Peter Ratchuk

Infobox Ice Hockey Player
position = Defense
shoots = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 1
weight_lb = 195
team = DEG Metro Stars
league = DEL
nationality = USA
birth_date = Birth date and age|1977|9|10|mf=y
birth_place = Buffalo, NY, U.S.
career_start = 1998
career_end =
draft = 25th overall
draft_year = 1996
draft_team = Colorado Avalanche
former_teams = Florida Panthers

Peter Ratchuk (born September 10, 1977, in Buffalo, New York) is a professional ice hockey defenseman. He was drafted in the first round, 25th overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. He grew up playing for the same organization, the Cazenovia Chiefs, that would later start the career of future #1 overall pick Patrick Kane.

Ratchuk was signed as a free agent by the Florida Panthers prior to the 1998–99 season. He played 32 games with the Panthers over two seasons, 1998–99 and 2000–01. He scored one goal and one assist.

After that, he was picked up by his hometown team, the Buffalo Sabres. During the 2002 preseason, he was sent down to that team's farm club, the Rochester Americans, for the 2002–03 season, then left to play in Germany. This resulted in a rather amusing error in ESPN's hockey recaps-- in Sabres game recaps, Ratchuk's name would often be used mistakenly to refer to Dmitri Kalinin, the current Sabres defenceman. Both Ratchuk and Kalinin wore #45, and ESPN never dissociated Ratchuk from the Sabres in their database when he left the league, resulting in the error.Fact|date=August 2007

After playing three seasons in Germany's Deutsche Eishockey-Liga, Ratchuk returned to North America in 2006–07 and split the season between the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He then return to Germany, joining the DEG Metro Stars.

External links

*hockeydb|19373
*legendsofhockey|14942