- Nick Spaling
-
Nick Spaling 
Born September 19, 1988
Palmerston, ON, CANHeight 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Weight 196 lb (89 kg; 14 st 0 lb) Position Centre Shoots Left NHL team Nashville Predators NHL Draft 58th overall, 2007
Nashville PredatorsPlaying career 2008–present Nick Spaling (born September 19, 1988) is a Canadian ice hockey player, currently playing for the Nashville Predators in the National Hockey League. He previously played three seasons with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He shoots left and plays centre position. His favourite players are Joe Sakic and Doug Gilmour, and he was a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs growing up.[1][2][3]
Contents
Family
Nick Spaling was born in Palmerston, Ontario but raised in nearby Drayton. His parents are Charles and Lorrie.[1] He has three siblings: older sister Nicole, older brother Nathan, and younger sister Natasha.[1] Nathan also plays hockey and played one season with the Guelph Storm of the OHL.[1][4]
Minor hockey
Spaling grew up playing most of his minor hockey for his hometown Drayton Flyers of the OMHA before playing high school hockey for Norwell District Secondary School at age 16.
He was undrafted by the Ontario Hockey League after his minor Midget season and signed as a free agent with the Listowel Cyclones Jr. B. club of the OHA.
After a solid season with the Cyclones, Spaling was chosen in the 6th round of 2005 OHL Priority Selection as a major midget-aged player by the Kitchener Rangers.
OHL career
Prior to playing in the OHL, Spaling played with the Listowel Cyclones of the Mid-Western Junior Hockey League.[5] The Cyclones had won the league's Cherry Cup, despite placing seventh (of nine teams) in the regular season. This was the team's only league title in the MWJBHL, although they had won the 1976–77 title while in the Central Junior "C" Hockey League.
The Kitchener Rangers selected Spaling in the 6th round of the 2005 OHL Priority Draft, 118th overall.[5] He played with the Rangers for the duration of his OHL career from 2005 to 2008. He was named the Kitchener Rangers' rookie of the year for the 2005–06 season.[5]
In 2007, he played in the CHL Top Prospects Game.[6] He also played for the OHL All-Stars in the 2007 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge;[5] the OHL team was the only Canadian team to have won both games against the Russian team—the QMJHL and WHL teams both won and lost one game each. Spaling competed in the 2008 OHL All-Star Classic for the Western Conference All-Stars, scoring one goal.
He was named an alternate captain for his last season with the Rangers, the 2007–08 season.[5] Spaling contributed greatly to the success of the Kitchener Rangers in the 2008 OHL playoffs. In 20 games he scored 30 points. At the 2008 Memorial Cup, he was tied in third in points with 8 points in 5 games. Spaling won the William Hanley Trophy in the 2007–08 season, awarded to the OHL's most sportsmanlike player.
Spaling was selected for Team Canada's junior training camp for the 2008 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, but he was forced to return home early as he had been diagnosed with mononucleosis.[7][8]
Professional career
Among North American skaters (non-goalie players), he was ranked 24th in the NHL Central Scouting final report for 2007; he was 30th in the mid-season rankings.[6] At the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Spaling was selected in the second round, 58th overall, by the Nashville Predators.
Spaling signed an entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators in the summer of 2008.[9] The contract is reported to be a 3-year, $1.95 million contract.[10] He attended the Predators' training camp and was later reassigned to the team's AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.[11] He began the 2008–09 AHL season playing for the Admirals wearing #13. After beginning the 2009–10 AHL season with Milwaukee, Spaling was recalled by Nashville.[12] He played his first NHL game on December 15, 2009, and assisted on a goal by Ryan Jones in Nashville's 7–4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.[13] On December 13, 2010, he scored his first NHL goal in a 5 - 0 win against the New York Islanders.
On July 7, 2011, Spaling signed a two-year contract with the Nashville Predators. [14]
Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM +/- GP G A Pts PIM +/- 2004–05 Listowel Cyclones MWJHL 61 25 27 52 58 — 2005–06 Kitchener Rangers OHL 62 10 15 25 22 +13 5 0 3 3 0 0 2006–07 Kitchener Rangers OHL 61 23 36 59 41 +24 9 2 3 5 4 -1 2007–08 Kitchener Rangers OHL 56 38 34 72 18 +7 25 16 22 38 11 +9 2008–09 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 79 12 23 35 28 +6 11 0 3 3 8 +2 2009–10 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 48 7 10 17 21 -6 — — — — — — 2009–10 Nashville Predators NHL 28 0 3 3 0 +3 6 0 0 0 0 0 2010–11 Nashville Predators NHL 74 8 6 14 20 -10 12 2 4 6 0 +3 OHL totals 179 71 85 156 81 +44 39 18 28 46 15 +8 AHL totals 127 19 33 52 49 0 11 0 3 3 8 +2 NHL totals 102 8 9 17 20 -7 18 2 4 6 0 +3 References
- ^ a b c d "Nick Spaling: personal". Hockey Canada. http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/11737/la_id/1/ss_id/21712/player_id/10926/step/4.htm. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ Menard, Jason (28 March 2007). "2007 prospects: Nick Spaling". Hockey's Future. http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/9535/2007_prospects_nick_spaling/. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ "Milwaukee Admirals – Nick Spaling". Milwaukee Admirals. http://www.milwaukeeadmirals.com/home/team/players/spaling.html. Retrieved 2 December 2008.[dead link]
- ^ "OHL Profile: Nathan Spaling". Ontario Hockey League. http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?id=3426. Retrieved 1 November 2008.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d e "Nick Spaling: hockey background". Hockey Canada. http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/11737/la_id/1/ss_id/21712/player_id/10926/step/2.htm. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ a b "Nick Spaling bio". Nashville Predators. http://predators.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8474096&view=bio. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ Sapurji, Sunaya (12 December 2007). "Has satchel, will travel". Toronto Star. Toronto: Torstar. http://www.thestar.com/article/284738. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ Rivet, Christine (26 December 2007). "2007 sweat, tears and determination". The Record. Kitchener: Torstar. http://news.therecord.com/article/287139. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ "Predators Sign forward Nick Spaling". Nashville, Tennessee: Milwaukee Admirals. 26 August 2008. http://www.milwaukeeadmirals.com/home/news/2008/08/0826spaling.html. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ "Sports Shorts". SportsXpress.com. 3 September 2008. http://www.sportsxpress.com/content/article?articleId=114. Retrieved 1 November 2008.[dead link]
- ^ "Predators Reassign Five to Admirals". Nashville, Tennessee: Milwaukee Admirals. 28 September 2008. http://www.milwaukeeadmirals.com/home/news/2008/09/0928five.html. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ "Preds Recall Spaling from Milwaukee". Nashville, Tennessee: Nashville Predators. 15 December 2009. http://predators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=509959. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ "Lightning at Predators – 15 December 2009 – Recap". Nashville, Tennessee: NHL.com. 16 December 2009. http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2009020490. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/07/predators-continue-to-work-through-rfa-offer-sheet-mess-sign-four-players/
External links
Categories:- 1988 births
- Living people
- Canadian ice hockey centres
- Ice hockey people from Ontario
- Kitchener Rangers alumni
- Milwaukee Admirals players
- Nashville Predators draft picks
- Nashville Predators players
- People from Wellington County, Ontario
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