Matt Hussey

Matt Hussey
Born (1979-05-28) May 28, 1979 (age 45)
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Pittsburgh Penguins
Detroit Red Wings
Jokerit
Straubing Tigers
ERC Ingolstadt
Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers
HC 07 Detva
Dragons de Rouen
NHL draft 254th overall, 1998
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 2002–2017

Matthew P. Hussey (born May 28, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. He later played professional ice hockey in Europe in Finland, Germany, Slovakia and France.

Playing career

Hussey was born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Plymouth, Minnesota. He was drafted in the ninth round, 254th overall, by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.

Drafted from the high school hockey team, Avon Old Farms, Hussey was recruited to play collegiate hockey with the University of Wisconsin in the WCHA. After his senior year, Hussey scored 84 points in 154 games with the Badgers. On September 27, 2002, he was signed to an entry-level contract with the Penguins.

Hussey made his professional debut with the Penguins AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the 2002–03 season. He spent the next four seasons primarily in the AHL, playing only 16 games with Pittsburgh. In the 2005–06 season he led the baby pens in scoring with 51 points.

On July 13, 2006, Hussey signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings to a one-year contract.[1] He played in five games with the Wings in 2006–07 but similarly played most of the year in the AHL with affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

On July 13, 2007, Hussey then signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche. He failed to make the Avalanche and was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters for their inaugural 2007–08 season. In his first game with the Lake Erie, Hussey was credited with scoring the Monsters' first goal in franchise history in a 3-2 loss to the Griffins on October 6, 2007.[2] Midway into the season, Hussey left the Monsters and signed with Finnish team Jokerit on January 30, 2008.[3]

Hussey signed with the German team Straubing Tigers of the DEL, for 2008–09 before transferring to ERC Ingolstadt on March 9, 2009.[4] In his third year with the team, he was named European Hockey Player of the Month for January 2012 by Eurohockey.com. He scored five goals and nine assists in nine games.[5]

After remaining a free agent midway into the 2013–14 season, Hussey agreed to play for the remainder of the season with his third DEL club, the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers, on December 11, 2013.[6]

Hussey returned from Europe at the conclusion of the season with the Ice Tigers and took a year's hiatus from professional hockey. On October 13, 2015, he returned to professional hockey after he signed a contract in the ECHL with the Evansville IceMen to begin the 2015–16 season. He later returned to Europe and after a stint in Slovakia, he finished his professional career in France with Dragons de Rouen in the Ligue Magnus in the 2016–17 season.

Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1996–97 Wayzata High School HSMN 48 34 31 65 — — — — — —
1997–98 Avon Old Farms HS–Prep 26 26 23 49 20 — — — — —
1998–99 University of Wisconsin WCHA 37 10 5 15 18 — — — — —
1999–2000 University of Wisconsin WCHA 35 5 11 16 8 — — — — —
2000–01 University of Wisconsin WCHA 40 9 11 20 24 — — — — —
2001–02 University of Wisconsin WCHA 39 18 15 33 16 — — — — —
2002–03 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 69 12 11 23 28 2 0 0 0 0
2003–04 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 55 2 1 3 6 6 2 2 4 0
2003–04 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 3 2 1 3 0 — — — — —
2004–05 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 80 16 14 30 19 10 1 2 3 2
2005–06 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 65 21 30 51 34 9 1 0 1 0
2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 13 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2006–07 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 75 15 29 44 36 6 1 1 2 2
2006–07 Detroit Red Wings NHL 5 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2007–08 Lake Erie Monsters AHL 37 8 8 16 18 — — — — —
2007–08 Jokerit SM-l 11 0 3 3 4 — — — — —
2008–09 Straubing Tigers DEL 48 16 27 43 48 — — — — —
2009–10 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 51 20 20 40 26 9 1 3 4 6
2010–11 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 51 15 15 30 36 4 0 2 2 0
2011–12 Straubing Tigers DEL 42 23 22 45 10 8 2 2 4 4
2012–13 Straubing Tigers DEL 33 6 9 15 28 6 2 1 3 0
2013–14 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 14 2 10 12 18 3 1 0 1 0
2015–16 Evansville IceMen ECHL 8 0 1 1 4 — — — — —
2015–16 HC 07 Detva SVK–2 5 0 3 3 2 7 2 5 7 14
2016–17 Dragons de Rouen FRA 44 5 10 15 14 19 5 6 11 6
AHL totals 381 74 93 167 141 33 5 5 10 4
NHL totals 21 2 2 4 2 — — — — —
DEL totals 239 82 103 185 166 30 6 8 14 10

References

  1. ^ "Hussey and Smith Inked to One-Year Deals". nhl.com. Detroit Red Wings. 2006-07-13. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  2. ^ "Monsters make franchise debut". www.lakeeriemonsters.com. Lake Erie Monsters. 2007-10-06. Archived from the original on 2014-07-10. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  3. ^ "Matt Hussey to strengthen offense". jokerit.com (in German). Jokerit. 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  4. ^ "Matt Hussey stürmt künftig für die Panther". www.erc-ingolstadt.de (in German). ERC Ingolstadt. 2009-03-09. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  5. ^ "Hussey voted European player of the month of January". EuroHockey.com. 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  6. ^ "Ice Tigers sign Matt Hussey". www.icetigers.de (in German). Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers. 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2013-12-11.