Richard Park

This is an article about the ice hockey player. For the British TV personality and radio executive, see Richard Park

Richard Park
Born	May 27, 1976 (1976-05-27) Seoul, KOR
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shoots	Right
NHL team Former teams	Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Philadelphia Flyers Minnesota Wild Vancouver Canucks New York Islanders NLA Genève-Servette HC
National team	United States
NHL Draft	50th overall, 1994 Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career	1994–present

Richard Park (Korean: 박용수, Bak Yong-Su; born May 27, 1976 in Seoul, South Korea) is a Korean-born American professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

Park moved to Southern California near Los Angeles with his family at the age of three. After ten years in the United States, at the age of 13, he moved to Ontario, Canada, where he played minor hockey in the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL). He eventually worked his way up to the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and played for Belleville from 1992–93 to 1995–96.

He was drafted into the NHL following his second OHL season by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round, 50th overall, of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut when he played one regular season game and three playoff games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1994–95. Park became only the second Korean-born person to play in the NHL after Jim Paek. Coincidentally, both of them were drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Park played most of the next season, 1995–96, in the NHL totaling 56 games. Those 56 games would be the most he would play in the NHL until the 2001–02 when he joined the Minnesota Wild as he spent the next few years bouncing around the minors and different NHL teams. During that time, he played for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL and various IHL and AHL teams.

Park with the Vancouver Canucks in 2005.

He spent three seasons in Minnesota from 2001–02 to 2003–04 where he achieved career highs in games played (81), goals scored (14), assists earned (15), and points totaled (25). During the Wild's cinderella run in the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Park scored the winning goal in overtime in Game 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Colorado Avalanche.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Park played in Europe as a member of Team USA who went on to capture the 2004 Deutschland Cup. He would go on to sign short term contracts in Sweden and Switzerland with the Malmö Redhawks and SCL Tigers. On August 8, 2005 prior to the 2005–06 season, Park signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks for US$750,000. At the end of his contract with Vancouver, he signed a two-year deal with the New York Islanders.

On March 29, 2008, Park was named the recipient of the Bob Nystrom Award, awarded annually to the Islander "who best exemplifies leadership, hustle and dedication." Park usually plays in a penalty killing role and is considered an above-average skater. He also served as the Islanders alternate captain in the 2008–09 season.

On September 9, 2010, Park left the NHL after 684 career games, signing a three-year contract as a free agent with Genève-Servette HC of the NLA, marking his return to Switzerland after a brief stint during the 2004 lockout.

On September 8, 2011, Park made a return to the NHL signing a one year, two-way contract for a second stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Richard Park on the Nassau Coliseum ice, playing for the New York Islanders.

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1992–93	Belleville Bulls	OHL		66	23	38	61	38		5	0	0	0	14
1993–94	Belleville Bulls	OHL		59	27	49	76	70		12	3	5	8	18
1994–95	Belleville Bulls	OHL		45	28	51	79	35		16	9	18	27	12
1994–95	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		1	0	1	1	2		3	0	0	0	2
1995–96	Belleville Bulls	OHL		6	7	6	13	2		14	18	12	30	10
1995–96	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		56	4	6	10	36		1	0	0	0	0
1996–97	Cleveland Lumberjacks	IHL		50	12	15	27	30		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		11	1	1	2	10		11	0	1	1	2
1997–98	Cincinnati Mighty Ducks	AHL		56	17	26	43	36		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		15	0	2	2	8		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Philadelphia Phantoms	AHL		75	41	42	83	33		16	9	6	15	4
1998–99	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		7	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Utah Grizzlies	IHL		82	28	32	60	36		5	1	0	1	0
2000–01	Cleveland Lumberjacks	IHL		75	27	21	48	29		4	0	2	2	4
2001–02	Houston Aeros	AHL		13	4	10	14	6		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Minnesota Wild	NHL		63	10	15	25	10		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Minnesota Wild	NHL		81	14	10	24	16		18	3	3	6	4
2003–04	Minnesota Wild	NHL		73	13	12	25	28		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Malmö Redhawks	SEL		9	1	3	4	4		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	SCL Tigers	NLA		10	3	0	3	8		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		60	8	10	18	29		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	New York Islanders	NHL		82	10	16	26	33		5	0	1	1	2
2007–08	New York Islanders	NHL		82	12	20	32	20		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	New York Islanders	NHL		71	14	17	31	34		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	New York Islanders	NHL		81	9	22	31	28		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL International Medal record Competitor for United States Ice hockey World Championships Bronze 2004 Prague Year Team Comp GP G A Pts PIM 1994 United States WJC 7 3 2 5 4 1995 United States WJC 7 1 7 8 29 2002 United States WC 7 3 3 6 0 2004 United States WC 9 5 3 8 0 2005 United States WC 5 1 0 1 0 2006 United States WC 7 1 1 2 0 Junior int'l totals 14 4 9 13 33 Senior int'l totals 28 10 7 17 0 See also List of ice hockey players of Asian descent References External links Richard Park's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database Richard Park at TSN.ca USA Hockey - Richard Park Preceded by Andrew Brunette Minnesota Wild captain December 2003 Succeeded by Brad Bombardir