Thomas Joseph Fergus (born June 16, 1962) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played 726 regular season games in the National Hockey League for 12 seasons between 1981 and 1993.

Tom Fergus
Born (1962-06-16) June 16, 1962 (age 62)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
EV Zug
National team  United States
NHL draft 60th overall, 1980
Boston Bruins
Playing career 1981–1995

Playing career

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Tom Fergus grew up in Montreal, Quebec. As a youth, he played in the 1974 and 1975 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Pointe-Claire.[1] He later played junior ice hockey for the Peterborough Petes, and was selected 60th overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. He only scored 14 points in his draft year, but found his stride the year following, improving to 43 goals and 88 points.

In 1981–82, Fergus surprisingly made a strong Boston team at the age of just 19, and turned in a fine rookie season with 15 goals and 39 points in 61 games. He quickly evolved into a solid, productive second-line center behind top-line pivot Barry Pederson, and his production jumped to 28 goals and 63 points in 1982–83.

During the 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs, Fergus scored the only two Boston goals in their surprising loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the Adams division semifinal, a best-of-five series that Montreal won in three straight games.

With Pederson injured for much of the 1984–85 campaign, Fergus spent most of the season on Boston's top line, and set career highs with 30 goals and 73 points. He also made his international debut with the United States national team in the 1985 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament in Prague after the Bruins were knocked out in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, with Pederson's return the following year along with Ken Linseman Boston was left with three scoring-line centers, and Fergus was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Bill Derlago.

Fergus immediately became Toronto's top center and set a new career high with 31 goals in 1985–86, as well as matching his career high of 73 points. However, his 1986–87 season was ruined by a viral infection which caused him to miss significant action, although he still produced well when healthy with 49 points in 57 games. He returned to form in 1988–89, registering a career high 45 assists and 67 points, although he drew criticism for his defensive play and his league-worst -38 rating.

Midway through the 1989–90 season, Fergus suffered a serious groin injury which caused him to miss two months of action. Although he returned for the playoffs, the injury lingered and forced him to have surgery early in the 1990–91 campaign. He missed almost the entire season, recording 9 points in just 14 games.

After a poor start to the 1991–92 season, Fergus was placed on waivers and claimed by the Vancouver Canucks. His scoring touch returned with Vancouver, as he scored 14 goals and 34 points in just 44 games, including a number of clutch goals down the stretch. He added 5 goals and 8 points in 13 playoff games. However, he was used as a utility player in a more limited role the following year, and registered 14 points in 36 games.

After being released by Vancouver, Fergus signed in Switzerland with EV Zug and spent two seasons there before retiring in 1995. He finished his career with 235 goals and 346 assists for 581 points in 726 NHL games, along with 499 penalty minutes.

Post career

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Fergus now resides in Oakville, Ontario where he is active in the Toronto Maple Leaf alumni association and owns a promotional clothing company, Blue Leaf Limited.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1979–80 Peterborough Petes OMJHL 63 8 6 14 14 14 1 5 6 6
1979–80 Peterborough Petes MC 5 1 0 1 4
1980–81 Peterborough Petes OHL 63 43 45 88 33 5 1 4 5 2
1981–82 Boston Bruins NHL 61 15 24 39 12 6 3 0 3 0
1982–83 Boston Bruins NHL 80 28 35 63 39 15 2 2 4 15
1983–84 Boston Bruins NHL 69 25 36 61 12 3 2 0 2 9
1984–85 Boston Bruins NHL 79 30 43 73 75 5 0 0 0 4
1985–86 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 78 31 42 73 64 10 5 7 12 6
1986–87 Newmarket Saints AHL 1 0 1 1 0
1986–87 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 57 21 28 49 57 2 0 1 1 2
1987–88 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 63 19 31 50 81 6 2 3 5 2
1988–89 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 22 45 67 48
1989–90 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 54 19 26 45 62 5 2 1 3 4
1990–91 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 14 5 4 9 8
1991–92 Vancouver Canucks NHL 44 14 20 34 17 15 5 3 8 6
1992–93 Vancouver Canucks NHL 36 5 9 14 20
1993–94 EV Zug NDA 32 21 29 50 104 9 4 5 9 24
1994–95 EV Zug NDA 22 12 12 24 56 12 3 10 13 16
NHL totals 726 235 346 581 499 65 21 17 38 48

International

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Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1985 United States WC 8 4 2 6 14

References

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  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
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