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Don Lever

Donald Richard "Cleaver" Lever (born November 14, 1952 in South Porcupine, Ontario) is a former professional ice hockey left winger who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1972–73 until 1986–87.

Playing career

Lever was drafted 3rd overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft. The forward reached the 20-goal mark six times in Vancouver and played for Canada at the 1978 World Championships. Lever was traded to the Atlanta Flames alongside Brad Smith in exchange for Ivan Boldirev and Darcy Rota on February 8, 1980. He was later the first captain of the New Jersey Devils. He was recognized for both his penalty killing and powerplay abilities. Lever played 1020 career NHL games, scoring 313 goals and 367 assists for 680 points.

Awards & achievements

1972: OMJHL First All-Star Team
1972: OMJHL MVP
1982: Played in NHL All-Star Game
1990-91: Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award
2006-07: Head-Coached the Hamilton Bulldogs to their first franchise Calder Cup, AHL championship

Career statistics

                                           --- Regular Season ---  ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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1969-70 Niagara Falls Flyers OHA 2 0 1 1 4 -- -- -- -- --
1970-71 Niagara Falls Flyers OHA 59 35 36 71 112 -- -- -- -- --
1971-72 Niagara Falls Flyers OHA 69 61 65 126 69 -- -- -- -- --
1972-73 Vancouver Canucks NHL 78 12 26 38 49 -- -- -- -- --
1973-74 Vancouver Canucks NHL 78 23 25 48 28 -- -- -- -- --
1974-75 Vancouver Canucks NHL 80 38 30 68 49 5 0 1 1 4
1975-76 Vancouver Canucks NHL 80 25 40 65 93 2 0 0 0 0
1976-77 Vancouver Canucks NHL 80 27 30 57 28 -- -- -- -- --
1977-78 Vancouver Canucks NHL 75 17 32 49 58 -- -- -- -- --
1978-79 Vancouver Canucks NHL 71 23 21 44 17 3 2 1 3 2
1979-80 Vancouver Canucks NHL 51 21 17 38 32 -- -- -- -- --
1979-80 Atlanta Flames NHL 28 14 16 30 4 4 1 1 2 0
1980-81 Calgary Flames NHL 62 26 31 57 56 16 4 7 11 20
1981-82 Calgary Flames NHL 23 8 11 19 6 -- -- -- -- --
1981-82 Colorado Rockies NHL 59 22 28 50 20 -- -- -- -- --
1982-83 New Jersey Devils NHL 79 23 30 53 68 -- -- -- -- --
1983-84 New Jersey Devils NHL 70 14 19 33 44 -- -- -- -- --
1984-85 New Jersey Devils NHL 67 10 8 18 31 -- -- -- -- --
1985-86 Rochester Americans AHL 29 6 11 17 16 -- -- -- -- --
1985-86 Buffalo Sabres NHL 29 7 1 8 6 -- -- -- -- --
1986-87 Rochester Americans AHL 57 29 25 54 69 18 4 3 7 14
1986-87 Buffalo Sabres NHL 10 3 2 5 4 -- -- -- -- --
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        NHL Totals                       1020  313  367  680  593  30   7  10  17  26

Coaching statistics

Season  Team                Lge Type            GP  W  L  T OTL  Pct        Result
1987-88 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Assistant Coach
1988-89 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Assistant Coach
1990-91 Rochester Americans AHL Head Coach      80 45 26  9   0 0.619 Lost in Finals
1991-92 Rochester Americans AHL Head Coach      80 37 31 12   0 0.537 Lost in round 3
1992-93 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Assistant Coach
1993-94 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Assistant Coach
1994-95 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Assistant Coach
1995-96 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Associate Coach
1996-97 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Assistant Coach
1997-98 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Associate Coach
1998-99 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Associate Coach
1999-00 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Associate Coach
2000-01 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Assistant Coach
2001-02 Buffalo Sabres      NHL Assistant Coach
2002-03 St. Louis Blues     NHL Assistant Coach
2003-04 St. Louis Blues     NHL Assistant Coach
2005-06 Hamilton Bulldogs   AHL Head Coach      80 35 41 0    4 0.463  Out of Playoffs
2006-07 Hamilton Bulldogs   AHL Head Coach      80 43 28 0    9 0.594  Won Championship
2007-08 Hamilton Bulldogs   AHL Head Coach      80 36 34 0   10 0.512