Eric Weinrich

Eric Weinrich
Weinrich in 2015
Born (1966-12-19) December 19, 1966 (age 58)
Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defense
Shot Left
Played for New Jersey Devils
Hartford Whalers
Chicago Blackhawks
Montreal Canadiens
Boston Bruins
Philadelphia Flyers
St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks
National team  United States
NHL draft 32nd overall, 1985
New Jersey Devils
Playing career 1988–2008

Eric John Weinrich[1] (born December 19, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, and Vancouver Canucks. He played 1,157 career NHL games, scoring 70 goals and 318 assists for 388 points.

Amateur career

Eric Weinrich grew up in the small town of Gardiner, Maine, went to high school at North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth, Maine, and played his college hockey at the University of Maine, where he studied archaeology and anthropology.[2] He played 83 games over three seasons at the University of Maine, and was named an NCAA East Second Team All-American for the 1986–87 season.[1] Weinrich would leave the team the next season to play for the United States national team.

Professional career

Weinrich was originally selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1984 NHL entry draft although the pick was deemed invalid as he had yet to clear the minimum age restriction for eligible draftees. Weinrich entered the draft the next year and was drafted 32nd overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft.[2] Weinrich joined the Utica Devils, the AHL developmental affiliate team of his draft team, the New Jersey Devils for the 1988–89 and 1989–90 AHL seasons, winning the Eddie Shore Award in 1990.[1] He would also play 21 games for the NHL Devils during those years, scoring nine points. He joined New Jersey full-time for the 1990–91 NHL season, having his best offensive year with 38 points and earning a spot on the NHL All-Rookie Team, but would be traded with Sean Burke to the Hartford Whalers for Bobby Holik and draft choices on August 28, 1992.[3]

After spending just over a season with the Whalers, Weinrich was traded with Patrick Poulin to the Chicago Blackhawks for Steve Larmer and Bryan Marchment.[4] He would play for the Blackhawks for several seasons before being traded once again shortly into the 1998–99 NHL season, this time to the Montreal Canadiens.[5] Weinrich again would not last long with his new team, being traded yet again to the Boston Bruins for Patrick Traverse midway through the 2000–01 NHL season in what is believed to have been the first trade between the two teams since 1964.[6][7]

Weinrich signed a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent on July 5, 2001 and played his 1000th game with them during the 2002–03 NHL season.[8][9] However, this was not enough to prevent him from being traded once again, this time to the St. Louis Blues, shortly after the 2004 NHL All-Star game.[10] During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he played with VSV EC of the Austrian Hockey League, but returned to the Blues for the 2005–06 NHL season, during which he was traded for the final time, his last NHL team being the Vancouver Canucks.[11]

Weinrich with the Portland Pirates in 2007

Weinrich announced his retirement on August 4, 2006 after 17 seasons in the NHL.[12] Upon his retirement, he became an assistant coach for the Portland Pirates in the AHL, then on January 25, 2007 he signed a professional tryout contract with the team and began playing immediately.[13][14] Weinrich skated with the Pirates for two seasons before hanging up the skates for good after the 2007–08 season.[2]

Weinrich worked as a professional scout for the Buffalo Sabres for three years.[15] He is currently a development coach for the New Jersey Devils.[16]

