Matt Hussey

Matt Hussey
Born	(1979-05-28) May 28, 1979 (age 44) New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position	Center
Shot	Left
Played for	Pittsburgh Penguins Detroit Red Wings Jokerit Straubing Tigers ERC Ingolstadt Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers HC 07 Detva Dragons de Rouen
NHL Draft	254th overall, 1998 Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career	2002–2017

Matthew P. Hussey (born May 28, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. He later played professional ice hockey in Europe in Finland, Germany, Slovakia and France.

Playing career

Hussey was born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Plymouth, Minnesota. He was drafted in the ninth round, 254th overall, by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.

Drafted from the high school hockey team, Avon Old Farms, Hussey was recruited to play collegiate hockey with the University of Wisconsin in the WCHA. After his senior year, Hussey scored 84 points in 154 games with the Badgers. On September 27, 2002, he was signed to an entry-level contract with the Penguins.

Hussey made his professional debut with the Penguins AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the 2002–03 season. He spent the next four seasons primarily in the AHL, playing only 16 games with Pittsburgh. In the 2005–06 season he led the baby pens in scoring with 51 points.

On July 13, 2006, Hussey signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings to a one-year contract. ^[1] He played in five games with the Wings in 2006–07 but similarly played most of the year in the AHL with affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

On July 13, 2007, Hussey then signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche. He failed to make the Avalanche and was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters for their inaugural 2007–08 season. In his first game with the Lake Erie, Hussey was credited with scoring the Monsters' first goal in franchise history in a 3-2 loss to the Griffins on October 6, 2007. ^[2] Midway into the season, Hussey left the Monsters and signed with Finnish team Jokerit on January 30, 2008. ^[3]

Hussey signed with the German team Straubing Tigers of the DEL, for 2008–09 before transferring to ERC Ingolstadt on March 9, 2009. ^[4] In his third year with the team, he was named European Hockey Player of the Month for January 2012 by Eurohockey.com. He scored five goals and nine assists in nine games. ^[5]

After remaining a free agent midway into the 2013–14 season, Hussey agreed to play for the remainder of the season with his third DEL club, the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers, on December 11, 2013. ^[6]

Hussey returned from Europe at the conclusion of the season with the Ice Tigers and took a year's hiatus from professional hockey. On October 13, 2015, he returned to professional hockey after he signed a contract in the ECHL with the Evansville IceMen to begin the 2015–16 season. He later returned to Europe and after a stint in Slovakia, he finished his professional career in France with Dragons de Rouen in the Ligue Magnus in the 2016–17 season.

Career statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1996–97	Wayzata High School	HSMN		48	34	31	65	—		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Avon Old Farms	HS–Prep		26	26	23	49	20		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		37	10	5	15	18		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		35	5	11	16	8		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		40	9	11	20	24		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		39	18	15	33	16		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		69	12	11	23	28		2	0	0	0	0
2003–04	Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		55	2	1	3	6		6	2	2	4	0
2003–04	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		3	2	1	3	0		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		80	16	14	30	19		10	1	2	3	2
2005–06	Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		65	21	30	51	34		9	1	0	1	0
2005–06	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		13	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Grand Rapids Griffins	AHL		75	15	29	44	36		6	1	1	2	2
2006–07	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		5	0	0	0	2		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Lake Erie Monsters	AHL		37	8	8	16	18		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Jokerit	SM-l		11	0	3	3	4		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Straubing Tigers	DEL		48	16	27	43	48		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	ERC Ingolstadt	DEL		51	20	20	40	26		9	1	3	4	6
2010–11	ERC Ingolstadt	DEL		51	15	15	30	36		4	0	2	2	0
2011–12	Straubing Tigers	DEL		42	23	22	45	10		8	2	2	4	4
2012–13	Straubing Tigers	DEL		33	6	9	15	28		6	2	1	3	0
2013–14	Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers	DEL		14	2	10	12	18		3	1	0	1	0
2015–16	Evansville IceMen	ECHL		8	0	1	1	4		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	HC 07 Detva	SVK–2		5	0	3	3	2		7	2	5	7	14
2016–17	Dragons de Rouen	FRA		44	5	10	15	14		19	5	6	11	6
AHL totals				381	74	93	167	141		33	5	5	10	4
NHL totals				21	2	2	4	2		—	—	—	—	—
DEL totals				239	82	103	185	166		30	6	8	14	10

References

1. "Hussey and Smith Inked to One-Year Deals". nhl.com. Detroit Red Wings. 2006-07-13. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
2. "Monsters make franchise debut". www.lakeeriemonsters.com. Lake Erie Monsters. 2007-10-06. Archived from the original on 2014-07-10. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
3. "Matt Hussey to strengthen offense". jokerit.com (in German). Jokerit. 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
4. "Matt Hussey stürmt künftig für die Panther". www.erc-ingolstadt.de (in German). ERC Ingolstadt. 2009-03-09. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
5. "Hussey voted European player of the month of January". EuroHockey.com. 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
6. "Ice Tigers sign Matt Hussey". www.icetigers.de (in German). Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers. 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2013-12-11.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database