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Kris Versteeg
Kris Versteeg
Versteeg during the 2009-10 Season during his tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Position Right/Left wing
Shoots Right
Height
Weight
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
176 lb (80 kg)
Tipsport Liga Team
F. Teams
HK Nitra
AMBHL
Lethbridge Golden Hawks Btm AAA
WHL
Lethbridge Hurricanes
Kamloops Blazers
Red Deer Rebels
AHL
Providence Bruins
Norfolk Admirals
Rockford IceHogs
NHL
Chicago Blackhawks
Toronto Maple Leafs
Philadelphia Flyers
Florida Panthers
Carolina Hurricanes
Los Angeles Kings
Calgary Flames
KHL
Avangard Omsk
SHL
Växjö Lakers HC
Teams Canada
Coaching 2012-2013 Univ. of Lethbridge
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born May 13, 1986,
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
NHL Draft 134th overall, 2004
Boston Bruins
Pro Career 2000 – present


Kris Versteeg (born May 13, 1986) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the HK Nitra of the Tipsport Liga. Originally selected 134th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins, he played with club's minor league affiliate, the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL) for parts of two seasons before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks. Versteeg continued playing in the AHL with the Blackhawks' affiliates until making his NHL debut during the 2007–08 season. The following campaign, he received a nomination for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best rookie. In his second full season with the Blackhawks, he helped the club win the Stanley Cup in 2010.

Playing career[]

Versteeg was drafted 134th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. After a four-year Western Hockey League (WHL) career (spanning from 2002–03 to 2005–06 and spent with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Kamloops Blazers and Red Deer Rebels) During his time with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, he played with future Chicago Blackhawks teammate Brent Seabrook for three seasons. Versteeg made his professional debut, playing in the final 13 games of the 2005–06 season with Boston's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Bruins.

He remained with Providence for the beginning of 2006–07 before being traded by Boston on February 3, 2007, along with a conditional draft pick, to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Bochenski.[1] As a result, he moved within the AHL to Chicago's minor league affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. Versteeg then played for the Rockford IceHogs in 2007–08, as Chicago switched its AHL affiliation. He made his NHL debut that season as he was called up for a total of 13 games, recording 2 goals and 2 assists.

Versteeg played his first full season with the Blackhawks in 2008–09. On January 1, 2009, he scored the opening goal of the 2009 Winter Classic held at Wrigley Field against the Detroit Red Wings. Finishing the season with 22 goals and 53 points, second in rookie scoring to Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks, he was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year along with Ryan and goaltender Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets for his efforts.[2] Mason ended up winning the Calder.

Versteeg's entry-level contract expired after the 2008–09 season, which would typically have made him a restricted free agent (RFA). However, a clerical error in which the Blackhawks failed to tender qualifying offers to their pending RFAs by the league deadline led to speculation Versteeg and several of his teammates would become unrestricted free agents. As a result, the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) filed a grievance on the players' behalf. Shortly thereafter, on July 8, 2009, he re-signed with the Blackhawks to a three-year contract, worth nearly US$9 million.[3]

Versteeg's offensive production dropped in his second full NHL season, recording 20 goals and 44 points over 79 games. In the 2010 playoffs, he added 14 points in 22 games, helping the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup championship, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in the Finals. His name was originally misspelled "Kris Vertseeg" when engraved on the Stanley Cup, but was quickly corrected.[4]

Due to salary cap restraints, the Blackhawks were forced to trade away several players in the off-season, including Versteeg. On June 30, 2010, he was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with the rights to prospect Bill Sweatt in exchange for forwards Viktor Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico, and Philippe Paradis. He recorded his first Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, an assist and a fight) with the Maple Leafs in a game against the Ottawa Senators on October 9, 2010. He scored against goaltender Pascal LeClaire, assisted on a goal by Phil Kessel and fought Mike Fisher. After recording 35 points over 53 games with the Maple Leafs in 2010–11, he was traded for the third time in his career on February 14, 2011. Toronto sent him to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for first-round and third-round draft picks.[5] Versteeg joined the team that he helped defeat in the previous season's Stanley Cup Finals and scored seven goals to go with four assists during the remainder of the regular season. He scored one goal during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which came in the final game of Philadelphia's fourth game 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in the second round.

On July 1, 2011, the Flyers traded Versteeg to the Florida Panthers for a second-round pick (2012 or 2013-Florida's choice) and a third-round pick in 2012 entry draft.[6] The trade came just a few hours after the Flyers announced the signing of Jaromir Jagr.

Personal life[]

Versteeg's younger brother Mitch is a defenceman for the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL.

Versteeg has developed a reputation within the NHL for his habit of singing in public, as evidenced by his recitation of a portion of Fergie's "Glamorous" on Mouthpiece Sports, as well as performing an altered version of LMFAO's "Yes" during the Chicago Blackhawks' victory parade. Versteeg also sang Kanye West's verse of the song "American Boy" featuring Estelle in a video clip on Blackhawks TV during his time with the Hawks.[7][8]

Versteeg has a tattoo on his wrist that reads 06 • 09 • 10 in commemoration of the date he won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Blackhawks.[9]

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 57 8 10 18 32
2003–04 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 68 16 33 49 85
2004–05 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 68 22 30 52 68 5 0 1 1 4
2005–06 Kamloops Blazers WHL 14 6 6 12 24
2005–06 Red Deer Rebels WHL 57 10 26 36 103
2005–06 Providence Bruins AHL 13 2 4 6 13 3 0 0 0 6
2006–07 Providence Bruins AHL 43 22 27 49 19
2006–07 Norfolk Admirals AHL 27 4 19 23 20 2 0 0 0 2
2007–08 Rockford IceHogs AHL 56 18 31 49 174 12 6 5 11 6
2007–08 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 13 2 2 4 6
2008–09 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 78 22 31 53 55 17 4 8 12 22
2009–10 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 79 20 24 44 35 22 6 8 14 14
2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 53 14 21 35 29
2010–11 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 27 7 4 11 24 11 1 5 6 12
NHL totals 250 65 82 147 149 50 11 21 32 48

International[]

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Canada WJ18 7 0 2 2 4
Junior int'l totals 7 0 2 2 4

References[]

  1. "Blackhawks ship Bochenski to the Bruins". m&c.com (2007-02-03). Archived from the original on 2012-09-12. Retrieved on 2008-11-11.
  2. "Ryan, Versteeg, Mason selected as Calder Trophy nominees". TSN (2009-04-22). Retrieved on 2009-04-23.
  3. Ziehm, Len. "Blackhawks, Kris Versteeg have deal", Chicago Sun-Times, 2009-07-08. Retrieved on 2009-07-08. 
  4. "'Vertseeg' has name misspelled on Cup", Fox News, 2010-09-29. Retrieved on 2010-10-04. 
  5. "Leafs send Versteeg to Flyers.", The Sports Network, 2011-02-14. Retrieved on 2011-02-14. 
  6. Philadelphia Flyers (2011-07-01). Flyers Trade Versteeg To Panthers (in English). Press release. Retrieved on 2011-07-01.
  7. "Kris Versteeg Raps Fergie in the Chicago Blackhawks Locker Room". YouTube (2008-11-04). Retrieved on 2010-08-15.
  8. "Kris Versteeg Raps At The Chicago Blackhawks Rally". YouTube (2010-06-10). Retrieved on 2010-08-15.
  9. "Versteeg has mark of a champion". The Globe and Mail (2010-09-21). Retrieved on 2011-7-11.

External links[]


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Kris Versteeg. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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