“Diving Deep” looking at NHL players paths to the NHL

[JustinCaron]

In this thread I will be sharing some articles that cover players journey’s to getting to the NHL and how their careers have gone to this point. The first article is on Linus Ullmark’s Path to Stardom. I recently had an on-phone interview with Matt Grzelyck’s mother to discuss his hockey roots and will be coming out with a Grzelyck article in the next week. The series will continue on with a new player each week. Look forward to sharing their stories and providing fans with some heavily researched reading material.

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[JustinCaron]

Diving Deep: Linus Ullmark’s Path to Stardom

Born on July 31, 1993, in Lugnvik, a Swedish village with an approximate population of 350, Ullmark is the first and only player to make it to the NHL. As a child, he would often head to the community rink, walking distance from his home, to play hockey with his friends. The doors were never locked at the rink, allowing the youngster to spend countless hours honing his skills and instilling a deep passion for the game at a young age.

Diving Deep: Looking At Bruins' Linus Ullmark's Path To Stardom

Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark is the NHLs best goaltender in 2022-23, but path toward stardom is what we look back at here.

thehockeywriters.com

 

[adsfan]

John Richard Peverly was born in Kingston, Ontario on July 8, 1982. He played for a season in the OPJHL for the Milton Merchants, recording 45 points in 45 games. He was drafted by Don Cherry of the Missassaugua IceDogs but declined so he could play college hockey. He moved on to the ECAC and St Lawrence University where his scoring increased from 6 points, to 31, 38 and finally 42 points in 41 games. He led the Skating Saints in points during all three of his last years.

Rich Peverly was undrafted and in 2004, he signed an ECHL contract with the South Carolina Stingrays. Pevs scored 58 points in 69 games with 72 PIMs. He added 4 points in 4 playoff games. He also played one game with the AHL Portland Pirates. The next season, Peverly played 11 games with the Reading Royals in the ECHL. The Milwaukee Admirals signed him to an AHL contract for two seasons. In 2005-06, he scored 46 points in 65 games. He added 2 goals and 9 assists in 21 playoff games. The next season with Milwaukee had Peverly scoring 68 points with 30 goals in 66 games. He added 3 points in 4 games in the playoffs. He would have played more but the Nashville Predators signed him to a two way contract on January 17, 2007 since he had outscored all of their prospects in Milwaukee for both seasons. For Nashville in 2006-07, Pevs played 13 games with one assist and a -1. In 2007-08, Peverly started the season with Milwaukee accumulating 14 goals and 40 assists in in 45 games. Then it was back to Nashville for 33 games with 5 goals and 5 assists and +4 with 2 assists in all 6 playoff games against the eventual champion Detroit Red Wings.

Peverly was in the NHL to stay. During 2008-09, he started with Nashville and played 27 games with 2 goals and 7 assists with -3. He was claimed off of waivers by the Atlanta Thrashers for 39 games with 13 goals and 22 assists with a +16. He played for Team Canada in the 2010 World Championships playing in all 7 games with a goal and three assists. In his first full season in Atlanta, Rich scored 22 goals and 32 assists and a -14 in 82 games. He started 2010-11 in Atlanta playing 59 games with 14 goals and 20 assists for a -16. He was traded to the Bruins picking up 23 more games with 4 G and 3 A and a -1. In the playoffs, Peverly played 25 games with 4 G and 8 A and won the Stanley Cup with Boston. In 2011-12, Peverly was in 57 games with 11 goals and 31 assists and had a +20. In seven playoff games Peverly scored 3 goals and 2 assists.

After playing 333 NHL games, Peverly headed to Finland and played 29 games with 9 G and 14 A for JYP during the NHL lock-out. He returned to Boston for 47 games with 6 goals and 12 assists and a -9. In 21 playoff games he had 2 goals. Peverly was traded to the Dallas Stars for the 2013-14 season. Before training camp, Peverly had surgery for an irregular heartbeat. He played in 62 games totaling 7 goals and 23 assists. His last NHL game was Monday March 10, 2014, nine years ago today. He collapsed on the Stars bench and his heart stopped. He was carried off the bench into the hallway and was revived by doctors and paramedics after his heart was stopped for two minutes. "Peverley returned to consciousness in that hallway and asked why everyone was standing around and if he could get back in the game." (From ESPN). Peverly again had surgery to repair his heart defect. He sat out a year in 2014-15 and was a volunteer assistant coach with the Texas Stars of the AHL before retiring from hockey in September of 2015. He remained with the Texas Stars as the Director of Player Development.

 

[JustinCaron]

For this edition of Diving Deep, I was able to interview Bruins defenceman, Matt Grzelcyk’s mother, Kathleen who shared some insight on Matt’s journey to the NHL

According to Kathleen, Grzelcyk began skating as a two-year-old and received plenty of help from his three older siblings. He has two older brothers, John and Andrew, along with an older sister named Julie. The youngster learned to skate by pushing crates around on the ice. His father coached the hockey team at Belmont Hill School, a private boys’ school located in the suburb just outside of Boston, and often times he would join the older kids during practices.

Diving Deep: Bruins' Matt Grzelcyk, the Hometown Kid - The Hockey Writers Boston Bruins Latest News, Analysis & More

In the newest Diving Deep, we had the pleasure to interview Matt Grzelcyk's mother who discussed her son playing for the hometown team.

thehockeywriters.com

 

[morehockeystats]

With all due respect, this is not exactly analytics content. Maybe this entire thread should be moved to a different sub-forum?