Jamie Rivers (born March 16, 1975) is a Canadian professional broadcaster and former professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player. He currently serves as the color commentator for St. Louis Blues broadcasts on Bally Sports Midwest, as well as a co-host on the 101 ESPN St. Louis radio program The Fast Lane. Rivers was the head coach and General Manager of the Central Hockey League's St. Charles Chill. Rivers played 454 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He last played in Europe for KHL Medveščak. He is Huron First Nations.[1]
| Jamie Rivers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
March 16, 1975 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 206 lb (93 kg; 14 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
St. Louis Blues New York Islanders Ottawa Senators Boston Bruins Florida Panthers Detroit Red Wings Phoenix Coyotes Spartak Moscow HC Ambri-Piotta KHL Medveščak | ||
| NHL draft |
63rd overall, 1993 St. Louis Blues | ||
| Playing career | 1995–2011 | ||
Playing career
editRivers was drafted in the third round, 63rd overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Jamie Rivers also has a brother, Shawn, who played for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has represented Canada at the 2009 Spengler Cup.
On November 19, 2009, Rivers returned to Europe after a season in the American Hockey League with the Chicago Wolves to join HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss National League A.[2]
In the succeeding 2010–11 season, Rivers remained in Europe and following a trial signed with KHL Medveščak, at the time a member of the Austrian Hockey League, on December 16, 2010.[3] During his 14th game with Medveščak, Rivers suffered a ruptured spleen after completing a check. After initially going undiagnosed, a few days later Rivers was rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery. Suffering a large amount of internal bleeding, Rivers' heart stopped before he was electronically defibrillated back to life. Rivers was ruled out for the remainder of the season and returned to St. Louis, where he now lives with his wife Shannon, 22-year-old daughter Karson, 19-year-old twin boys Ashton and Braydon, and 14-year-old McKinnon.[4][5]
Post-playing career
editOn September 17, 2012, Rivers was named head coach of the St. Charles Chill of the Central Hockey League.[6][7] The team played for one season, 2013-2014, before ceasing operations.
On August 16, 2023, he was promoted as their color commentator for St. Louis Blues broadcasts on Bally Sports Midwest. Previously, he served as a studio analyst and fill-in color commentator for Darren Pang, a role he shared with Bernie Federko, in select games.[8][9][10][11]
Rivers is a co-host on the 101 ESPN St. Louis radio program The Fast Lane, with Anthony Stalter and Super Bowl Champion Carey Davis.
Career statistics
editRegular season and playoffs
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1990–91 | Ottawa Jr. Senators | CJHL | 44 | 4 | 30 | 34 | 74 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Sudbury Wolves | OHL | 55 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | Sudbury Wolves | OHL | 62 | 12 | 43 | 55 | 20 | 14 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 4 | ||
| 1993–94 | Sudbury Wolves | OHL | 65 | 32 | 89 | 121 | 58 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 14 | ||
| 1994–95 | Sudbury Wolves | OHL | 46 | 9 | 56 | 65 | 30 | 18 | 7 | 26 | 33 | 22 | ||
| 1995–96 | Worcester IceCats | AHL | 75 | 7 | 45 | 52 | 130 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1995–96 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Worcester IceCats | AHL | 63 | 8 | 35 | 43 | 83 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 | ||
| 1996–97 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 59 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 76 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 47 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1999–2000 | New York Islanders | NHL | 75 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Grand Rapids Griffins | IHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 45 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 44 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2001–02 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 64 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 45 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 50 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 68 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 2003–04 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 50 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 41 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2004–05 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 50 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 18 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 31 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Peoria Rivermen | AHL | 30 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Spartak Moscow | RSL | 19 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 42 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 2008–09 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 69 | 4 | 24 | 28 | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | HC Ambrì–Piotta | NLA | 24 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | KHL Medveščak | EBEL | 14 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| AHL totals | 339 | 36 | 155 | 191 | 427 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 28 | ||||
| NHL totals | 454 | 17 | 49 | 66 | 385 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||||
International
edit| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing | ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World Junior Championships | ||
| 1995 Red Deer | ||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Canada | WJC | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | ||
| Junior totals | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | ||||
Awards and honours
edit| Award | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| OHL | ||
| First All-Star Team | 1993–94 | |
| Max Kaminsky Trophy | 1993–94 | [2] |
| CHL Second All-Star Team | 1993–94 | |
| Second All-Star Team | 1994–95 | |
| AHL | ||
| Second All-Star Team | 1996–97 | |
References
edit- ^ "National Hockey League embraces aboriginals - Indian Country Media Network". indiancountrymedianetwork.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
- ^ a b "Former team Canada and World Junior Star signs with Ambri-Piotta" (in French). HC Ambri-Piotta. 2009-11-19. Retrieved 2010-04-02.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Rivers remains with Bears" (in Croatian). KHL Medveščak. 2010-12-16. Archived from the original on 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ^ Strickland, Andy (2011-02-07). "Former NHL D-man nearly loses life playing overseas". TrueHockey.com. Archived from the original on 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ^ Leeson, Ben (December 4, 2014). "Rivers looks back fondly on time in Sudbury". Retrieved August 16, 2023.
- ^ "St. Charles Chill Introduce Jamie Rivers as Head Coach". CentralHockeyLeague.com. Central Hockey League. September 17, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
- ^ RUTHERFORD, JEREMY (2012-09-18). "Rivers named head coach of St. Charles Chill". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
- ^ Rutherford, Jeremy. "Jamie Rivers named new Blues' TV color analyst: 'I'm not going to try to be Darren Pang'". The Athletic. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
- ^ Clancy, Sam (August 16, 2023). "Jamie Rivers named lead TV analyst for Blues TV broadcasts, replacing Darren Pang". ksdk.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
- ^ Caesar, Dan (2023-08-16). "Jamie Rivers to replace Darren Pang on Bally Sports Midwest's Blues telecasts this season". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
- ^ Caesar, Dan (2023-08-18). "Jamie Rivers, succeeding Darren Pang on Blues TV, is 'going to be who I am:' Media Views". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database