Canucks Draft Gems Retrospective – Part Two: Dirk Graham

Picture Graham today, as the above photograph suggests, and he probably wears the sweater of the Chicago Blackhawks. After all, he played 546 regular season games with the franchise as well as another 75 in the playoffs. He had his most productive seasons with the ‘Hawks, and was its captain from 1988 to 1995. Only current captain Jonathan Toews has held the honour longer. But Graham was not drafted by the organization with which he later became synonymous. In fact, his route to 1800 West Madison Street (the address of the old Chicago Stadium) was far more circuitous than that. And it started, of course, in Vancouver. 

The 1979 NHL Entry Draft is generally considered one of the greatest of its kind in league history. It yielded five future Hall of Famers, and numerous NHL all-stars. This is especially noteworthy, since the draft was only six rounds in length and only 126 players were selected. (Another player by the name of Wayne Gretzky was also of draft age, but was the property of the Edmonton Oilers). Even for the Canucks, it was a massively successful draft – although these successes played most of their careers elsewhere. Three-time 50 goal-scorer Rick Vaive went fifth overall to Vancouver, while Brent Ashton (he of the nine career NHL teams) went in the second round, 26th overall. Dirk Graham, meanwhile, went to Vancouver at 89th overall – in the fifth round. 

After signing a multi-year contract on September 7, 1979, Graham joined the Canucks farm team, the Dallas Black Hawks. His professional debut was modestly successful, placing eleventh on the team in scoring despite being its youngest player. He began the next year with the Canucks other affiliate – the Fort Wayne Komets of the now-defunct International Hockey League – but only for six games. It wasn’t until he decided to play out his contract with the Canucks and join the IHL’s Toledo Goaldiggers (great name!) that Graham began to blossom as a pro. In the 1982-83 season, Graham exploded for 125 points to lead his team in scoring and attract the interest of the NHL and the Minnesota North Stars.

After playing for the North Stars for the better part of four seasons, Graham was acquired by the Blackhawks for former Canuck Curt Fraser on January 2, 1988. While Fraser had to be shutdown for the season with an infection of the Epstein-Barr virus, Graham started to assert himself as a near point-a-game player with the Blackhawks. He scored a career high of 33 goals and 78 points in 1988-89. Over the next several seasons, Graham also cemented his reputation as a two-way threat, culminating in his Selke win in 1991. He is still tenth in all-time shorthanded goals with 35, scoring ten in the 1988-89 season alone. 

In September 1991, he even earned the opportunity to represent Canada at the Canada Cup (the predecessor to the World Cup of Hockey), an opportunity helped in no small part by the positive impression he made on a nightly basis with his Blackhawks (and Team Canada) coach Mike Keenan. Despite scoring three goals and an assist in the tournament, Graham contributed far more than boxcar stats. The venerable hockey writer Red Fisher described Graham as “a leader in the dressing room and often on the ice,” for Team Canada. He and other Canadian grinders Shayne Corson, Brent Sutter, and Rick Tocchet set the tone – chipping in offensively where possible. His empty-net goal with 42 seconds remaining in the clinching game against the Americans was simply icing on the cake.

Named the Blackhawks interim captain on January 1st, 1989, after Denis Savard went down with injury, Graham held that title until his retirement in 1995. A hard-nosed player, he retired from the game in part to ease the physical toll it took on him. “I can walk away from hockey while I can still walk,” he joked at the time. Graham then transitioned into coaching, rather unsuccessfully, after his playing career ended.