Daniel Girardi

Daniel Girardi
Born April 29, 1984 (1984-04-29) (age 27)
Welland, ON, CAN
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
NHL team New York Rangers
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2005–present

Daniel Girardi (born April 29, 1984) is a Canadian ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for the New York Rangers of the NHL. He is serving as an interim alternate captain for the Rangers while teammate Marc Staal is injured.

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Playing career

Girardi grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown of Welland, Ontario with the Welland Tigers of the OMHA's Niagara District and South Central AAA Leagues. He was a member of the OMHA Minor Atom AAA Championship team in 1995 and an OMHA Finalist team in Minor Peewee in 1997.

During his junior career he was a member of the London Knights team that won the 2005 OHL Championship and the 2005 Memorial Cup.

Having gone undrafted in the 2003 draft, Girardi signed a free agent, two-way AHL contract with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL, the New York Rangers' AHL affiliate, and began the 2005-06 season with the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL. Eventually signed to an NHL deal by the Rangers while playing with the Wolf Pack, Girardi was called up in January 27, 2007 after an injury to Darius Kasparaitis. Since that callup, Girardi has dressed for every regular-season and postseason game that the Rangers have played, except for two games in the 2010–11 season when Girardi was sidelined with a rib injury in late January 2011 (which ended a consecutive games-played streak at 330).

On February 16, 2008 Girardi signed a two-year contract extension with the Rangers worth $3.1 million.[1]

On July 9, 2010 Girardi re-signed with the Rangers, signing a four-year deal worth $13.3 million. During the 2010-2011 NHL Season, Girardi led the NHL in blocked shots with 236.

For the 2011–12 season, Girardi was named an interim alternate captain for the Rangers while Marc Staal recovers from post-concussion syndrome. In Staal's absence, Girardi is leading all NHL skaters in average time on the ice, averaging nearly 28 minutes a game.

Personal life

Daniel's childhood idol was Mark Messier. Girardi is married to Pamela Girardi, and has one son, Landon.[2]

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999–00 Welland Tigers Bantam AAA OMHA 34 7 19 26 42
2000–01 Barrie Colts OHL 6 0 0 0 0
2000–01 Couchiching Terriers OPJHL 27 1 11 12 27
2001–02 Barrie Colts OHL 21 0 1 1 0 20 0 0 0 0
2002–03 Barrie Colts OHL 31 3 13 16 24
2002–03 Guelph Storm OHL 36 1 13 14 20 11 0 9 9 14
2003–04 Guelph Storm OHL 68 8 39 47 55 22 2 17 19 10
2004–05 Guelph Storm OHL 38 5 20 25 24
2004–05 London Knights OHL 31 4 10 14 14 18 0 6 6 10
2005–06 Charlotte Checkers ECHL 7 1 4 5 6
2005–06 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 66 8 31 39 44 13 4 5 9 8
2006–07 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 45 2 22 24 16
2006–07 New York Rangers NHL 34 0 6 6 8 10 0 0 0 4
2007–08 New York Rangers NHL 82 10 18 28 14 10 0 3 3 6
2008–09 New York Rangers NHL 82 4 18 22 53 7 0 0 0 6
2009–10 New York Rangers NHL 82 6 18 24 53
2010–11 New York Rangers NHL 80 4 27 31 37 5 0 0 0 0
OHL totals 231 21 96 117 137 71 2 32 34 34
AHL totals 111 10 53 63 60 13 4 5 9 8
NHL totals 360 24 87 111 165 32 0 3 3 16

References

External links