Jim Vesey
| Jim Vesey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
October 29, 1965 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb) | ||
| Position | Center | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for |
St. Louis Blues Boston Bruins | ||
| NHL draft |
155th overall, 1984 St. Louis Blues | ||
| Playing career | 1988–1995 | ||
James Edward Vesey, Sr. (born October 29, 1965) is an American former ice hockey player, who currently works as a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a Division II-III Hobey Baker award winner at Merrimack in 1988. He played 15 games in the National Hockey League with the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins between 1988 and 1991. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1988 to 1995, was spent in the minor leagues. His son, Jimmy, is currently playing in the NHL with the New York Rangers.
Biography
Vesey was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in the Charlestown neighborhood. As a youth, he played in the 1978 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Boston.[1] He would attended Christopher Columbus high school in Boston Massachusetts.
He attended Merrimack college in 1984 and played there for 4 years Majoring in sociology. He would make an instant impact on the team as in just his freshman year he would score 19 goals along with 11 assists. During his sophomore year he go on to produce even more playing in 33 games he would score 29 goals and 33 assists. This would lead to him becoming an all American for the first time also being the first sophomore in program history to receive the honor. During his junior year he would help Merrimack win their first ECAC east championship. Having a 58 point season with 22 goals and 36 assists. Once again being named an all American. During his senior year at Merrimack Vesey was named team captain. He would play in all 40 games helping lead the warriors to another ECAC east title as well as their first ever appearance in the NCAA Division 1 tournament in 1988. They went on to pull off a huge upset over Northeastern in the first round. Before ultimately losing to eventual national champions Lake Superior in the quarterfinals. At the conclusion of the season Vesey was once again named an all American for a 3rd consecutive time.[2] He would also be named the 1988 Division II-III Hobey Baker Award winner[3] after having a 95 point season with 40 goals and 55 assists. This is still the program record for most points in a season (as of 2025). Vesey left Merrimack as the program leader in both assists and points he still holds both records to this day.[4] He is regarded as one of if not the best player in program history.
Drafted 155th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, he went to play eleven games for the Blues, scoring a goal and two assists. He would also have 3 stints with in the Blues IHL team the Peoria Rivermen. In his first stint during his he 1988–89 season Vesey would have great success, being one of the leagues top players that year scoring 93 points (47 goals 46 assists). This led to him being named to the IHL All Star First team also being named the Rivermen’s team MVP.[5] The following year during the 1989–90 season he would score 47 goals for the second year in a row on top of 44 assists. During the 1990–91 IHL season he would have a 73 point season. As the Rivermen would make the IHL playoffs. Vesey would play in 19 playoff games scoring 4 goals and tallying 14 assists. As he and the Rivermen would win the Turner Cup. This would turn out to be his last year with the Rivermen. He would finish his time in Peoria with 263 points.[6]
He would then be traded to Winnipeg to complete a Feb. 28, 1991, trade in which Winnipeg had sent Tom Draper to St. Louis in exchange for future considerations. Vesey was sent to Winnipeg on May 24, 1991. Less than one month later, Winnipeg traded Vesey to Boston in exchange for future considerations on June 20, 1991.[5]
He signed with the Boston Bruins in 1991 and played four games for them, scoring no points.
He would play 2 seasons for the Bruins AHL affiliate. In his first he would only appear in 10 games. During the 1992–93 season Vesey would appear in 71 games for the Providence Bruins having a 77 point season with 38 goals and 39 assists. He would end his two years in the AHL with 100 points. Vesey Scored the first goal in Providence Bruins history at 4:06 of first period during a game on Oct. 6, 1992.[5]
The following year he would sign with go back to the IHL signing with the Phoenix Roadrunners. Scoring 30 goals and putting up 40 assists during this period. Vesey would retire after the 1994–95 season. Ending his IHL career with 156 goals and 171 assists.
Vesey was inducted into the Peoria Rivermen Hall of Fame in 2002.[7]
In 2003, Vesey was inducted into the Merrimack College Athletics Hall of Fame.[8]
After retirement Vesey became a youth hockey coach in Middlesex County Massachusetts. Also Successfully battling cancer.[5]
His elder son, Jimmy Vesey, became a NHL player and was selected 66th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and has played in the NHL for 11 seasons. A younger son, Nolan, played for the University of Maine and was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2014.
In 2015 Vesey would join the Toronto Maple Leafs organization as a scout where he still works (as of 2025).
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1982–83 | Christopher Columbus High School | HS-MA | — | 29 | 36 | 65 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | Christopher Columbus High School | HS-MA | 21 | 39 | 48 | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984–85 | Merrimack College | ECAC 2 | 33 | 19 | 11 | 30 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Merrimack College | ECAC 2 | 32 | 29 | 32 | 61 | 67 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | Merrimack College | ECAC 2 | 35 | 22 | 36 | 58 | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Merrimack College | ECAC 2 | 40 | 40 | 55 | 95 | 95 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Peoria Rivermen | IHL | 76 | 47 | 46 | 93 | 137 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1989–90 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Peoria Rivermen | IHL | 60 | 47 | 44 | 91 | 75 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 21 | ||
| 1990–91 | Peoria Rivermen | IHL | 58 | 32 | 41 | 73 | 69 | 19 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 26 | ||
| 1991–92 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Maine Mariners | AHL | 10 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 71 | 38 | 39 | 77 | 42 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 1993–94 | Phoenix Roadrunners | IHL | 60 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Phoenix Roadrunners | IHL | 41 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| IHL totals | 295 | 156 | 171 | 327 | 418 | 28 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 53 | ||||
| NHL totals | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year |
|---|---|
| College | |
| Merrimack Rookie of the year [9] | 1984–85 |
| Merrimack MVP (2x) | 1985-86, 1987-88 |
| ECAC East Champion (2x) | 1986-87, 1987-88 |
| AHCA First Team All American (2x) | 1985-86, 1987-88 |
| AHCA Second Team All American | 1986-87 |
| New England Hockey All Star first team (3x) | 1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88 |
| ECAC East All-Star First Team (3x) | 1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88 |
| Division II-III Hobey Baker award | 1987–88 |
| Merrimack athletics hall of fame | 2003 |
| IHL | |
| IHL All-Star First Team | 1988-89 |
| Peoria Rivermen MVP | 1988-89 |
| Turner Cup champion | 1990–91 |
| Peoria Rivermen Hall of Fame | 2002 |
Records
Merrimack College
- All time points leader (244)
- All time assists leader (134)
- Most points in a season (95) 1987–88
- Most assists in a season (55) 1987–88
- most career power-play goals (34, shares record)
Source[10]
References
- ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
- ^ Merrimack college All Americans https://merrimackathletics.com/sports/2017/7/12/All-Americans
- ^ Merrimack hockey history https://www.themackreport.com/p/merrimack-hockey-history
- ^ Merrimack hockey record book https://merrimackathletics.com/documents/2021/7/12/Men_s_Ice_Hockey_Record_Book_without_YBY.pdf
- ^ a b c d "1984 NHL Entry Draft -- Jim Vesey". hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ Jim Vesey hockey DB page https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=5571
- ^ Rivermen, Peoria. "Rivermen Hall of Fame". Peoria Rivermen. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ Merrimack hall o fame https://merrimackathletics.com/sports/2017/7/12/HOF-index.aspx
- ^ Merrimack hockey yearly awards https://merrimackathletics.com/documents/2021/7/12/Men_s_Ice_Hockey_Record_Book_without_YBY.pdf
- ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). Merrimack College Athletics. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database