Kyle Wellwood

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Position	Centre
Shoots	Right
Nickname	Frodo
Height Weight	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
NHL Team	Toronto Maple Leafs
Nationality	Canada
Born	May 16, 1983, Windsor, ON, CAN
NHL Draft	134th overall, 2001 Toronto Maple Leafs
Pro Career	2003 – present

Kyle Wellwood (b. May 16, 1983 in Oldcastle, Ontario) is a Canadian ice hockey centre who currently plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL.

[edit] Playing career

Wellwood was drafted by the Belleville Bulls in the first round, 16th overall, in the 1999 OHL draft. He was traded in January 2002 to the Windsor Spitfires in a deal that involved Jason Spezza going the other way. In Windsor, he received the William Hanley Trophy for the most gentlemanly player recognition in 2003 by playing in 57 games without a single penalty minute that year. He was also selected to play in the 2003 World Junior Championship squad and won a silver medal with Team Canada.

Wellwood was drafted in the 5th round, 134th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.^[1][2] Perhaps the highlight of his AHL career was on October 30, 2004, when he scored 5 goals for the St. John's Maple Leafs against the Cleveland Barons and set a franchise record.

During the 2005-06 NHL season, Wellwood became a regular with Toronto.

Until his sports hernia injury Wellwood played regular shifts on the first-line right-wing with captain Mats Sundin playing centre between Wellwood and young Ukrainian power forward Alexei Ponikarovsky. When Sundin was injured in November of 2006, Wellwood played as the centre for Leafs on the first line.

On December 16th, 2006 Wellwood bagged his first NHL hat trick in a game against the New York Rangers . He also had two assists that same night, making it his first five point NHL game.

[edit] Other facts

Wellwood grew up in Tecumseh, Ontario, just outside of Windsor. His mother, Donna, is a teacher and his father, Rick, works as an industrial engineer. He has an older sister Michelle who is also a teacher and a younger brother, Eric who is a minor league hockey player.

Wellwood attended the French-language high school École secondaire l'Essor.

[edit] Awards and achievements

Kyle Wellwood shows off some moves against the Montreal Canadiens in his rookie campaign during the 2004-05 NHL Regular-Season.

• Awarded Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as leading scorer in the OHL (2001)
• Awarded OHL Plus/Minus Award (2001)
• Named to the OHL First All-Star Team (2001)
• Named CHL Sportsmanlike Player of the Year (2001)
• Named OHL Player of the Week (October 15, 2002)
• Named OHL Player of the Week (March 23, 2003)
• Named to the CHL Third All-Star Team (2003)
• Won a silver medal playing with Team Canada in the World Junior Championships (2003)
• Named CHL Sportsmanlike Player of the Year (2003)
• Awarded OHL William Hanley Trophy (Most Gentlemanly Player) (2003)
• Named AHL Player of the month (November 2003)
• Named AHL Player of the week (October 31, 2004)
• Named NHL 1st star of the week (December 17, 2006)

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] International play

• Member of Team Canada in 2003 World Junior Championships

International Statistics

[edit] See also

• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons

[edit] References