- Mike Knuble
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Mike Knuble
Knuble (22) as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2008–09 season.Born July 4, 1972
Toronto, ON, CANHeight 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Weight 235 lb (107 kg; 16 st 11 lb) Position Right wing Shoots Right NHL team
Former teamsWashington Capitals
Detroit Red Wings
New York Rangers
Boston Bruins
Philadelphia FlyersNational team United States
NHL Draft 76th overall, 1991
Detroit Red WingsPlaying career 1995–present Michael Rudolph Knuble (
/kɨˈnuːbəl/ ki-noo-bəl; born July 4, 1972) is a Canadian American professional ice hockey right winger and an alternate captain for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Contents
Playing career
Born in Toronto, Canada, Knuble was raised in Kentwood, Michigan by his Latvian-born parents, Aivars and Mara Knuble.[1] Because he was born in Canada, Mike has dual Canadian/American citizenship.[2] Father Aivars Knuble died of a heart attack at the age of 45 in 1987, when Mike was 15 years old. He has a younger brother named Steve who currently lives in Huntsville, Alabama.[3]
Knuble was drafted in the 4th round, 76th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He played the next four years at the University of Michigan and was given Second Team CCHA All-Star honors in 1994 and 1995 and NCAA West All-American Team honors in 1995. Following his collegiate career, he made his professional debut in the 1995 Calder Cup playoffs with the Adirondack Red Wings. He spent the entire 1995–96 season and most of the 1996–97 season with Adironack before making his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings on March 26, 1997. He played a total of 9 regular season games in 1996–97 and none in the playoffs. Detroit won the Stanley Cup that season, but Knuble's name wasn't engraved on the Cup since he had not played enough games.[4] However, Detroit repeated as Cup Champions in 1997–98, his first full season in the NHL, and though he only played three playoff games, he met the necessary requirements to have his name engraved on the Cup. Knuble was included on both Stanley Cup winning team pictures in 1997 and 1998.[citation needed]
Prior to the 1998–99 season, Detroit traded Knuble to the New York Rangers for a 2000 2nd round draft choice (Tomas Kopecky). Knuble played in all 82 games with the Rangers that season, recording 15 goals and 20 assists. With a month to go in the 1999–2000 season, the Rangers traded him to the Boston Bruins for Rob DiMaio. After posting 20 points in 82 games in 2000–01 and 14 points in 54 games in 2001–02, Knuble found himself playing left wing on a line with Joe Thornton and Glen Murray beginning in 2002–03. He scored 30 goals and 29 assists in 75 games, good for third on the Bruins. After another solid season in 2003–04, 21 goals and 25 assists in 82 games, Knuble signed with the Philadelphia Flyers in the off-season. He played for Linköpings HC of the Elitserien during the 2004–05 NHL lockout, scoring 26 goals and assisting on 13 others in 49 games.
When the lockout came to an end, Knuble was slotted to play right wing on a line with Simon Gagne and Peter Forsberg, a line which was later nicknamed the Deuces Wild Line. He responded with his best season as a pro in 2005–06, recording career highs in goals (34), assists (31), and points (65). On pace to duplicate his numbers despite his team's poor season in 2006–07, Knuble's season was nearly cut short after a collision with Rangers forward Brendan Shanahan. After missing a month of action he returned to the ice and finished with 24 goals and 30 assists in 64 games and brought his plus/minus to +2, Knuble being one of two Flyers (Gagne being the other) to finish with a plus rating.
Knuble recorded his first career hat trick on February 2, 2008, scoring all the goals in a 3-0 Flyers win over the Anaheim Ducks. Knuble netted his first career playoff overtime goal on April 17, 2008, scoring the winner during the second overtime of the Flyers 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals. He has traveled to schools in New Jersey and Philadelphia teaching kids about hockey in his free time.
On July 1, 2009, he signed a 2 year deal worth $2.8 million a season with the Washington Capitals.
On November 13, 2009, in a game against the Minnesota Wild, Knuble broke a finger in the first period and did not finish the game. He returned on December 11 after missing 4 weeks of action. Knuble scored Washington's first goal in the second period of the 2011 NHL Winter Classic against Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.[5]
On April 11, 2011, Knuble was signed to a one-year contract extension (through the end of the 2011-2012 season) with the Capitals, worth $2 million.[6]
Personal life
Knuble is married to wife Megan. They have three children (two sons and one daughter) together.
Awards
- 1997–98: Stanley Cup Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
- 2006–07: Yanick Dupre Memorial
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1991–92 University of Michigan CCHA 43 7 8 15 48 — — — — — 1992–93 University of Michigan CCHA 39 26 16 42 57 — — — — — 1993–94 University of Michigan CCHA 41 32 26 58 71 — — — — — 1994–95 University of Michigan CCHA 34 38 22 60 62 — — — — — 1994–95 Adirondack Red Wings AHL — — — — — 3 0 0 0 0 1995–96 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 80 22 23 45 59 3 1 0 1 0 1996–97 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 68 28 35 63 54 — — — — — 1996–97 Detroit Red Wings NHL 9 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 1997–98 Detroit Red Wings NHL 53 7 6 13 16 3 0 1 1 0 1998–99 New York Rangers NHL 82 15 20 35 26 — — — — — 1999–00 New York Rangers NHL 59 9 5 14 18 — — — — — 1999–00 Boston Bruins NHL 14 3 3 6 8 — — — — — 2000–01 Boston Bruins NHL 82 7 13 20 37 — — — — — 2001–02 Boston Bruins NHL 54 8 6 14 88 2 0 0 0 0 2002–03 Boston Bruins NHL 75 30 29 59 45 5 0 2 2 2 2003–04 Boston Bruins NHL 82 21 25 46 32 7 2 0 2 0 2004–05 Linköpings HC SEL 49 26 13 39 40 6 0 1 1 2 2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 82 34 31 65 80 6 1 3 4 8 2006–07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 64 24 30 54 56 — — — — — 2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 82 29 26 55 72 12 3 4 7 6 2008–09 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 82 27 20 47 62 6 2 1 3 2 2009–10 Washington Capitals NHL 69 29 24 53 59 7 2 4 6 6 2010–11 Washington Capitals NHL 79 24 16 40 36 6 2 0 2 8 NHL totals 968 268 254 522 589 54 12 15 27 32 International
Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1995 United States WC 6 1 2 3 2 1999 United States WC 6 0 0 0 10 2001 United States WC 9 2 0 2 2 2005 United States WC 7 4 2 6 8 2006 United States Oly 6 1 1 2 4 Senior int'l totals 34 8 5 13 26 References
- ^ http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=436113
- ^ http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=437994
- ^ http://www.hockeysmithsouth.net/hs/instructors.htm
- ^ http://www.nhl.com/cup/fun_facts.html
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2011-01-01-winter-classic-blog_N.htm
- ^ http://dc.sbnation.com/washington-capitals/2011/4/11/2103813/mike-knuble-contract-extension-capitals-nhl
External links
Categories:- 1972 births
- Adirondack Red Wings players
- American ice hockey right wingers
- American people of Canadian descent
- American people of Latvian descent
- Boston Bruins players
- Canadian ice hockey right wingers
- Detroit Red Wings draft picks
- Detroit Red Wings players
- Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics
- Ice hockey people from Michigan
- Linköpings HC players
- Living people
- Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players
- New York Rangers players
- Olympic ice hockey players of the United States
- People from Toronto
- Philadelphia Flyers players
- Stanley Cup champions
- Washington Capitals players
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