Douglas Paul Bodger (born June 18, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman in the National Hockey League. Selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins ninth overall in the 1984 NHL Draft he would play in over 1,000 games in the NHL, primarily with the Buffalo Sabres, but also had longer tenures with the Penguins and San Jose Sharks, while having short stints with the New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, and Vancouver Canucks at the end of his professional career.
A standout junior player in the Western Hockey League, Bodger was twice named the best defenceman on the Kamloops Junior Oilers. He was also named a WHL all-star in both his junior seasons. He also represented Canada at three World Championships, winning a silver medal at the 1996 tournament.
Playing career
Bodger played his minor hockey with the Cowichan Midget Capitals before joining the Kamloops Junior Oilers of the Western Hockey League. In his first season with Kamloops, he scored 26 goals and 92 points, being named to the WHL Second All-Star Team. The following season, Bodger scored 21 goals and added 77 assists for 98 points, earning First All-Star Team honours.
As a top prospect, Bodger was expecting to be selected early in the draft. He had earlier conversations with the Detroit Red Wings, who told Bodger there was a "90 per cent chance" they would pick him at seventh overall, going so far as to ask he wear a red tie to match the team colours.
International play
Bodger played for Canada at three World Championships, in 1987, 1996, and 1999. Joining the Canadian national team for the first time in 1987, Bodger played in all ten games, scoring one goal and one assist as Canada finished fourth in the tournament. His next appearance in the World Championships was in 1996. In eight games, Bodger contributed three assists and was named the team's best defenceman as Canada won the silver medal. His third and final appearance for the national team was at the 1999 World Championships, where he scored three assists in ten games for the fourth place Canadians.
Awards
WHL
{| class="wikitable"
! Award
! Year
|-
| WHL Second All-Star Team
| 1983
|-
| WHL West First All-Star Team
| 1984
|-
|}
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! colspan="5"|Regular season
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! colspan="5"|Playoffs
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season
! Team
! League
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|-
| 1981–82
| Cowichan Valley Capitals
| Bantam
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1982–83
| Kamloops Junior Oilers
| WHL
| 72
| 26
| 66
| 92
| 98
| 7
| 0
| 5
| 5
| 2
|-
| 1983–84
| Kamloops Junior Oilers
| WHL
| 70
| 21
| 77
| 98
| 90
| 17
| 2
| 15
| 17
| 12
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1983–84
| Kamloops Junior Oilers
| MC
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 4
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 2
|-
| 1984–85
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| NHL
| 65
| 5
| 26
| 31
| 67
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1985–86
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| NHL
| 79
| 4
| 33
| 37
| 63
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1986–87
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| NHL
| 76
| 11
| 38
| 49
| 52
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1987–88
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| NHL
| 69
| 14
| 31
| 45
| 103
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1988–89
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| NHL
| 10
| 1
| 4
| 5
| 7
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1988–89
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 61
| 7
| 40
| 47
| 52
| 5
| 1
| 1
| 2
| 11
|-
| 1989–90
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 71
| 12
| 36
| 48
| 64
| 6
| 1
| 5
| 6
| 6
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1990–91
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 58
| 5
| 23
| 28
| 54
| 4
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 0
|-
| 1991–92
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 73
| 11
| 35
| 46
| 108
| 7
| 2
| 1
| 3
| 2
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1992–93
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 81
| 9
| 45
| 54
| 87
| 8
| 2
| 3
| 5
| 0
|-
| 1993–94
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 75
| 7
| 32
| 39
| 76
| 7
| 0
| 3
| 3
| 6
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1994–95
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 44
| 3
| 17
| 20
| 47
| 5
| 0
| 4
| 4
| 0
|-
| 1995–96
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 16
| 0
| 5
| 5
| 18
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1995–96
| San Jose Sharks
| NHL
| 57
| 4
| 19
| 23
| 50
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1996–97
| San Jose Sharks
| NHL
| 81
| 1
| 15
| 16
| 64
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1997–98
| San Jose Sharks
| NHL
| 28
| 4
| 6
| 10
| 32
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1997–98
| New Jersey Devils
| NHL
| 49
| 5
| 5
| 10
| 25
| 5
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1998–99
| Los Angeles Kings
| NHL
| 65
| 3
| 11
| 14
| 34
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1999–2000
| Vancouver Canucks
| NHL
| 13
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 4
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 1,071
! 106
! 422
! 528
! 1,007
! 47
! 6
! 18
! 24
! 25
|}
International
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:50em"
|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Year
! Team
! Event
! Result
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|-
| 1987
| Canada
| WC
| 4th
| 10
| 1
| 1
| 2
| 4
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1996
| Canada
| WC
|
| 8
| 0
| 3
| 3
| 0
|-
| 1999
| Canada
| WC
| 4th
| 10
| 0
| 2
| 2
| 4
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=4 | Senior totals
! 28
! 1
! 6
! 7
! 8
|}
See also
- List of NHL players with 1,000 games played