| Justin Abdelkader | |
| |
| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 215 lb (98 kg) |
| NHL Team | Detroit Red Wings |
| Nationality |  American
|
| Born | February 25, 1987, Muskegon, Michigan, U.S. |
| NHL Draft | 42nd overall, 2005 Detroit Red Wings |
| Pro Career | 2008 – present |
Justin Abdelkader (born February 25, 1987 in Muskegon, Michigan) is an American ice hockey forward currently playing for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League.
College career[]
On April 7, 2007 Abdelkader scored the game-winning goal in the 2007 NCAA Championship Game against Boston College, securing the NCAA Division 1 National Championship for Michigan State University and earning him the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player. He scored the latest game-winning regulation goal ever scored in an NCAA Frozen Four championship game when he scored with just 18.9 seconds left.
NHL career[]
Detroit Red Wings[]
Abdelkader was selected by the Detroit Red Wings with the 42nd overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
On April 3, 2008, Abdelkader signed a one-game amateur tryout with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and was to play that night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. In doing so, he forfeited his college eligibility for the 2008–09 season. The following day, Abdelkader signed a three-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings.
Abdelkader scored 23 goals for the Grand Rapids Griffins during the 2008-09 season and was one of the team's best offensive players in the playoffs.
On May 8, 2009 Abdelkader was named the replacement for Tomáš Kopecký, who sat out Game 5 of the Western Conference semi-finals series against the Anaheim Ducks. Coach Mike Babcock sent Abdelkader to replace Kopecký "because he'll run over people. We expect him to play hard like Darren Helm. He's on the forecheck and he's a physical guy." During the game Abdelkader scored his first career point on an assist to Johan Franzén.
Abdelkader scored his first career NHL goal on May 30, 2009 in Game 1 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After shooting the puck, he grabbed the rebound out of the air with his glove, dropped the puck, and beat Marc-André Fleury high stick side. His second goal came nearly 24 hours later in the second game of the series, off of what commentators described as a "knuckle puck." He carried the puck into the forward zone alone against three Penguins defenders and fired a slapshot past Fleury. He became the first rookie to score a goal in consecutive finals games since Minnesota's Dino Ciccarelli did it in 1981.
International play[]
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  United States of America
| ||
| Men's ice hockey | ||
| World Junior Championships | ||
| Bronze | 2007 Leksand | |
Abdelkader was selected to play for the United States Junior National Team at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden in 2007.
Career statistics[]
Regular season and playoffs[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2004–05 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | USHL | 60 | 27 | 25 | 52 | 86 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 2005–06 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA | 44 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 83 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA | 38 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA | 42 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 107 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 76 | 24 | 28 | 52 | 102 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 23 | ||
| 2008–09 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| NCAA totals | 124 | 44 | 51 | 95 | 281 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| NHL totals | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
International[]
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | USA | WJC | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
External links[]
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Justin Abdelkader. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |