Bill Muckalt

Bill Muckalt
Born July 15, 1974
Surrey, BC, CAN
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for NHL
Vancouver Canucks
New York Islanders
Ottawa Senators
Minnesota Wild
AHL
Houston Aeros
NHL Draft 221st overall, 1994
Vancouver Canucks
Playing career 1998–2004

William Raymond Muckalt (born July 15, 1974) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. Muckalt played in the National Hockey League for the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild from 1998 until 2003.

Career

Playing career

Muckalt played Junior A in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) with the Merritt Centennials and briefly with the Kelowna Spartans before joining the college ranks with the University of Michigan of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) in 1994. While with Merritt, Muckalt was involved in a check from behind that rendered the opposing player a quadriplegic.[1] Muckalt played four years for the Wolverines and was named to the CCHA and NCAA West First All-Star Teams in his senior year in 1998.[2] The school won two NCAA titles while Muckalt was a sophomore in 1996 and a senior in 1998. The 1996 championship team also featured future NHLers Brendan Morrison, Jason Botterill and goalie Marty Turco.

Muckalt was selected in the ninth round (221st overall) of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft by his hometown Vancouver Canucks. After a full four-year career in the college ranks, he was ready to make a bid for a full-time roster spot in the NHL with the Canucks in 1998–99. He played his first NHL game with the Canucks on October 12, 1998, against the Los Angeles Kings, notching his first NHL point, as well – an assist. Eight days later, Muckalt scored his first NHL goal on October 20 against the Carolina Hurricanes. He played in 73 games during his rookie season, scoring 16 goals and 36 points, becoming a rising star in Vancouver.

Despite this early success in Vancouver, Muckalt was traded to the New York Islanders along with Dave Scatchard and goalie Kevin Weekes in exchange for goalie Felix Potvin and draft picks midway through the 1999–2000 season on December 19, 1999.[2] Shortly after debuting with the Islanders, however, he was sidelined for the remainder of the season after suffering a shoulder injury in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 13, 2000.[2] After a full season with the Islanders in 2000–01, he was involved in a blockbuster trade with the Ottawa Senators on June 23, 2001. On NHL draft day, Muckalt was dealt to Ottawa along with up-and-coming defenceman Zdeno Chara and the Islanders' first round pick in 2001 (which Ottawa would use to select Jason Spezza), in exchange for star centre Alexei Yashin.[2]

Muckalt spent only one season with Ottawa, registering no goals and eight assists in 70 games, before signing as a free agent with the Minnesota Wild on July 3, 2002.[2] After failing to score a single goal during the previous season, Muckalt came roaring out of the gate in 2002–03, registering five goals and eight points in his first five games with Minnesota before dislocating his right shoulder in a game against the Calgary Flames on October 22, 2002.[2] The injury was severe enough to end Muckalt's season and keep him sidelined for the majority of the next as well.[2]

He would not play another regular season NHL game, though he did attempt a comeback with the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Houston Aeros, registering three assists in nine games in 2003–04. In 2006, Muckalt signed as a free agent in Russia with Vityaz Chekhov, though he would ultimately never play with the team.

Coaching

Muckalt began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Eastern Michigan Eagles in 2006–07, moving up to head coach the following year. In 2009–10, Muckalt served as head coach of the Valencia Flyers of the Western States Hockey League, guiding the team to a 23–21–5 record and a fifth place finish in the WSHL Western Division. On March 28, 2010, he was named head coach of the New Mexico Mustangs, a North American Hockey League (NAHL) expansion team.[3] Muckalt led the development of the franchise's coaching, recruiting and scouting systems. With 21 rookies on the roster, the Mustangs went 19-35-4 in their first year, winning 15 of their last 27 games.[4] In the off-season, he accepted a position as an assistant coach with Michigan Tech of the NCAA Division I Western Collegiate Hockey Association,[5] and has been an assist coach at Michigan Tech since the 2011-12 season.

Awards and honours

Award Year
All-CCHA Rookie Team 1994-95
All-CCHA First Team 1997-98
AHCA West First-Team All-American 1997–98

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1992–93 Merritt Centennials BCJHL 59 31 43 74 80 — — — — —
1993–94 Merritt Centennials BCJHL 57 70 61 131 119 — — — — —
1994–95 University of Michigan NCAA 39 19 18 37 42 — — — — —
1995–96 University of Michigan NCAA 41 28 30 58 34 — — — — —
1996–97 University of Michigan NCAA 36 26 38 64 69 — — — — —
1997–98 University of Michigan NCAA 46 32 35 67 94 — — — — —
1998–99 Vancouver Canucks NHL 73 16 20 36 98 — — — — —
1999–2000 Vancouver Canucks NHL 33 4 8 12 17 — — — — —
1999–2000 New York Islanders NHL 12 4 3 7 4 — — — — —
2000–01 New York Islanders NHL 60 11 15 26 33 — — — — —
2001–02 Ottawa Senators NHL 70 0 8 8 46 — — — — —
2002–03 Minnesota Wild NHL 8 5 3 8 6 5 0 0 0 0
2003–04 Houston Aeros AHL 9 0 3 3 6 — — — — —
NHL totals 256 40 57 97 204 5 0 0 0 0
NCAA totals 162 114 121 225 239 — — — — —

References

  1. ↑ http://www.laxtongibbens.com/cases/Sports%20Law/ZAPF2.pdf
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Bill Muckalt". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  3. ↑ "Muckalt Appointed Coach of NAHL Expansion Team". valenciaflyers.net. Archived from the original on March 31, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
  4. ↑ "Michigan Tech adds Muckalt to coaching staff". USCHO News. 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  5. ↑ "Michigan Tech adds Muckalt to coaching staff". uscho.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-10.

External links