Jim Dowd

Jim Dowd played in the National Hockey League for eight different teams over the course of 17 NHL seasons. Jim, who won the 1995 Stanley Cup with his hometown New Jersey Devils, was the second New Jersey high school hockey player to make it to the NHL. He is also a frequent guest on NHL Live.

He was selected in the eighth round, 149th overall, by the New Jersey Devils in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. He went to Lake Superior State University in the fall of 1987. In his four years with the Lakers men’s ice hockey team, competing in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), Jim was a prolific scorer, earning selections to the NCAA West Second All-American and CCHA Second All-Star Teams in 1990 and the NCAA West First All-American and CCHA First All-Star Teams in 1991. He was also named the CCHA’s “Player of the Year” in 1991. He was a member of the Lakers’s 1988 NCAA Championship squad.

After college, Jim joined the New Jersey Devils. The highlight of his career with the Devils came in Game 2 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. With 1:24 left in regulation, he scored the game-winning goal, giving the Devils a 2–0 series lead over the Detroit Red Wings to take back home to New Jersey. The Devils completed the sweep at home for their first Stanley Cup Championship. Jim became the first New Jersey native to both play and win the Stanley Cup for the Devils franchise.

Jim subsequently played for nine other NHL clubs in his career before retiring in 2009.

His Shoot for the Stars Foundation holds an Annual Shore High School All-Star Hockey Game. The All-Star Games and other events hosted by Shoot for the Stars raise money for local families in need due to illnesses. He also coaches ice hockey for the Red Bank Generals, a travel organization in his home state of New Jersey.

After his retirement from the NHL he was inducted into the NJSIAA Hall of Fame.The following year, he was inducted into the Lake Superior State Hall of Fame.