Mark Greene writes:
>Dave Taylor certainly did play four years at Clarkson and graduate with a
>management degree including a high cum, etc.  He has to be considered the
>grandfather of all collegiate players in the NHL ...
 
Taylor has one of the longest NHL careers of active former collegians.
Craig MacTavish also comes to mind.  MacTavish may have been in the NHL
prior to Taylor.
 
I've always considered Michigan coach Red Berenson the "Grand-daddy" of
former collegians in the NHL.  He wasn't the first collegian in the NHL,
but I *believe* he was the first player ever to go directly to the NHL
from a U.S. college or university.  I memory serves, he played for
Michigan and the Montreal Canadiens within a 24-hour period in 1962.
He enjoyed a distinguished NHL career of 15+ seasons, including being
the head of the NHLPA in the early 1970s.  He's won the Stanley Cup,
he played in the Canada-USSR series in 1972, but ironically he never
won an NC$$ national championship.  Michigan dominated in the early 1950s
and won again in 1964, but not once while Red was here.
 
Anyway, Berenson and Taylor are both pioneers in bridging U.S. college
hockey and the NHL.  Berenson's just a little older.  :-)
 
  John H
  U Mich