Mal Davis did not have a long NHL career, but having played in 100 career games, he achieved a dream of most young Canadian boys. Growing up in Nova Scotia, Davis was always the star player on his team. It was apparent he would have the ability to go far, and even he was surprised that it eventually led to playing time in the NHL.
He got his first taste of professional hockey playing for the Kansas City Red Wings of the Central Hockey League. In 71 games he scored an impressive 42 goals and 24 assists for 66 points. That production garnered notice from the big club in Detroit. Soon thereafter, Davis was called up to the Motor City where he played in six games.
He spent the next two seasons with Detroit's AHL affiliate in Adirondack where he amassed 34 and 23 goal seasons, respectively. Again he was called up to the NHL club, and in five games found the back of the net twice.
In 1981 he signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Sabres. The next two years were spent with the Rochester Americans of the AHL. In 1982-83, he scored 43 goals and 32 assists for 75 points in 57 games before being called up to play for the Sabres. In 24 games, he managed eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points.
Playing at the elite level obviously helped Davis because the following year he posted his best-ever numbers, scoring 55 goals and 48 assists for 103 points with the Rochester club. Once again the Sabres called him up for eleven games.
In 1984-85, Davis played in 47 NHL games, the most of any season. He responded by scoring 17 goals and nine assists for 26 points. In total, Mal Davis played in 100 NHL games, scoring 31 goals and 21 assists for 53 points.
Davis played in the Finnish Elite league for several years before retiring from professional hockey after the 1990-91 season.
