David Harlock:

David started skating at the age of three and began playing organized hockey in York Mills Hockey Club in 1977 at age six. The first house league team David played for was Helen Simpson Flowers and his coach was Bob Armstrong (the father of a neighbourhood friend). David soon began playing select and “A” hockey for YMHC in the North York Hockey League and won several league championships with Seymour Rubenstein as coach. David has many fond memories of YMHC as “this is where it all began”. He had the opportunity to play on teams with some of his closest friends, enjoyed early morning practice in frigid temperatures, and had many fond memories of carrying trophies around the rink. What more could a child ask for?

Upon starting grade seven, David made the jump to “AAA” with the Toronto Red Wings and began attending Crescent School. He played for the Red Wings from Peewee through Midget. During his Bantam season, he was drafted by the Ottawa 67’s but chose not to pursue the OHL route. He then spent one year with the St. Michael’s Buzzers and won a provincial Junior B championship. During that season, David accepted a hockey scholarship to the University of Michigan.

While at Michigan, David had the opportunity to compete in the NCAA tournament on three occasions and made the Final Four twice. Upon completion of his freshmen season, he was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the 2nd round of the NHL draft. David was a three-time captain at Michigan for only the second time in school history and graduated in 1993 with a liberal arts degree in English.

During his sophomore year of university, David was chosen to represent Canada in the World Junior Championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. They beat Russia in the final game of the tournament to win a gold medal. Upon graduating from Michigan, David was chosen to represent Canada in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway and left the games with a silver medal (Sweden beat Canada in a shootout in the gold medal game).

Upon graduating from Michigan, David signed my first professional contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. When the Winter Olympics concluded, he was assigned to their minor league affiliate in St. John’s, Newfoundland but was recalled soon after to play his first NHL game against the Dallas Stars. Over the first five years of his career, he played NHL games with Toronto and Washington but spent most of this time in the minors. His first full NHL season was spent in Long Island, New York with the Islanders. Following this season, he was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 1999 NHL expansion draft. David then spent the next three seasons in Atlanta before being traded to Philadelphia where he finished his career playing for their minor league affiliate.