Eric Nystrom

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Eric Nystrom
Born February 14, 1983 (1983-02-14) (age 29)
Syosset, NY, USA
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Dallas Stars
Calgary Flames
Minnesota Wild
National team  United States
NHL Draft 10th overall, 2002
Calgary Flames
Playing career 2005–present

Eric Nystrom (born February 14, 1983) is an American ice hockey left winger for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a first round selection by the Flames, 10th overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. In addition to the Flames, Nystrom was a member of the Minnesota Wild before joining the Stars. He played four seasons of college hockey with the Michigan Wolverines before turning pro in 2005. He is the son of former NHL player Bob Nystrom.

Contents

[edit] Early life

His father Bob, born in Sweden but grew up in Western Canada, was an NHL player for the New York Islanders at the time, and won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1980 and 1983.[1] Nystrom, who is Jewish,[2][3][4] attended high school at Portledge School in Locust Valley, New York. He has an older sister, Marissa.[5] Nystrom grew up playing several sports, including soccer and baseball, and only seriously considered a hockey career in his mid-teens.[6] While Eric was regarded as an NHL prospect himself, his father encouraged him to seek an education first, which the younger Nystrom did upon earning a scholarship to play for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 2000.[7] He spent four years at Michigan where he earned a degree in Liberal Arts.[6]

[edit] Playing career

Nystrom established a gritty, hard working style similar to his father's which helped earn him an invite to play with the US National Development Program (USDP).[7] He played 55 games for USDP in the North American Hockey League in 1999–2000, scoring seven goals and 23 points.[8] He split the 2000–01 season with the national under-18 program and the junior team in the United States Hockey League, also representing the United States at the 2001 IIHF World U18 Championships.[8] He later represented the United States at the 2002 and 2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[9]

Nystrom with the Flames in 2009.

He moved onto the University of Michigan, earning a place on the Central Collegiate Hockey Association All-Rookie team in 2002 after scoring 18 goals and 31 points.[10] On the strength of that season, the Calgary Flames selected him with their first pick, 10th overall, at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.[11] Before turning professional, Nystrom completed his final three seasons of college eligibility, finishing with 111 points in 160 career games, and serving as the Wolverines' captain in his senior year of 2004–05.[12]

Upon turning professional in 2005, Nystrom was assigned to the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights of the American Hockey League (AHL). He was quickly recalled by the Flames at the start of the 2005–06 season,[13] and made his NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche on October 10, 2005.[12] He played two games with the Flames before being returned to the AHL to complete the season.[8] Nystrom missed most of the 2006–07 after suffering a tear in his right shoulder during a pre-season game. He attempted to rehab the injury and then play, before opting on surgery. The injury limited Nystrom to just 12 regular season games for Omaha, but he returned in time to play five playoff games for the Knights.[14]

Nystrom split the 2007–08 season between the Calgary and the Quad City Flames. He appeared in 44 regular season games for Calgary, and scored his first NHL goal on October 30, 2007 against the Nashville Predators.[12] He scored a career high four points, two goals and two assists, in the Flames final game of the regular season, a 7–1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.[15] While with Quad City, he famously performed an on-ice striptease that mimicked the one performed by the character Ned Braden in the movie Slap Shot as part of a team jersey auction. The event raised $30,000 for charity.[16] Following the season, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Flames.[17]

Nystrom played his first full NHL season with the Flames in 2008–09, playing in 76 games and scoring five goals, three of them game winning goals. He added a fourth game winning goal in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Chicago Blackhawks.[12] He more than doubled his career high in 2009–10, scoring 11 goals despite struggling through a groin injury for a large part of the season. He was invited to play with the American team at the 2010 IIHF World Championships.[18] Following the season, Nystrom chose to leave Calgary as a free agent, signing a three-year, $4.2 million contract with the Minnesota Wild.[19]

On September 30, 2011, Nystrom tripped the Edmonton Oilers defenceman, Taylor Fedun, skates first, into the boards when retrieving a puck to force an icing call. Fedun suffered a complex fracture to his right femur, ending his drive to make the Oiler's roster opening night and his season.[20] Fedun's injury has prompted the further debate on no-touch icing in the National Hockey League.

[edit] Off the ice

While with the Flames, he served as a player ambassador for the Reading... Give it a Shot! program and visited local schools as part of the team's campaign to increase literacy amongst students.[21]

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999–00 US Junior National Team NAHL 55 7 16 23 57 — — — — —
2000–01 US Junior National Team USDP 23 5 5 10 50 — — — — —
2001–02 University of Michigan Wolverines CCHA 39 18 12 30 36 — — — — —
2002–03 University of Michigan Wolverines CCHA 39 15 11 26 24 — — — — —
2003–04 University of Michigan Wolverines CCHA 43 10 12 22 50 — — — — —
2004–05 University of Michigan Wolverines CCHA 38 13 19 32 33 — — — — —
2005–06 Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights AHL 78 15 18 33 37 — — — — —
2005–06 Calgary Flames NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2006–07 Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights AHL 12 2 0 2 0 5 0 0 0 2
2007–08 Calgary Flames NHL 44 3 7 10 48 7 0 0 0 2
2007–08 Quad City Flames AHL 18 4 3 7 15 — — — — —
2008–09 Calgary Flames NHL 76 5 5 10 89 6 2 2 4 0
2009–10 Calgary Flames NHL 82 11 8 19 54 — — — — —
2010–11 Minnesota Wild NHL 82 4 8 12 30 — — — — —
CCHA totals 159 56 54 110 149 — — — — —
NHL totals 286 23 28 51 221 13 2 2 4 2

