ryan whitney

Weight 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)

219 lb (99 kg; 15 st 9 lb) NHL Team

F. teams Anaheim Ducks

Pittsburgh Penguins Nationality United States Born February 19, 1983 (1983-02-19) (age 26),

Scituate, MA, USA NHL Draft 5th overall, 2002

Pittsburgh Penguins Pro career 2004 – present

Ryan Whitney (born February 19, 1983, in Scituate, Massachusetts) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman playing for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Contents [hide] 1 Playing career 2 Awards and achivements 3 Career statistics 4 References 5 External links //

Playing career

Whitney enrolled at Thayer Academy, a college-prep school in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1998, and almost immediately logged significant playing time. Head coach Jack Foley often paired Whitney, a freshman, with senior, and future Penguins teammate, Brooks Orpik.

Whitney's size and skill drew the attention of the U.S. national team's development program. After initially resisting the programs invitations, he left Thayer for the Michigan-based program in Ann Arbor for his senior year of high school.

After graduating from high school, Whitney accepted a full scholarship to play for Jack Parker at Boston University. In his freshman year, he recorded 21 points in 35 games and was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. He was then taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins fifth overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Upon completing his third year with Boston, Whitney made his professional debut with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh's American Hockey League affiliate, in the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs. He played in 20 games, recording 10 points, however, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was defeated by the Milwaukee Admirals in the finals.

Following his debut in the AHL playoffs, Whitney joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the 2004–05 season, foregoing his fourth and final year of college hockey in Boston. Under head coach Michel Therrien, Whitney played in 80 games in 2004-05, recording 41 points and 101 penalty minutes.

In 2005–06, Whitney made his National Hockey League debut with Pittsburgh and played in 68 games. He was called up on October 31, 2005, to replace injured defenseman Dick Tärnström and remained on the team until the season ended. His first NHL goal came on December 1 against Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers.[1] He finished the season with 6 goals and 32 assists.

With an NHL season under his belt, Whitney busted out for 59 points in 2006–07. The Penguins improved from a last-place finish in the Eastern Conference the year before, to a playoff berth with Whitney part of the youth movement in Pittsburgh that included Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-André Fleury.

Whitney's offensive production dropped in 2007–08, posting 40 points in 76 games. However, the Penguins finished second in the Eastern Conference and Whitney contributed 6 points in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as Pittsburgh made it to