NATION PROFILE: DAVE LUMLEY
By Lowetide
11 years agoDave Lumley was a hard working role player who brought grit, checking and some skill to the Oilers bottom 6 forwards during the club’s first 8 seasons in the NHL. He was a throwback, what used to be called a "holler guy" and drove the opposition to distraction.
BEFORE THE DRAFT
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PRE-DRAFT AWARDS AND HONORS Miscellaneous: Also played varsity lacrosse at University of New Hampshire. … Cheered for Toronto and idolized Dave Keon as a boy. … Attended Laurier high school in Toronto. |
Drafted 199th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 1974
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EARLY CAREER
Lumley was drafted by the Habs after his first season playing NCAA hockey at New Hampshire. Unlike Dave Hunter, Lumley did in fact sign with Montreal after turning pro, playing in his first NHL game for the Canadiens on February 3, 1979 (at Toronto). That summer, with the NHL-WHA merger, players scattered all over the NHL, and Lumley arrived in Edmonton (along with Dan Newman) in exchange for a 1980 2nd round pick (that would become Ric Nattress) on June 13, 1979. Dave Lumley described his own style and abilities:
- Lumley on Lumley: "My role? It changes. Today, I’m an instigator, tomorrow I could be a goal scorer, it all depends on who I play with."
- Lumley responding to Jim Kyte’s suggesting he turtles in fights: "If I’m a coward because I won’t fight a guy who is six inches taller and 40 pounds heavier then I’m a coward with a capital "C." But if I can check a guy into the boards and he can’t take a check, if I’m skating away and he wants to jump me from behind I’m not going to leave myself wide open. If I can get a guy to take a 5-minute penalty….."
Lumley was part of the big upset of the Montreal Canadiens early on in Oiler history and could offer a unique view, having been drafted and having played (briefly) for them. He was also there on the night the Edmonton Oilers won their first Stanley Cup, with Lumley scoring the final goal of the game–dead center in the middle of a wide open net from the far end of the rink.
Lumley’s goal comes at 2:10 mark.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS
- Two Stanley Cups (’84, ’85)
- Lumley was somewhat unique among Oilers in the golden era in that he could slide up or down the depth chart depending on team need. Although he spent much of his career alongside a checking center and Dave Hunter, "Lummer" also played with the big boys at times, and enjoyed a 32-goal season in 1981-82.
TRADE
The Oilers never traded Lumley. They left him exposed in the fall 1984 waiver draft, and Hartford plucked him away and he was lost for most of the 1984-85 season. He returned on waivers February 6, 1985 and played 8 playoff games in helping the Oilers win another Stanley.
Dave Lumley would retire as an Oiler, November 5, 1986.
LEGACY
In June 1979, Lumley was traded to the Edmonton Oilers where he was given a chance to show what he could do in the NHL. Lumley responded with 20 goals while playing an abrasive style of hockey. He was somewhat inconsistent during his five years with the club but did score 32 goals in 1981-82 playing with Matti Hagman and Mark Messier. That same season, he garnered a fair bit of attention after scoring at least one goal in twelve straight games, the fifth longest streak in league history. Two years later, Lumley registered seven points in 19 playoff games as Edmonton won its first Stanley Cup.
-HHOF
GZOWSKI
Number 20 is Dave Lumley, Doug Hicks bachelor partner and a solid 2-way performer. Lumley is the kind of worthy tradesman who plies his way up and down his own wing, not sparkling but not noticeably weak either. Like Callighen, he is a college man, having graduated from the University of New Hampshire, from where he was swept up from the Montreal organization. Montreal kept him in the minors for two seasons, but with Edmonton, which acquired him upon their own entry into the NHL, he had an impressive season, scoring 20 goals. Like (Blair) MacDonald though, he felt a little pressure at training camp from younger players (he is only twenty-five). His worst problem is a tendency to get down on himself and sulk.
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