[edit] International

Year Team Comp   GP G A Pts PIM
2001 United States WJC-U18 6 3 3 6 6
2002 United States WJC 7 0 0 0 0
2003 United States WJC 7 1 2 3 2
2010 United States WC 6 0 0 0 4
Totals 26 4 5 9 12

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Bob Nystrom player profile". Hockey Hall of Fame. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=13869. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  2. ^ "Jews (and Mel) on the big screen, Winter sports roundup". Jweekly.com. January 21, 2010. http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/41080/jews-and-mel-on-the-big-screen-winter-sports-roundup/. Retrieved January 7, 2011. 
  3. ^ Bob Wechsler (2008). Day by day in Jewish sports history. KTAV Publishing House, Inc.. ISBN 1602800138. http://books.google.com/books?id=aOTWUl-9LQoC&pg=PA45&dq=%22eric+nystrom%22+jewish&hl=en&ei=ftNETbyBN8qugQeb_8jDAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=nystrom&f=false. Retrieved January 30, 2011. 
  4. ^ Ron Kaplan (January 5, 2011). "The year in Jewish sports". New Jersey Jewish News. http://njjewishnews.com/article/lifetimes/year-in-jewish-sports-2010. Retrieved January 30, 2011. 
  5. ^ Lapointe, Joe (June 22, 2002). "Another Nystrom seeks shot at Cup". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/22/sports/hockey-another-nystrom-seeks-shot-at-cup.html. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  6. ^ a b Board, Mike (October 3, 2008). "Nystrom making father proud". Calgary Flames Hockey Club. http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=454058. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  7. ^ a b Allen, Kevin (November 22, 2000). "Nystrom takes father's game to another level". USA Today: p. C.04. 
  8. ^ a b c "Eric Nystrom player profile". Hockey Hall of Fame. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=20519. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  9. ^ "Helminen, Nystrom named to U.S. National Junior Team". University of Michigan. December 4, 2002. http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/120402aaa.html. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  10. ^ "Three Wolverines in scouting service's final ranking". University of Michigan. April 26, 2002. http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/042602aaa.html. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  11. ^ Lefebvre, Jean (June 23, 2002). "Here comes the son". CNN/SI. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/news/2002/06/23/nystrom_nystrom_slam/. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  12. ^ a b c d Hanlon, Peter; Kelso, Sean (2009) (PDF). 2009–10 Calgary Flames Media Guide. Calgary Flames Hockey Club. p. 83. http://flames.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=40390. 
  13. ^ "Flames call up left wing Nystrom". The Sports Network. 2005=10–10. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=139328&hubname=nhl. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  14. ^ MacFarlane, Steve (September 7, 2007). "Nystrom hungry to shoulder the load". Calgary Sun. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Calgary/2007/09/07/4476970-sun.html. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  15. ^ "Iginla nets 50th goal of year, two assists as Flames roll in regular season finale". ESPN. April 5, 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=280405022. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  16. ^ Cruickshank, Scott (March 1, 2008). "Nystrom striptease scores for charity". Calgary Herald. http://www.faceoff.com/hockey/teams/calgary-flames/story.html?id=2df0c2b4-c6f6-40c1-a91b-c6828107680f&add_feed_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.canada.com%2Fcalgaryherald%2Fnews%2Fsports%2Fflames%2Ftopstories.atom%3Fviewer%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.faceoff.com%2Fhockey%2Fteams%2Fcalgary-flames%2Fstory.html. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  17. ^ Lefebvre, Jean (June 28, 2008). "Nystrom's back and ready for more ice time". Calgary Herald. http://www.faceoff.com/hockey/teams/calgary-flames/story.html?id=1611e924-f16f-4bcf-9a05-22e85cbd8761&add_feed_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.canada.com%2Fcalgaryherald%2Fnews%2Fsports%2Fflames%2Ftopstories.atom%3Fviewer%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.faceoff.com%2Fhockey%2Fteams%2Fcalgary-flames%2Fstory.html. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  18. ^ Busby, Ian (April 14, 2010). "Nystrom not aiming for the Isles". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/sports/hockey/2010/04/14/13586966.html. Retrieved July 1, 2010. 
  19. ^ Andreson, Glen (July 1, 2010). "Wild signs LW Eric Nystrom". Minnesota Wild Hockey Club. http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=533614. Retrieved July 1, 2010. 
  20. ^ [1]
  21. ^ "Player programs and initiatives". Calgary Flames Hockey Club. http://flames.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=40342. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Chuck Kobasew		 Calgary Flames first round draft pick
2002		 Succeeded by
Dion Phaneuf
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