Ryan Whitney

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Position Defense
Nickname(s) Whitters, Whit[1]
Height
Weight		 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
219 lb (99 kg/15 st 9 lb)
NHL Team Pittsburgh Penguins
Nationality Flag of the United States United States
Born February 19, 1983 (1983-02-19) (age 25),
Scituate, MA, USA
NHL Draft 5th overall, 2002
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pro career 2005 – present

Ryan Whitney (February 19, 1983, Scituate, Massachusetts) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman, drafted by, and currently playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League.

Contents

[edit] Early career

Whitney enrolled at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1998, and almost immediately logged significant playing time. Head coach Jack Foley often paired Whitney, a freshman, with senior, and future Penguins teammate, Brooks Orpik.

Whitney's size and skill drew the attention of the U.S. national team's development program. After initially resisting the programs invitations, he left Thayer for the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based program for his senior year. After his senior season, Whitney accepted a full scholarship to play for Jack Parker at Boston University.

After his freshman season at BU, the Pittsburgh Penguins selected Whitney in the 1st round, 5th overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Whitney played two more years in Boston before beginning his professional career.

[edit] Professional career

Whitney joined the Penguins American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the playoffs of the 2003-04 season, where he played in 20 games and recorded 10 points. Under head coach Michel Therrien, Whitney played in 80 games in 2004-05, recording 41 points and 101 penalty minutes.

Whitney was recalled to the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 31, 2005 to replace injured Dick Tarnstrom, and remained on the team until the season ended. He finished with 6 goals and 32 assists in 68 games.

During the 2006-07 season, Whitney played in 81 of 82 games, scoring a career-high 59 points.

[edit] Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003-04 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL - - - - - 20 1 9 10 0
2004-05 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 80 6 35 41 101 11 2 7 9 12
2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 9 5 9 14 6 11 1 4 5 8
2005-06 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 68 6 32 38 85 - - - - -
2006-07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 14 45 59 77 5 1 1 2 6
2007-08 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 76 12 28 40 45 20 1 5 6 25
NHL totals 225 32 105 137 207 25 2 6 8 31

Statistics as of June 5, 2008.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Molinari, Dave. "Oh, for good 'ol golden nicknaming days of yore", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2006-10-29. 

[edit] External links

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