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David Harlock started skating at three and began playing organized hockey at York Mills in 1977, at age six. His first house league team was Helen Simpson Flowers, coached by Bob Armstrong, the father of a neighbourhood friend. David soon moved up to select and “A” hockey for York Mills in the North York Hockey League, winning several league championships with coach Seymour Rubenstein.
David has many fond memories of York Mills. “This is where it all began,” he says: playing alongside his closest friends, early morning practices in frigid rinks and carrying trophies around the ice. What more could a child ask for?
Moving Up
In grade seven, David made the jump to AAA with the Toronto Red Wings and started at Crescent School. He played for the Red Wings from Peewee through Midget. During his Bantam season he was drafted by the Ottawa 67’s but chose not to go the OHL route. He spent a year with the St. Michael’s Buzzers, winning a provincial Junior B championship, and accepted a hockey scholarship to the University of Michigan.
Michigan, Canada and the NHL
At Michigan, David played in three NCAA tournaments and reached the Final Four twice. After his first season he was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the second round. He was a three-time captain at Michigan, only the second player in school history to do so, and graduated in 1993 with a degree in English.
In his second year of university, David represented Canada at the World Junior Championships in Saskatoon, where Canada beat Russia in the final to win gold. After graduating, he played for Canada at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, coming home with a silver medal after Sweden won the gold medal game in a shootout.
David then signed his first professional contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and played his first NHL game against the Dallas Stars. Over the next few seasons he played for Toronto and Washington, spent his first full NHL season with the New York Islanders, and was picked by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 1999 expansion draft. After three seasons in Atlanta, he was traded to Philadelphia, where he finished his career with their minor league affiliate.
