Former NHL forward Reggie Savage dies at age 53

Former Capitals and Quebec Nordiques forward Reggie Savage died last Sunday after a battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 53 years old.

Savage’s NHL career may have only included a handful of games, but he managed to find his way into the league record books while amassing an extremely respectable minor league and overseas résumé. Drafted 15th overall by the Capitals after scoring 68 goals in 68 games for the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres, Savage recorded nine points in seven games for Canada at the following year’s World Junior Championship, outscoring future NHLers Rod Brind’Amour, Andrew Cassels, Éric Desjardins, Martin Gélinas and Mike Ricci. It was another couple of seasons before Savage got a shot in the NHL, though, playing just one game with the Capitals in 1990-91.

Two years later, Savage found himself back in the NHL again. On Nov. 18, 1992, he became one of five players in league history to score his first NHL goal on a penalty shot, beating Minnesota North Stars netminder Jon Casey. He played 16 games for Washington that year, recording two goals and five points. The Capitals traded him to the Nordiques the following offseason, where he played a career-high 17 games and score seven points in 1993-94.

Those were Savage’s last games at the sport’s highest level, although he remained on two-way NHL contracts for various organizations throughout the decade, and his playing career continued until 2005. Savage was an extremely productive force in the AHL, scoring 259 goals and 442 points in 481 games across ten seasons while accumulating 557 penalty minutes. Overseas, he notched 28 points in 31 games for second-tier Swiss National League clubs EHC Biel-Bienne and EHC Visp in 2001-02, also notching two goals in four games for Team Canada at that year’s Spengler Cup. Playing for Italian league club Asiago in the 1998-99 and 2002-03 campaigns, Savage was an explosive scoring threat with 51 goals and 112 points in 67 games.

Savage is one of 11 Black players in Capitals history and will continue to be honored as part of a permanent display that was erected at Capital One Arena early last year. All of us at PHR send our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.