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-Hockey East First Team 1986–87 [17]
AHCA East Second-Team All-American 1986–87 [18]
Hockey East All-Tournament Team 1987 [19]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1983–84 North Yarmouth Academy HS-ME 17 23 33 56 — — — — — —
1984–85 North Yarmouth Academy HS-ME 20 6 21 27 — — — — — —
1985–86 University of Maine HE 34 0 14 14 26 — — — — —
1986–87 University of Maine HE 41 12 32 44 59 — — — — —
1987–88 University of Maine HE 8 4 7 11 22 — — — — —
1987–88 United States National Team Intl 38 3 9 12 24 — — — — —
1988–89 New Jersey Devils NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1988–89 Utica Devils AHL 80 17 27 44 70 5 0 1 1 4
1989–90 Utica Devils AHL 57 12 48 60 38 — — — — —
1989–90 New Jersey Devils NHL 19 2 7 9 11 6 1 3 4 17
1990–91 New Jersey Devils NHL 76 4 34 38 48 7 1 2 3 6
1991–92 New Jersey Devils NHL 76 7 25 32 55 7 0 2 2 4
1992–93 Hartford Whalers NHL 79 7 29 36 76 — — — — —
1993–94 Hartford Whalers NHL 8 1 1 2 2 — — — — —
1993–94 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 54 3 23 26 31 6 0 2 2 6
1994–95 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 48 3 10 13 33 16 1 5 6 4
1995–96 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 77 5 10 15 65 10 1 4 5 10
1996–97 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 81 7 25 32 62 6 0 1 1 4
1997–98 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 2 21 23 106 — — — — —
1998–99 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 14 1 3 4 12 — — — — —
1998–99 Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 6 12 18 77 — — — — —
1999–00 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 4 25 29 39 — — — — —
2000–01 Montreal Canadiens NHL 60 6 19 25 34 — — — — —
2000–01 Boston Bruins NHL 22 1 5 6 10 — — — — —
2001–02 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 4 20 24 26 5 0 0 0 4
2002–03 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 81 2 18 20 40 13 2 3 5 12
2003–04 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 54 2 7 9 32 — — — — —
2003–04 St. Louis Blues NHL 26 2 8 10 14 5 0 1 1 0
2004–05 EC VSV EBEL 10 3 8 11 8 3 0 1 1 6
2005–06 St. Louis Blues NHL 59 1 16 17 44 — — — — —
2005–06 Vancouver Canucks NHL 16 0 0 0 8 — — — — —
2006–07 Portland Pirates AHL 36 2 12 14 34 — — — — —
2007–08 Portland Pirates AHL 52 1 7 8 68 — — — — —
NHL totals 1,157 70 318 388 825 81 6 23 29 67

International

Medal record
Representing  United States
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Czech Republic
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Canada
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1985 United States WJC 7 1 1 2 8
1986 United States WJC 7 1 0 1 4
1988 United States OG 6 0 0 0 0
1991 United States WC 10 2 1 3 6
1991 United States CC 8 0 0 0 2
1993 United States WC 6 0 1 1 0
1994 United States WC 6 0 1 1 0
1997 United States WC 6 0 4 4 2
1998 United States WC 6 0 2 2 16
1999 United States WC 6 1 2 3 2
2000 United States WC 7 0 2 2 4
2001 United States WC 9 0 2 2 8
2002 United States WC 3 0 1 1 2
2004 United States WC 4 0 0 0 8
2004 United States WCH 2 0 0 0 0
Junior totals 14 2 1 3 12
Senior totals 79 3 16 19 50

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- Player -- Eric Weinrich". Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 22, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Player Bio – Eric Weinrich". PortlandPirates.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  3. ^ Yannis, Alex (1992-08-29). "Devils Trade Burke, but Weinrich Goes, Too". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  4. ^ Wigge, Larry (1993-11-15). "Good things came to those who waited". The Sporting News. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  5. ^ "Blackhawks Pin Hopes on Trade". CBS Sportsline. 1998-11-16. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  6. ^ "Bruins Acquire Eric Weinrich From Montreal". Boston Bruins. February 21, 2001. Archived from the original on June 28, 2001. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  7. ^ "Bruins happy with Weinrich". CBCsports.ca. 2001-02-26. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  8. ^ "FLYERS SIGN DEFENSEMAN ERIC WEINRICH TO A THREE-YEAR CONTRACT". Philadelphia Flyers. July 5, 2001. Archived from the original on October 6, 2001. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  9. ^ "Flyers Defenseman Eric Weinrich Reaches NHL Milestone Of 1,000 Games Played". Philadelphia Flyers. April 1, 2003. Archived from the original on April 15, 2003. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  10. ^ "Flyers Trade Eric Weinrich to St. Louis". Philadelphia Flyers. February 9, 2004. Archived from the original on May 28, 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  11. ^ "Blues Trade Eric Weinrich To Vancouver In Exchange For Tomas Mojzis And A 3rd Round Pick". St. Louis Blues. March 9, 2006. Archived from the original on March 24, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  12. ^ "Officially announced retirement, August 4, 2006". Hockey- Reference.com. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  13. ^ "Weinrich retires to join Pirates". theahl.com. August 7, 2006. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  14. ^ "Pirates' Weinrich back on ice". theahl.com. January 25, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  15. ^ "Staff Directory // TEAM". Buffalo Sabres. Retrieved Oct 30, 2020.
  16. ^ "Devils name Eric Weinrich development coach". NJ.com. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  17. ^ "Hockey East All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  18. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  19. ^ "2013-14 Hockey East Media Guide". Hockey East. Retrieved 2014-05-19.