Taylor, Jeff

BORN 1954 IN WINNIPEG Manitoba, he moved to Montreal Quebec at an early age. He played two years of junior hockey there, then three years with the McGill University Redmen, where he was Most Valuable Player in his last season. His college career continued for two more years, this time with the Brandon University Bobcats under coach Andy Murray, who went on to coach numerous NHL teams, including Philadelphia, Minnesota, Winnipeg, LA and St Louis. He was league runner-up in scoring and club MVP in his last season at Brandon.

He came to Australia in 1981, at the invitation of Mike Johnston, then assistant coach with the Warringah Bombers, whom he had played alongside in the Bobcats. Johnston had already played a season commuting to Newcastle and returned home after the 1981 season to eventually became coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL. He remained and played nine seasons with the Bombers in the newly-formed New South Wales Super League, and two more with the Macquarie Bears at the end of his career. He won a total of six Super League championships.

His state dominated the eighties interstate series and he was there for six of seven Goodall Cup victories (1981, '83, '84, '85, '88, '89). He played for the Bombers in the 1983 Miller's Slapshot series in Sydney. He represented Australia twice in IIHF C-Pool World Championships, first in in Spain in 1986 under Coach Chuck Naish, then in Sydney in 1989 under Dan Reynolds where he produced 1 goal 2 assists.

His son Beau, born at Manly in Sydney in 1991, played in Canada for 11 years up until 2017, moving up the ranks to the ACAC league at the University of Alberta-Augustana on scholarship. A two-time Goodall Cup champion with the Newcastle North Stars in the AIHL, he was selected to play for Australia in the 2017 IIHF Division 2 World Championships in Romania.