Robbie Earl

Robert "Robbie" Wayne Earl (born June 2, 1985) is an American professional ice hockey forward. He plays for Salzburg Red Bulls of the Erste Bank Hockey League.

Early
He played two years as a forward with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 and Under-17 Programs. He ranked third on the under-18 team in 2002–03 with 33 points and 20 goals in 53 games, finishing fourth at the 2003 IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Yaroslavl, Russia. He was the game-winning goal scorer in the championship game of the 2002 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Stonewell, Manitoba and was fourth in scoring for the NTDP Under-17 Team with 22 goals and 16 assists in 58 games during 2001–02. He played for future Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves at the NTDP.

Collegiate
In Earl's first season with the Badgers, he scored 27 points playing in a career high 42 games. As a Freshman he led the Badgers in points that season. He also managed to be nominated to the All-Rookie Team, tallying six power-play goals and three game winning goals that year. His career first hat trick came in overtime against then league-leading North Dakota. During his freshman season, Earl was awarded with Insidecollegehockey.com’s National Player of the Week award and the WCHA Rookie of the Week award. He was the Toronto Maple Leafs’ fourth choice, 187th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

The next year he improved his point total, enough to make the roster for the Second-Team All-WCHA. The successful year led him to a team-best 20 goals, eighth total ranked eighth in the WCHA. Earl also tied the team lead with five-game-winning goals, sharing second in the WCHA where his second career hat trick came against the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on November 19. He also won the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week in that same time span, the first for the University of Wisconsin–Madison since the 2000–01 season. Earl ranked third in the plus/minus department, with a rating of +17. Additionally, he started the year with a seven-game scoring streak then broke the record the same year, with eight, from January 14 to February 12.

During his Junior season with Wisconsin, Earl scored a goal in the final of the 2006 Frozen Four tournament against the Boston College Eagles, helping the Badgers win the NCAA Men's Hockey Championship. He also scored twice against the University of Maine Black Bears in the Frozen Four semifinal. As a result, Earl was selected to the Frozen Four All-Tournament team and named the Most Outstanding player. After saying he would return to the Badgers for his senior season at the school's rally for the men's and women's Frozen Four Champions, two days later he announced that he decided to join the Maple Leafs instead.

Professional
Following claiming the National Title, Earl joined the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League affiliate and saw action in the team's first round North Division semifinal series against the Grand Rapids Griffins in for the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs. The following year, he scored 12 goals and 18 assists and racked up 50 penalty minutes in 67 games.

During the 2007–08 season, Earl made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 2, 2008 against the Ottawa Senators, recording one assist.

In the following season, on January 21, 2009 he was traded by the Leafs to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Ryan Hamilton and was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros. In the 2009–10 season, he was recalled to Minnesota and scored his first NHL goal on November 15, 2009 against Michael Leighton of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Personal
The Badgers' official site lists his grandparents as Tom and Pat McCusker. He also has two sisters, Brianne and Erin. He attended Ann Arbor Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as part of the USA Hockey National Development Team. Before that he spent ninth grade at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California. He was majoring in consumer science at Wisconsin before leaving early for the NHL.