# Chris Valentine

Christopher William Valentine (born December 6, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played 105 games in the National Hockey League with the Washington Capitals from 1981 to 1983. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1981 to 1996, was mainly spent with Düsseldorfer EG in the Eishockey-Bundesliga and Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

## Biography

Valentine was born in Belleville, Ontario and raised in Kanata, Ontario. As a youth, he played in the 1973 and 1974 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from North Shore.
Valentine began his hockey career in 1978 at St. Louis University before moving to the QMJHL's Sorel Black Hawks. He was selected in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft in the tenth round by the Washington Capitals. Starting with the 1981–82 NHL season he played for the Capitals and their farm team, the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League. He played 105 NHL games, all with the Capitals, during his career.
As a free agent following the 1983–84 NHL season, Valentine elected to sign in Germany with DEG in Düsseldorf. From 1990 to 1993 and again in 1996, Valentine led DEG to the German national championship. By the end of his career in 1996 he had played 571 games for DEG.
After the end of his playing career Valentine became a coach, accepting the head coaching position with DEG in 1997. In 1998 he moved to the EV Landshut, later to Adler Mannheim and in 2001 to the Krefeld Pinguine. In 2003, Valentine ended his coaching career in Germany and returned to his native Canada with his family. In December 2006 he took over as head coach of the EHC Black Wings Linz of the Austrian Hockey League and returned to Canada at the end of the 2006–07 season for personal reasons.
Valentine is the father of Canadian figure skater and television personality Mandy Valentine.

## Career statistics
### Regular season and playoffs

| | | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1977–78 | Lac St-Louis Lions | QMAAA | 39 | 41 | 61 | 102 | 105 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 26 |
| 1978–79 | Saint Louis University | CCHA | 34 | 27 | 44 | 71 | 52 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1979–80 | Verdun/Sorel Éperviers | QMJHL | 72 | 48 | 80 | 128 | 76 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1980–81 | Sorel Éperviers | QMJHL | 72 | 65 | 77 | 142 | 176 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 8 |
| 1981–82 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 60 | 30 | 37 | 67 | 92 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1981–82 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 19 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1982–83 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 23 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1982–83 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 51 | 31 | 38 | 69 | 66 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1983–84 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1983–84 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 47 | 15 | 44 | 59 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1984–85 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 36 | 37 | 42 | 79 | 74 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 24 |
| 1985–86 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 45 | 36 | 67 | 103 | 98 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 19 |
| 1986–87 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 42 | 28 | 50 | 78 | 71 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 15 | — |
| 1987–88 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 43 | 34 | 50 | 84 | 63 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 23 |
| 1988–89 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 36 | 27 | 47 | 74 | 34 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 27 |
| 1989–90 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 36 | 27 | 39 | 66 | 35 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 22 |
| 1990–91 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 42 | 22 | 52 | 74 | 76 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 8 |
| 1991–92 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 44 | 32 | 49 | 81 | 56 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 16 |
| 1992–93 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 44 | 26 | 44 | 70 | 56 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 6 |
| 1993–94 | Düsseldorfer EG | GER | 43 | 19 | 40 | 59 | 52 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 14 |
| 1994–95 | Düsseldorfer EG | DEL | 41 | 15 | 32 | 47 | 102 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 16 |
| 1995–96 | Düsseldorfer EG | DEL | 26 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 22 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 30 |
| GER totals | GER totals | GER totals | 411 | 288 | 480 | 768 | 615 | 97 | 54 | 99 | 153 | — |
| NHL totals | NHL totals | NHL totals | 105 | 43 | 52 | 95 | 127 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

## Awards and honours

DEG has retired Valentine's number 10.
| Award | Year |
| All-CCHA Second Team | 1978-79 |