John Davidson

John Davidson is President of Hockey Operations and Alternate Governor for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In his nine seasons through 2023, Columbus has gone 351-291-62, including a franchise-best 50-24-8 record (108 pts.) in 2016-2017 and 45-30-7 (97 pts.), the second-best mark in club history, in 2018. During his tenure, the Jackets have registered 42+ wins in four seasons, had three consecutive winning seasons for the first time from 2012-2015, and have earned four Stanley Cup Playoff berths.

Davidson joined the Blue Jackets after serving as the President of Hockey Operations of the St. Louis Blues from 2006-2012. During his tenure, the Blues averaged 39 wins and 90 points, including a 49-22-11 record, 109 points and a Central Division title in 2011-2012.

One of hockey’s most respected figures and the former chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee, Davidson has enjoyed a long and distinguished career that spans four decades. Prior to his successful stint with the Blues, he was the longtime analyst for New York Rangers games on Madison Square Garden Network (MSG), as well as various NHL national broadcast partners in the United States and Canada. His outstanding work during a 20+ year broadcasting career earned him numerous honors.

In 2009, he received the prestigious Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster by The Hockey Hall of Fame and was inducted on November 9, 2009. The NHL and USA Hockey honored Davidson with the Lester Patrick Award for his contributions to ice hockey in the United States in March 2004. He also won two New York Emmy Awards for “Outstanding On-Camera Achievement” in 2001 and 1995 and was part of MSG’s Rangers broadcast team that won the CableACE Award for “Outstanding Live Event Coverage” in 1994.

Davidson began his broadcast career with MSG in 1983 and then spent two years on the popular “Hockey Night in Canada” from 1984-1986. He rejoined MSG prior to the 1986-1987 season, beginning a partnership with Rangers play-by-play announcer Sam Rosen that concluded following the 2005-2006 season. During that time, Davidson also served as NBC’s analyst for the NHL All-Star Game from 1990-1993 and was lead analyst for the network’s hockey coverage at the 1992 (Albertville, France), 1994 (Lillehammer, Norway), 1998 (Nagano, Japan), 2002 (Salt Lake City) and 2006 (Torino, Italy) Winter Olympic Games. He worked for TBS at the 1990 Goodwill Games, contributed to ABC’s coverage of the NHL in 1994 and served on the number one broadcast team with Mike Emrick for FOX’s coverage of the NHL regular season, All-Star Games and Stanley Cup Playoffs and Finals from 1995-1999.

In addition, his work included several All-Star Games and Stanley Cup Finals for OLN, ESPN and SportsChannel, the 1991 Canada Cup for “Hockey Night in Canada” and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for FX. He served as ESPN’s studio analyst for the 1993 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 2005-2006 season marked his final season in the broadcast booth on OLN (now NBC Sports Network) and NBC.

Davidson enjoyed a successful junior career as a goaltender with the Calgary Centennials prior to being selected by the Blues with their first pick, fifth overall, in the 1973 Entry Draft. That year, he became the first goaltender to go directly from junior hockey to the NHL as he appeared in 39 games with St. Louis during the 1973-1974 season. After two years with the Blues, he joined the Rangers in June 1975 and went on to play eight seasons in New York. In 1978-1979, he went 20-15-4 with a 3.52 goals-against average in 39 games and then went 11-7 with a 2.28 goals-against average in 18 playoff games to lead the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals. He was forced to retire due to injuries during the 1982-1983 season.

Davidson was born on February 27, 1953 in Ottawa, Ontario, and raised in Calgary, Alberta. He and his wife, Diana, are the parents of two daughters and have three grandsons.