Ryan Malone

Infobox Ice Hockey Player
position = Left Wing
shoots = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 4
weight_lb = 224
team = Tampa Bay Lightning
former_teams = Pittsburgh Penguins
league = NHL
nationality = USA
birth_date = Birth date and age|1979|12|1|mf=y
birth_place = Pittsburgh, PA
career_start = 2003
draft = 115th overall
draft_year = 1999
draft_team = Pittsburgh Penguins
nickname = Bugsy, Bootsy [cite news
last = Molinari
first = Dave
title = Oh, for good 'ol golden nicknaming days of yore
publisher = "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"
date = 2006-10-29
url = http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06302/733906-61.stm]

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image_size = 200px

Ryan Malone (born December 1, 1979 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

Ryan Malone was drafted in the fourth round, 115th overall by the Penguins in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

Malone attended Upper St. Clair High School near Pittsburgh for two years. He played hockey during his junior year at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota, a school later attended by Zach Parise and Sidney Crosby. During his senior year, Malone played with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL and attended Millard North High School.

Malone was drafted shortly after graduating high school, and went on to play at St. Cloud State University for four seasons. Malone played 3 games of the 2002-03 AHL season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after his last season at St. Cloud State. He played 81 games of his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2003-04 season. He finished third on the team in scoring behind Dick Tarnstrom and Aleksey Morozov. Malone did not play with the Penguins again until the 2005-06 season, spending time during the 2004-2005 lockout in Finland, Italy, and Switzerland.

Playing on a line with Sidney Crosby and Mark Recchi during the 2006–07 season, Malone notched his first four-point NHL game on December 13, 2007 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Two days later, he scored his first NHL hat trick, against the New York Islanders. With this feat, Malone and his father became only the second father-son duo in NHL history to score hat-tricks for the same team, along with Ken Hodge, Sr. and Ken Hodge, Jr. [ [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_484632.html Penalties hurt Pens in bid for 5th straight] ]

Malone achieved another career oddity against the Islanders on February 19, 2007, when he recorded his second career hat trick by scoring a goal in the first minute of all three periods. [ [http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20062007/GS020892.HTM NHL On-line ReportViewer ] ]

In January 2008, Malone and defenceman Darryl Sydor were named as alternate captains for the Penguins, following the departure of Mark Recchi and a long-term injury to Gary Roberts.

In game one of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, Niklas Kronwall checked Malone and broke his nose. In game five, he took a Hal Gill slapshot in the face, opening a gash on his cheek and damaging his nose again. He returned for the rest of the game. [cite news | url = http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2008/06/03/sports/doc4844d9007020b665201850.txt | title = Malone's heart wasn't injured | last = Harlan | first = Chris | publisher = Times Online | date = 2008-06-03 | accessdate = 2008-06-03]

On June 28, 2008, the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired exclusive negotiation rights with Malone and Gary Roberts from the Penguins for a third-round draft pick in 2009. One day later, the Lightning signed Malone to a seven-year contract worth $31.5 million, which pays him over $7 million for each of the first two seasons. Roberts then signed a one-year deal the next day.cite news| url=http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242037&lid=sublink01&lpos=headlines_nhl | title=Malone and Roberts sign on with Lightning | publisher=TSN.ca | date=2008-06-30 | accessdate=2008-06-30]

Family

Ryan is the son of former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Greg Malone and is the first Pittsburgh area native to play for the Penguins. Ryan's jersey number is #12 in tribute to his father Greg, who wore that number for Pittsburgh. [ [http://www.penguinjersey.com/PensPages/PensNumbers.html All-time uniform numbers for the Pittsburgh Penguins ] ] Prior to Ryan signing with Tampa Bay in the 2008 offseason, the Lightning hired Greg as their head scout for profressional talent.

On February 8, 2008, Malone's wife, Abby, gave birth to their first child, William Ryan.

Career statistics

References

External links

*nhlprofile|8467988
*hockeydb|45143