Do you remember Jim Dowd?
Around the turn of the millennium, the Edmonton Oilers usually made the postseason and almost always fell to the Dallas Stars. The Oilers’ roster was usually good enough to get them into the postseason, but not on any meaningful run. This week, the Wheel of Names landed on the 1999-2000 season and Jim Dowd is the subject of this An Oiler from the Past.
Born in Brick, New Jersey, Dowd was selected by his home state New Jersey Devils in the eighth round (149th overall) in the 1987 draft. He spent four seasons at Lake Superior State University, scoring 91 goals and 250 points in 181 games, leading them to their first of three NCAA Championships. Funnily enough, two former Oilers – Mike York and Dwayne Roloson – are the assistant coaches of the team.
Dowd became the first New Jersey-born player to play for the New Jersey Devils, playing one game for the team in 1991-92, but mainly played for their American Hockey League game, scoring 17 goals and 59 points in 78 games. The 1992-93 season was much of the same, appearing in just one National Hockey League game while playing 78 AHL games with 27 goals and 72 points.
The 1993-94 season saw Dowd feature in 15 games, scoring at a point-per-game pace with five goals and 15 points, along with 19 postseason games with two goals and eight points. However, he played 58 AHL games with 26 goals and 63 points. Dowd only played 10 regular season games with the 1994-95 Devils, missing time with an injury and a labour dispute, but he managed to score a goal and five points in 10 games. He also played 11 postseason games, scoring two goals and three points as the Devils won the Stanley Cup. he scored a goal in the final 90 seconds of Game 2.
After playing 28 games with the Devils in 1995-96, scoring four goals and 13 points, Dowd was traded to the Hartford Whalers and then the Vancouver Canucks during the season, where he finished the year with a goal and seven points in 38 games. The forward was claimed off waivers by the New York Islanders before the 1996-97 season, mainly playing in the International Hockey League where he had 10 goals and 31 points in 48 games, and the AHL where he had five goals and 16 points in 24 games. Dowd played just three games with the Islanders.
Before the 1997-98 season, Dowd signed with the Oilers provincial rival, the Calgary Flames, where he played 48 games with six goals and 14 points. He added eight goals and 38 points in 35 games with their AHL team. Dowd was traded to the Nashville traded to the Nashville Predators shortly after the season ended, and then again to the Edmonton Oilers.
In 1998-99, Dowd played just one game for the Oilers but scored 15 goals and 44 points in 51 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. That was the final time he played in the minor leagues, as he scored five goals and 23 points in 69 games during the 1999-2000 season.
Dowd found some stability finally, playing parts of four seasons with the Minnesota Wild, where he scored 32 goals and 121 points, including 13 goals and 43 points during the 2001-02 season.
The rest of Dowd’s career was that of a journeyman. He was traded to the Montréal Canadiens before the 2004 deadline, playing 11 postseason games with the Habs. During the 2004-05 lockout, he went to Germany to play with Hamburg Freezers. Over the final four seasons of his career, Dowd played with the Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Devils (again), and the Philadelphia Flyers.
To say that Dowd’s career was wild would be an understatement. The Brick, New Jersey native suited up for 10 NHL organizations in 17 seasons and was a part of 12 NHL teams during his career. He didn’t become a consistent NHL regular until his age-31 season, but still won a Stanley Cup before then. There may never be another player with the career trajectory like Jim Dowd.
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