Several Former PC Players in the Hunt for This Year’s NHL Stanley Cup

Several Former PC Players in the Hunt for This Year’s NHL Stanley Cup

Trivia Question:

Which former PC hockey player has scored the most goals in the NHL of any former Friar?  Answer at the end of the column.

 

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Local hockey fans won’t be able to root for the Boston Bruins this year in the NHL playoffs.  The B’s just completed an embarrassing season—their worst in nearly a decade, and some of their players are already out playing golf, as the chase for the Stanley Cup begins.

But no need to ignore the NHL playoffs this year.  Fourteen former Friars competed in the NHL this past season.    There are four former Friar hockey players on teams that are currently competing in this year’s NHL playoffs.  Without the Bruins in the playoffs, local hockey fans have a rare opportunity to root for some other teams this year. Here are the PC players and their teams that have a shot at hoisting the Stanley Cup later this spring.

 

Brandon Duhaime, PC 2016-2019, Forward, Washington Capitals, #22

Brandon Duhaime enjoyed three successful seasons at PC. At the end of his junior year—his best year at PC with 34 points, he signed with the Minnesota Wild of the NHL.  He played two years with their minor league team, the Iowa Wild, before playing with Minnesota for three years.  He also played with the Colorado Avalanche for part of last year.  The Caps signed him last summer, and he has played regularly on the Capitals' third line this year scoring 9 goals and 12 assists.

Duhaime features an aggressive checking game and is known for his heavy hits and his willingness to block shots.  His teammates include legendary Alex Ovechkin, the all-time NHL goal scorer.  The Caps have won 51 games this year and are favored to get by Montreal in the first round of the playoffs.

 

Brandon Tanev, PC 2012-2016, Forward, Winnipeg Jets, #73

Brandon “Turbo” Tanev is one of several PC hockey players from the 2015 NCAA Championship team that played in the NHL this year.  He started his NHL career with Winnipeg, before playing with Pittsburgh and Seattle.  He re-signed with the Jets this March. Of the 14 former PC players in the NHL this season, Tanev leads them all with 552 games played in his NHL career (prior to this post season).

Currently, at age 33, is future time in the NHL is limited, so he is anxious to capitalize on this opportunity with a powerful Winnipeg Jets team to capture a Stanley Cup Championship.  He has been a consistent starter on the Jets’ fourth line since being traded to the Jets.  His season totals are 10 goals, 12 assists, and 105 blocked shots, and 186 hits.

His value on any team he has played on his defense.  He has been nominated twice as one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL.  And he usually is one of the first guys in to protect his team’s goalie if an opponent merely grazes his goalie.

The Jets are loaded and are already up two games on their first-round opponent, St. Louis.  This could be the year that Tanev is part of a Stanley Cup Championship team.

 

Jake Walman, PC 2014-2017, Defenseman, Edmonton Oilers, #96

Jake Walman was a freshman player on the Friars’ 2015 NCAA championship team.  He played for three years for PC before turning professional after the 2016-17 season.  In his sophomore year, he was a first-team All-American, and in his junior year, he was a second-team All-American.

In the NHL, he has played for St. Louis, Detroit, and San Jose before being acquired this March by the Oilers for their playoff run.  He is an offensive-minded defenseman and has totaled 40 points this season.

The Oilers have to find a way to get by a good LA Kings in the first round, and if they do so, they will likely face the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.

 

Mark Jankowski, PC 2012-2016, Forward, Carolina Hurricanes, #77

Mark Jankowski was a prolific point scorer at PC throughout his four years, totaling 110 points.  Like Tanev and Walman, Jankowski was a key member of the 2015 NCAA championship team.  He scored 27 points as a junior for the 2015 team and soared to 40 points in his senior year.

He signed a contract with Calgary in 2016 and played four seasons with the Flames, where he played center on their third and fourth lines.  He enjoyed two solid seasons, but an injury limited his playing time in the 2019-2020 season.  He has bounced around since then, playing in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Nashville this season before being acquired by the Carolina Hurricanes in February.  In only 19 games with the Hurricanes this season, he has surprised everyone by scoring 8 goals.

Because of a flurry of acquisitions by Carolina at the end of the season, Jankowski may not see regular playing time in the playoffs.

With two Friars playing on Western Conference teams and two Friars playing on Eastern Conference teams, we might see two PC players playing in the Stanley Cup Finals!

 

Trivia Question

Q.  Which former PC hockey player has scored the most goals in the NHL of any former Friar?

 

A.  Tom Fitzgerald played for the Friars for two season, 1986-1988.  He left after his sophomore year and played for 17 years in the NHL—the longest of any Friar—with the bulk of his career, 14 years, with the New York Islanders, the Florida Panthers, and the Nashville Predators.  Towards the end of his career, he played with 4 other clubs, ending his career in 2006 with the Boston Bruins.

Fitzgerald scored 139 goals and 190 assists for a total of 329 points in the NHL.  No other Friar has scored 100 NHL goals.  He played in 1097 games.

There have been thousands of players who have played in the NHL.  Fitzgerald had a unique skill that set him apart from most players.  He generally played on his team’s penalty kill unit, and during his career, he scored 25 short-handed goals.  Only 39 players in the history of the NHL have scored more short-handed goals.

Fitzgerald is currently the GM of the New Jersey Devils, a team that is also in this year’s NHL playoffs.