Patrick O'Sullivan

Patrick O'Sullivan
Born (1985-02-01) February 1, 1985
Toronto, ON, CAN
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Los Angeles Kings
Edmonton Oilers
Carolina Hurricanes
Minnesota Wild
Phoenix Coyotes
HIFK
National team  United States
NHL Draft 56th overall, 2003
Minnesota Wild
Playing career 2005–2012

Patrick O'Sullivan (born February 1, 1985) is a Canadian-born American former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild, and Phoenix Coyotes.

Early life

O'Sullivan was born in Toronto, Ontario, but grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[1] His father, John O'Sullivan, a Toronto native played for the minor-league Winston-Salem Thunderbirds of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, but never played in the NHL.

O'Sullivan has spoken openly about being emotionally and physically abused for years by his father.[2] The abuse continued up to the time he started playing for the Mississauga Ice Dogs of the Ontario Hockey League. Some notable acts were mainly verbal and physical abuse when Patrick had an off-game. O'Sullivan's father whipped him with a heavy leather jump rope or sometimes an electrical cord.[3] There were also reports of John threatening and intimidating him. O'Sullivan was also sometimes locked out of the house in his pajamas during winter.[3] The abuse escalated at an OHL game where John was screaming, cursing and pounding on the glass. The abuse reached a point where Patrick pressed charges against his father and filed a restraining order against him.[4] O'Sullivan later detailed the abuse in a book, "Breaking Away: A Harrowing True Story of Resilience, Courage and Triumph."[2]

Playing career

Amateur

Despite the abuse, O'Sullivan was a junior hockey league star, winning the OHL and CHL rookie of the year awards in 2002 and setting records for games, goals, assists and points for the Mississauga/Niagara IceDogs that, as of 2015, were still unbroken.[2]

Professional

He was drafted in the second round 56th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild after having been projected as a top-five talent.[2] He played his first season for their AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros, during the 2005–06 season. He had a strong season, scoring 47 goals, with a total of 93 points, breaking all Houston Aeros' rookie records.

During the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, he was traded by the Minnesota Wild along with their 17th overall pick (Trevor Lewis), obtained in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers for Dwayne Roloson, to the Los Angeles Kings for Pavol Demitra.

He began the 2006–07 NHL season with the Kings when he made his NHL debut on October 6, 2006, and became the first person from North Carolina to play in the NHL. O'Sullivan became the second NHL player behind Jeff Halpern to have been raised in the American South. O'Sullivan, along with Halpern, Jamie Fritsch, Jared Ross, Blake Geoffrion, and Jarred Tinordi are the only NHL players to date to come from the region.

On November 2, 2006, he was assigned to the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings' AHL affiliate. On January 25, 2007, he was recalled by the Los Angeles Kings from the Monarchs.

On March 4, 2009, O'Sullivan was traded by the Kings with Calgary's second-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for Justin Williams, then was traded by the Hurricanes along with a second-round pick to the Edmonton Oilers for Erik Cole and a fifth-round pick.[5][6] He would play 19 games for the Oilers during the remainder of the season, scoring two goals to go with four assists.

On June 29, 2010, O'Sullivan was placed on waivers by the Edmonton Oilers, along with Ethan Moreau and Robert Nilsson.[7] After clearing waivers the following day on June 30, he was dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes, in exchange for Jim Vandermeer. His contract was then immediately bought out by the Coyotes, releasing him to free agency.[8] On September 17, 2010, O'Sullivan signed a two-way contract with the Carolina Hurricanes.[9] O'Sullivan became the first native of North Carolina to play for the Hurricanes. After being a healthy scratch 10 times O'Sullivan was placed on waivers by the Hurricanes, and picked up by the Minnesota Wild.

On August 4, 2011, the Phoenix Coyotes signed him to a one-year, two-way contract. Unable to earn a regular position scoring 4 points in 23 games to begin the 2011–12 season, O'Sullivan was reassigned to the Coyotes AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates. On March 2, 2012, the Coyotes loaned O'Sullivan to the Peoria Rivermen of the AHL in exchange for Brett Sterling.

On September 26, 2012, O'Sullivan signed his first European contract on a one-year contract with Finnish team HIFK of the SM-liiga.[10] He scored one goal in 8 games for HIFK, before he was released a month into the 2012–13 season.[11]

Awards

Records

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 U.S. National Development Team USDP 64 30 45 75 69 — — — — —
2001–02 Mississauga IceDogs OHL 68 34 58 92 61 — — — — —
2002–03 Mississauga IceDogs OHL 56 40 41 81 57 5 2 9 11 18
2003–04 Mississauga IceDogs OHL 53 43 39 82 32 24 12 11 23 16
2004–05 Mississauga IceDogs OHL 57 31 59 90 63 5 0 4 4 6
2005–06 Houston Aeros AHL 78 47 46 93 64 8 5 5 10 4
2006–07 Manchester Monarchs AHL 41 18 21 39 12 16 8 9 17 10
2006–07 Los Angeles Kings NHL 44 5 14 19 14 — — — — —
2007–08 Los Angeles Kings NHL 82 22 31 53 36 — — — — —
2008–09 Los Angeles Kings NHL 62 14 23 37 16 — — — — —
2008–09 Edmonton Oilers NHL 19 2 4 6 12 — — — — —
2009–10 Edmonton Oilers NHL 73 11 23 34 32 — — — — —
2010–11 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 10 1 0 1 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Minnesota Wild NHL 21 1 6 7 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Houston Aeros AHL 36 19 29 48 22 24 4 14 18 16
2011–12 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 23 2 2 4 2 — — — — —
2011–12 Portland Pirates AHL 26 10 20 30 16 — — — — —
2011–12 Peoria Rivermen AHL 17 5 8 13 36 — — — — —
2012–13 HIFK SM-l 8 1 3 4 4 — — — — —
NHL totals 334 58 103 161 116 — — — — —

International

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing  United States
World Junior Championships
2004 Helsinki
IIHF U18 Championships
2002 Piešťany
Year Team Comp GP G A Pts PIM
2002 United States WJC18 8 7 8 15 37
2003 United States WJC 7 1 2 3 10
2004 United States WJC 6 3 0 3 12
2005 United States WJC 7 2 6 8 14
2006 United States WC 3 1 0 1 0
2008 United States WC 7 3 3 6 2
2009 United States WC 9 4 3 7 6
Junior International totals 28 13 16 29 73
Senior International totals 19 8 6 14 8

References

  1. ↑ Alter, David (October 21, 2015). "'The game is the only thing that kept me alive': Ex-NHL player Patrick O'Sullivan shares story of abuse at hands of his father". National Post. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Former NHLer Patrick O'Sullivan opens up about abuse – Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  3. 1 2 "Black & Blue". The Players' Tribune.
  4. ↑ "Patrick O'Sullivan's Story". CBC. March 17, 2004. Archived from the original on April 28, 2004. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Hurricanes re-acquire Cole". nhl.com. March 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
  6. ↑ "O'Sullivan, Kotalik headed to Edmonton on deadline day". nhl.com. March 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
  7. ↑ "Oilers cut Captain". Edmonton Journal. June 29, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  8. ↑ "Oilers trade O'Sullivan to Coyotes for Vandermeer". TSN. June 30, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  9. ↑ "O'Sullivan signs two-way contract with Hurricanes". The Sports Network. September 17, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  10. ↑ "Press Release – O'Sullivan". HIFK (in Finnish). September 26, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  11. ↑ "O'Sullivan released" (in Finnish). HIFK. 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
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