Foundation to raise funds for cancer research.
His #14 jersey was retired by his junior team, the Regina Pats.
“I just wanted to play hockey for the Montreal Canadiens.”
