John Tavares

Tavares finished his Major Junior and OHL career with most goals (215), and 6th in points (433).

John Tavares (born September 20, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward and captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Tavares was born on September 20, 1990, in Mississauga, Ontario, to Barbara and Joe Tavares, who are of Polish and Portuguese descent, respectively.

His maternal grandparents, Bolesław and Josephine Kowal, immigrated from Poland to Sudbury, Ontario, and his paternal grandparents Manuel and Dorotea Tavares immigrated from Portugal to Toronto, Ontario.

At a very young age, Tavares moved to Oakville, Ontario.

This is where he was first exposed to minor hockey through the Minor Oaks Hockey Association.

Tavares also played soccer and lacrosse, and his highly competitive nature often led him to fight with other players.

Tavares excelled at lacrosse, following in the footsteps of his uncle John Tavares, the all-time scoring leader in the National Lacrosse League (NLL), and was a ball boy for his uncle's NLL team, the Buffalo Bandits.

The younger Tavares credits his uncle with teaching him the importance of remaining unselfish, stating what he learned by following his uncle with the Bandits has made him better both as a person and a hockey player.

Many skills he learned in lacrosse—such as spinning off checks and battling in traffic—transferred to ice hockey and improved Tavares' abilities as a goal scorer.

In Oakville, Tavares attended St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School.

He lived five minutes from Sam Gagner, who later signed a contract with the Edmonton Oilers, and the two quickly established a friendship.

Gagner's father, former NHL player Dave Gagner, built a backyard ice rink on which Tavares spent much of his time honing ice hockey skills.

After playing the 1998–99 season with the Braves' novice team, Tavares moved to the Mississauga Senators of the GTHL the following season.

With the Senators' AAA minor atom team, Tavares won the GTHL minor atom championship in the 1999–2000 season.

Tavares eventually moved to the Toronto Marlboros of the GTHL.

During the 2003–04 season Tavares was teammates with his friend Sam Gagner, and scored 95 goals and 187 points in 90 games to lead the Marlboros' bantam team to the 2004 Bantam AAA Provincial Hockey Championships, where the Marlboros defeated Drew Doughty and the London Jr. Knights 5–0 in the championship game.

Tavares scored one goal in the game and was named the tournament's top forward.

The following season, Tavares joined the Marlboros' minor midget team, where he recorded 91 goals and 158 points in 72 games.

For his achievements, Tavares shared the Buck Houle Award with Bryan Cameron, "in recognition of outstanding on ice performance, leadership and loyalty".

During this season, he also played 16 games with the Milton Icehawks of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJHL), during which he recorded 11 goals and 23 points.

Tavares' debut with the Icehawks came while he was only 13, making him one of the youngest players to ever play junior hockey.

Tavares broke into the OHL after gaining exceptional player status at age 14, allowing the Generals to select him in the OHL Priority Draft as an underage player in 2005.

Tavares petitioned to gain eligibility to play major junior in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in the spring of 2005.

As OHL rules did not allow for players under age 15 to be drafted, the OHL introduced an exceptional player status clause, allowing the 14-year-old Tavares to be drafted one year sooner than he would otherwise have been eligible.

Tavares was named the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Rookie of the Year in 2006 and CHL Player of the Year in 2007.

He also participated in the 2006 IIHF World U18 Championships, but failed to medal.

Additionally, Tavares represented Team Ontario at the 2006 World U-17 Hockey Challenge and 2007 Super Series.

In the OHL, Tavares placed an emphasis on his education, earning honours as well as the Oshawa Generals' Scholastic Player of the Year in 2007–08.

Tavares also spends some of his time working with the Special Olympics.

Tavares showed such promise as a hockey player that when he was seven, his parents moved him up one age group and he began playing with older children.

From there, he moved on to the Mississauga Braves of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL).

Tavares was the focus of an unsuccessful push to have the NHL's draft rules changed to allow him to participate in the 2008 Entry Draft, as well as an attempt to allow him to play in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a 17-year-old in 2007.

At the under-20 level, he won gold medals at the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

In the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, he was selected first overall by the New York Islanders, for whom he played nine seasons and served as captain for five seasons.

Previously, Tavares competed at the major junior level as a member of the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) before being traded to the London Knights at the 2009 OHL trading deadline along with Michael Del Zotto.

Tavares was ranked as the top prospect for the 2009 Draft by both the NHL Central Scouting Bureau and International Scouting Services.

He was named the most valuable player of the 2009 tournament after scoring eight goals and 15 points in six games.

Tavares has represented Canada at five International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)-sanctioned events, including the 2010 and 2011 World Championships.

On January 7, 2014, he was named to the 2014 Canadian Olympic Hockey Team, winning a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics despite an injury preventing him from participating in the final two games.