NHL’s all-time leader in blocked shots going on Welland Sports Wall of Fame
Hometown honouring Dan Girardi
It is more than fitting that the home uniforms Dan Girardi wore during a distinguished National Hockey League career — with the New York Rangers for 11 seasons and the Tampa Bay Lightning for another two — were prominently blue. More than any other, that hue best describes the blue-collar, made-inWelland work ethic of a stay-athome defenceman who went on to retire in 2019 as the NHL’s all-time leader in blocked shots at nearly 2,000, all despite going undrafted.
Girardi, who on Sunday will be inducted into the Welland Sports Wall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024, credits growing up in Welland for his development as both a hockey player and a person.
“It turned me into the man I am today and the dad and the hockey player,” he said. “A lot of hard work went into my minor hockey career.”
In addition to “having some amazing coaches along the way,” Girardi also had unwavering support from his parents Mark and Carol as he began each season having to earn a roster spot at tryouts.
“My parents obviously were a big part of that, giving me the opportunity to play,” he said. “I was an only child, so it was a little easier for them.”
Not giving up is “most definitely” a Welland trait to Girardi, who turned 40 on Monday and works for the Buffalo Sabres as a development coach for the NHL team.
“Earning everything you get, nothing is ever handed to you,” he said. “It wasn’t always easy, so that made me deal with a lot of adversity and create some thick skin.
“I’m trying to instil that in the kids I coach now. I think just growing up in Welland, a hardworking city, just kind of turned me into the guy I am today.”
Girardi never had it made. He didn’t hear his name called during his draft-eligible year with the Guelph Storm before wrapping up his major junior career by winning a Memorial Cup championship with the London Knights.
He impressed the New York Rangers organization enough with his perseverance that he was signed as a free agent and offered a twoway contract to play in the American Hockey League with the Hartford Wolfpack.
After beginning his pro career with seven games in the ECHL with the Charlotte Checkers, Girardi went on to play parts of two seasons in Hartford before leaving the minors for good.
He retired from the NHL at age 35 following the 2018-19 season, having played 927 regular-season and 143 playoff games.
Girardi now lives in Niagara Falls with his wife Pamela and their two children — son Landon, 14, and daughter Shaye, 10.
He said he doesn’t regret retiring five years ago.
“I was 35. I know that doesn’t sound very old, but you look around the league there’s only a couple of guys on each team that are playing and having an impact at that age,” he said. “It’s not easy. If you played the way I played, it takes a toll on your body.”
Girardi had options to continue playing “when I did decide to hang it up.”
“But it just didn’t feel right for the family to move and this and that. I was kind of looking at a few options, but I was very happy with my decision,” he said. “The kids were still nice and young. I got to coach my son in Tampa for a year before I moved back here to Niagara.
“That’s when I kind of started loving the coaching aspect of it, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
After all those blocked shots over
all those years in the NHL, how old did his 35-year-old body feel in hockey years at the time?
“I couldn’t even put a number on it,” he answered with a chuckle. “It wasn’t too, too bad, but at the same time the game just kept getting faster and faster, and I wasn’t getting any younger.
“You can survive out there, but what’s the point of just surviving game-by-game? It’s tough on your body.”
He recalled looking back that the “timing wasn’t great,” with the Lightning winning it all the following two seasons.
“I feel like I kind of helped out a little bit with that,” Girardi quipped.
“Getting swept out in the first round in 2019 and lighting a spark under those guys to get them all fired up for the next three years.”
Despite his many years living away from Welland, Girardi knows all about the sports wall of fame and its significance in the community.
He recalled “going to Seaway Mall quite a bit as a kid” and lately while his car is being serviced “up the road” on Niagara Street.
“It’s going to be pretty cool. Obviously, my buddy Danny Paille is on there, and it’s pretty cool to see his face on there,” he said. “It will be nice to have family members there and get that credit for being an athlete from Welland.”
Girardi has a “very unique role” with the Sabres.
“I’m essentially part of the coaching staff. I just don’t have to travel on the road, so I’m there when they’re home and help with the coaching duties whenever they ask,” he said. “I’m with the NHL team all the time.”
His official title is “assistant to the NHL coaching staff” and in this capacity helps the defensive coach break down film, defensive skills as well as the penalty kill.
“When I go to games, I watch up top with the GM and with the goalie coach. We radio down if we see something during the game.”
Girardi is among seven individuals, and one of four former athletes, being inducted into the Welland Sports Wall of Fame in a ceremony beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday at Seaway Mall. Lauren Aiello, for rowing; Corey Lee and Steve Latinovich, hockey; will also see their plaques added to the city’s sports shrine as athletes while Mike Rao, for high school and university basketball; Ray Sarkis, college sports; and the late Jack Ballantyne, minor hockey; are being enshrined as builders.
Three teams that won Ontario championships — the 1973 Welland Atlas Steels, tyke baseball; 1977 Club Richelieu, midget baseball; 2016 Jean Vanier Lynx, senior girls high school basketball — are also being inducted.