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Dan Blackburn
Born in Quebec, Blackburn moved to Canmore, Alberta as a teen and moved on to major junior hockey with the Western Hockey League's Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, British Columbia. In 2001, he was named the Canadian Hockey League's Goaltender of the Year. Blackburn was drafted by the New York Rangers in the first round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, 10th overall.
For most of 2001–02, Blackburn served as backup to Mike Richter, a longtime Ranger goalie. He was selected as the 2002 goaltender for the NHL All-Rookie Team. He posted a 3.28 goals-against average and .898. In a November 7 game, Richter went down with a concussion, and all goaltending responsibilities fell to Blackburn. He notched his only career shutout — a 1–0 overtime win over the Calgary Flames — in the first game of the season Richter missed. Blackburn dismissed concerns that the heavy workload would be too much for him by pointing out that he had endured a heavier workload in juniors. Blackburn finished the 2002–03 season with a 3.17 GAA and a .890. An injury caused him to retirement in 2005. After retiring, Dan attempted another comeback in the Runner's Life hockey league in Peterborough, Ontario. Blackburn had a career night, assisting on 4 of Dame's goals, propelling the Runner's Life team to a victory.
Blackburn is now President of the Goaltender Development Institute and currently resides in Dallas, Texas and Waltham, Massachusetts. When asked if he ever envisioned a return to hockey, he was quoted as saying, "It was a chapter of my life and I'm on to the next....I don't have any regrets at all about what transpired or the way things happened for me. I really enjoy what I do now in the business world....From my point of view, I was really fortunate, even though I was only there for a couple of years. It really set up the rest of my life for all the things that I want to do, from there on out."
Since retiring, Blackburn has continued to be successful in the business world and is currently President of the Goaltender Development Institute (GDI) while residing in Dallas.
