The father/son duo of Dave and Adam Creighton played a combined 1,323 regular season games in the National Hockey League but neither won a Stanley Cup. However, both were junior hockey champions, winning the Memorial Cup as Canada’s top Major Junior ‘A’ team.
Dave Creighton – Junior/Minor Pro
Creighton played two years of junior with the Port Arthur Bruins in 1946-47 and 1947-48. Also known as the West End Bruins, the team was crowned Memorial Cup champions in 1948 after sweeping the Barrie Flyers in four games. The final series was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
Dave split his first three seasons of pro hockey between the Boston Bruins in the NHL and the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League. He then returned to the AHL to end his pro career, playing in the league from 1959-60 to 1968-69 with the Rochester Americans, Buffalo Bisons, Baltimore Clippers and Providence Reds.
Creighton never won a Stanley Cup and never won a Calder Cup in the AHL. However, he came close a few times. In 1959-60, Dave finished off the season with Rochester after playing his last 14 games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Amerks reached the finals before losing in five games to the Springfield Indians. Despite winning just one game in the series, Rochester was outscored just 17-16 over the five games.
In 1961-62, Creighton was with a different team but it was again the Springfield Indians ruining his chance at a Calder Cup championship. Now with the Buffalo Bisons, Dave’s team fell in the finals to Springfield in five games. Buffalo was outscored 12-6 in the series but the final three games were decided in overtime.
1967-68 was his second last year as a player and perhaps his finest on an individual basis. Creighton scored 22 and assisted on 53 for 75 points over 72 regular season games with the Providence Reds. His assist total was good for fourth in the AHL and his 75 points tied him for tenth in the league. Taking on the player/head coach role, Dave was honoured with the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s MVP. Providence fell in the semi-finals to the Quebec Aces.
Dave Creighton – NHL
Creighton played 615 regular season games in the National Hockey League, scoring 140 goals and assisting on 174 for 314 points. He played another 51 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, adding eleven goals and 13 assists. Between 1948-49 and 1959-60, Creighton played for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers. Dave was traded to the Detroit Red Wings from Chicago in May, 1955. However, he never played for Detroit.
Dave was a 20 goal scorer three times in the NHL, twice with Boston and once with the Rangers. He played in the NHL All-Star game five consecutive years from 1951-52 to 1955-56. In 1955-56 with New York, Creighton tied for ninth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with 51 points. His total equalled that of Bill Gadsby of the Rangers and Alex Delvecchio of the Red Wings.
Dave Creighton – Coaching
Creighton was the head coach of the Providence Reds for four years from 1966-67 to 1969-70. In the first three years, he was player/head coach. The Reds made the Calder Cup playoffs in 1967-68 and 1968-69. In both of those years, Providence lost in the semi-finals to the Quebec Aces.
Dave Creighton – Rookie Card
The Dave Creighton rookie card appears as number 76 in the 1952-53 Parkhurst set. The card is valued as a common card and shows him as a member of the Boston Bruins.
Adam Creighton – Junior / Minor Pro
Adam played four years of junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League from 1981-82 to 1984-85, all with the Ottawa 67’s. He was the 13th overall pick by Ottawa at the 1981 OHL Priority Selection. His final two years in the OHL saw him start the season in the NHL with Buffalo.
In 1983-84, Creighton played just 56 regular season games after starting the year with the Sabres. Regardless, he scored 42 and assisted on 49 for 91 points. Adam added another 27 points over 13 Robertson Cup playoffs games. In the Memorial Cup tournament held in Kitchener, Creighton scored five and assisted on seven in just five games.
The 67’s met up with the host Rangers in the final game and came out champions with a 7-2 victory. Creighton was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the tournament’s MVP and was also named the Memorial Cup All-Star Centre. Ottawa was coached by the legendary Brian Kilrea and teammates included Darren Pang and Gary Roberts.
To cap his junior career, Creighton played for Canada at the 1985 IIHF World Juniors, held in Turku and Helsinki, Finland. In the old-style round robin only tournament, Adam scored eight and assisted on four over seven games. Canada won gold with Czechoslovakia taking silver and the Soviet Union settling for bronze.
Adam’s time in the minors was limited. He played 32 games with the Rochester Americans in 1985-86 and six games with the Indianapolis Ice of the IHL in 1996-97. Creighton also spent some time in Germany at the end of his career, playing parts of two seasons in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) with Augsburger Panther.
Adam Creighton – NHL
Creighton played 708 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1983-84 and 1996-97 with the Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning and St. Louis Blues. Over that time, he scored 187 and assisted on 216 for 403 points. Adam played in 61 Stanley Cup playoff games, adding 25 points.
In 1989-90 with the Chicago Blackhawks, Creighton came as close as he would get to a Stanley Cup championship. The Mike Keenan coached Hawks lost in the semi-finals to the Edmonton Oilers in six games. That year was Adam’s best offensively with 34 goals and 36 assists over 80 regular season games.
Creighton came to Chicago in a trade from the Sabres in December, 1988. Going the other way was sniper Rick Vaive. Chicago then traded him to the Islanders in October, 1991, along with Steve Thomas for Brad Lauer and Brent Sutter.
Adam Creighton – Rookie Card
The Adam Creighton rookie card appears as number 218 in the 1989-90 O-Pee-Chee set. He is shown as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. The card was a long time coming with Creighton appearing in 215 NHL regular season games prior to 1989-90. The card is valued as a common card.