Former Bulldog, NHLer Kurvers Gone at Age 58

Former Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Tom Kurvers (Minnesota-Duluth) has passed away at age 58 due to lung cancer.

Kurvers, a Minneapolis native, was a defenseman at Minnesota-Duluth from 1980 to 1984 after a stellar schoolboy career at Bloomington Jefferson High School. As a senior at UMD in 1983-84, he recorded 18 goals and 58 assists for 76 points while leading the Bulldogs to both the WCHA title and the NCAA championship game that season. He also earned First Team All-America honors that year, while winning the Hobey Baker Award as the nation's best college player. In 164 career games at UMD, he scored 43 goals and added 149 assists for 192 points.

Drafted 145th overall by Montreal in 1981, Kurvers turned pro with the Canadiens in 1984-85 and registered 10 goals and 45 points in 75 NHL regular-season games as a rookie. The following year, he had seven goals and 30 points in 62 games and helped Montreal to a Stanley Cup championship. 

After one season with the Buffalo Sabres, Kurvers became a mainstay on New Jersey's blueline for two seasons. In 1987-88, he helped the Devils to within one win of the Stanley Cup final by recording career highs of 6-9—15 points over 19 playoff outings. The following year, he recorded career regular-season highs of 16-50—66 points in 76 contests.

Kurvers also played with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders over the next four seasons, before ending his NHL career in 1993-94 with the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. In 659 career NHL regular-season appearances, he collected 93-328—421 points to go along with 352 penalty minutes. He then skated one year in Japan, winning a championship, before retiring as a player. 

From 1998 to 2008, Kurvers served in the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes organization, first as a pro scout, then as director of player personnel, before becoming assistant general manager. He then moved on to the Tampa Bay Lightning for nine seasons, where he served as assistant GM, interim GM, and senior advisor. He spent the last three seasons as assistant GM with the Minnesota Wild, with whom he also served as general manager of the AHL's Iowa Wild.