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Paul Dekanich
Born (1986-05-10)May 10, 1986,
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height
Weight
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Pro clubs Nashville Predators
KHL Medveščak Zagreb
Ntl. team Flag of Croatia Croatia
NHL Draft 146th overall, 2006
Nashville Predators
Playing career 2008–2018


Mark Adam Dekanich (born May 10, 1986) is a Croatian former professional ice hockey goaltender.[1] He was selected by the Nashville Predators in the fifth round (146th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career[]

As a youth, Dekanich played in the 2000 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Burnaby.[2] He later played four years of collegiate hockey at Colgate University.

During his sophomore season at Colgate, Dekanich started 36 of Colgate’s 39 games where he set a then-school-record of 988 saves. He ranked first in the ECACHL conference for the 2005–06 season with a .924 save percentage and was subsequently named to the all-ECAC first team and won the Ken Dryden Award as the ECAC Goaltender of the Year.[3]

In his junior season, Dekanich started 36 of Colgate’s 40 games where he broke his single-season saves record with .993. Although his postseason ended early due to injury, he was selected to the all-ECAC second team and ECAC all-academic team.[3]

As a senior during the 2007–08 season, he was named to the Lowe's Senior CLASS All-Senior All-America first team and Selected to the all-ECAC Hockey third team.[3] At the conclusion of the season he signed an entry level contract with the Nashville Predators.[4]

On December 3, 2010, the Nashville Predators called Dekanich up from the Milwaukee Admirals,[5] however he did not make his NHL debut until December 18, 2010 when he played 50 minutes against the Los Angeles Kings in relief of the Predators' starter Anders Lindbäck.[6]

On July 3, 2011, Dekanich was signed as a free agent by the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, he missed the majority of the 2011–12 season recovering from reconstructive ankle surgery. On July 6, 2012, Dekanich left the Blue Jackets organization and signed as a free agent to a one-year, contract with the Winnipeg Jets.[7]

On May 20, 2013, Dekanich signed his first European contract with Croatian team KHL Medveščak which will compete in the KHL for the 2013–14 season.[8]

After two seasons in Zagreb, Dekanich returned to North America, signing a one-year ECHL contract with the South Carolina Stingrays on September 10, 2015.[9] He was invited to AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, training camp prior to the 2015–16 season, and was signed to an AHL contract with the club before he was returned to the Stingrays on October 15, 2015.[10]

On August 18, 2016, Dekanich signed an AHL contract with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.[11] He most recently played for the Reading Royals of the ECHL.[citation needed] In November 2018, Dekanich announced his retirement on Twitter.[citation needed]

Records[]

Dekanich currently holds the Milwaukee Admirals single season records in both save percentage (0.931) and goals against average (2.02).

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2002–03 Coquitlam Express BCHL 20 3 11 0 1059 83 0 4.70 .874
2003–04 Coquitlam Express BCHL 30 13 15 1 1647 89 2 3.24 .909
2004–05 Colgate University ECAC 5 1 1 0 161 5 0 1.85 .904
2005–06 Colgate University ECAC 36 18 11 6 2126 81 4 2.29 .924
2006–07 Colgate University ECAC 36 15 17 4 2136 83 1 2.33 .923
2007–08 Colgate University ECAC 41 18 16 6 2389 86 6 2.16 .924
2008–09 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 30 15 10 2 1663 58 1 2.09 .923
2009–10 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 49 27 16 0 2804 109 4 2.33 .914 7 3 4 408 19 1 2.79 .909
2009–10 Cincinnati Cyclones ECHL 2 2 0 0 125 1 1 0.48 .981
2010–11 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 43 23 13 5 2500 84 4 2.02 .931
2010–11 Nashville Predators NHL 1 0 0 0 50 3 0 3.60 .880
2011–12 Springfield Falcons AHL 5 1 2 1 240 16 0 4.00 .867
2012–13 St. John's IceCaps AHL 35 16 14 1 1914 95 2 2.98 .895
2013–14 KHL Medveščak Zagreb KHL 27 11 9 6 1630 58 3 2.13 .936 2 0 2 118 7 0 3.57 .890
2014–15 KHL Medveščak Zagreb KHL 12 0 10 0 591 47 0 4.76 .838
2015–16 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 35 20 9 4 2004 72 2 2.16 .925 10 5 4 603 17 2 1.69 .922
2015–16 Hershey Bears AHL 1 0 1 0 59 4 0 4.09 .818
2016–17 Reading Royals ECHL 39 21 12 1 2189 111 1 3.04 .910 6 2 2 406 11 0 1.62 .954
2016–17 Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL 1 0 0 0 33 5 0 9.10 .839
2017–18 Reading Royals ECHL 34 13 15 0 1975 101 3 3.07 .906
NHL totals 1 0 0 0 50 3 0 3.60 .880

Awards and honours[]

Award Year
College
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 2006
Ken Dryden Award 2006
All-ECAC Hockey Second Team 2007
All-ECAC Hockey Third Team 2008

References[]

  1. Medveščak već počeo tražiti potencijalna pojačanja za KHL, Večernji list; accessed December 10, 2016.
  2. Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA (2018).
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 MARK DEKANICH. Retrieved on February 14, 2019.
  4. DEKANICH SIGNS ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT WITH NHL'S NASHVILLE PREDATORS (April 14, 2008). Retrieved on February 14, 2019.
  5. Hoag, Dirk. (2010-12-03) Pekka Rinne out 2–4 weeks, Nashville Predators recall Mark Dekanich, ontheforecheck.com; retrieved on July 14, 2011.
  6. Dekanich makes bitter-sweet NHL debut. Nsnews.com (2010-12-22); retrieved July 14, 2011.
  7. Jets agree to terms with Ben Maxwell & Mark Dekanich. Winnipeg Jets (2012-07-06). Retrieved on 2012-07-10.
  8. Medvescak signs Mark Dekanich as a goalie for KHL (Croatian). Hrsport.net. Retrieved on May 21, 2013.
  9. Stingrays sign Dekanich and DeBlois. South Carolina Stingrays (September 10, 2015). Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved on December 10, 2016.
  10. Bears announce roster moves. HersheyBears.com (October 15, 2015). Retrieved on December 10, 2016.
  11. Goaltender Mark Dekanich Signed to AHL Contract. Lehigh Valley Phantoms (August 18, 2016). Retrieved on December 10, 2016.

External links[]

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