Quick Facts
Biography
Thomas Joseph McCarthy (born July 31, 1960) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player. He played 460 games in the National Hockey League for the Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins. McCarthy is currently the head coach of the HSC Csíkszereda of the Romanian Hockey League (RHL).
Playing career
McCarthy was born in Toronto, Ontario, and grew up in Mississauga, Ontario. He was the first overall pick in the 1977 OMJHL Midget Draft, making him one of two players drafted ahead of Wayne Gretzky. He had 69 goals for the Oshawa Generals in the 1978–79 season.
In the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, he was chosen in the first round (tenth overall) by the Minnesota North Stars. He was selected to play in the 1983 NHL All-Star Game and finished the season with 39 goals. He went on to play seven seasons for the North Stars and two for the Boston Bruins, finishing his career with 178 goals and 399 points. He had 12 goals and 38 points in the playoffs.
Legal trouble
After he retired from the NHL he became involved with drug dealer Carl Thompsen. His activities ended up with McCarthy receiving an unprecedented sentence of five years and ten months for conspiracy to traffic Marijuana in 1994. As he was considered an illegal alien by U.S. authorities, he ended up serving part of his sentence at Leavenworth Penitentiary Federal Prison. After being transferred to a Canadian prison to complete his sentence, he was released in 1998.
Coaching career
After release from prison, McCarthy coached junior hockey in Mississauga, Ontario, before becoming head coach of the Huntsville Otters of the OPJHL, and later the Trenton Golden Hawks of the OJHL.
On June 27, 2011, he was named head coach of the North Bay Trappers Junior "A" Hockey Club of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). He remained there for two seasons, leading them to a NOJHL championship in 2013. In 2013, the Trappers' owner, Tim Clayden, created an expansion team called the Espanola Rivermen in the 2013–14 NOJHL season and McCarthy was brought on as head coach. McCarthy stayed with the Rivermen when they left the NOJHL to join Clayden's newly created league, the Canadian International Hockey League. That league only lasted one season and folded in 2015.
In May 2015, the NOJHL announced another expansion team in Espanola called the Express with McCarthy as one of the owners and head coach.
In August 2016, McCarthy announced he was taking a head coaching position with HSC Csíkszereda in the Romanian Hockey League but would continue to remain involved with the Express as one of the owners.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1976–77 | Kingston Canadiens | OMJHL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | North York Rangers | OPJHL | 43 | 49 | 47 | 96 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | Oshawa Generals | OMJHL | 62 | 47 | 46 | 93 | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | Oshawa Generals | OMJHL | 63 | 69 | 75 | 144 | 98 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 68 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 39 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 20 | ||
| 1980–81 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 62 | 23 | 25 | 48 | 62 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1981–82 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 40 | 12 | 30 | 42 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1982–83 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 80 | 28 | 48 | 76 | 59 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | ||
| 1983–84 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 66 | 39 | 31 | 70 | 49 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1984–85 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 44 | 16 | 21 | 37 | 36 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1985–86 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 25 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 68 | 30 | 29 | 59 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1986–87 | Moncton Golden Flames | AHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 18 | ||
| 1987–88 | Maine Mariners | AHL | 17 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 460 | 178 | 221 | 399 | 330 | 68 | 12 | 26 | 38 | 67 | ||||