chris kunitz

Weight 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)

194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb) NHL Team

F. teams Pittsburgh Penguins

Anaheim Ducks

Atlanta Thrashers Nationality Canada Born September 26, 1979 (1979-09-26) (age 29),

Regina, Saskatchewan NHL Draft undrafted Pro career 2003 – present

Chris Kunitz (born September 26, 1979 in Regina, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Atlanta Thrashers and Anaheim Ducks, the latter with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 2007. Contents [hide] 1 Playing career 1.1 College and junior 1.2 Professional 2 International play 3 Awards 4 Records 5 Personal life 6 Career statistics 6.1 International statistics 7 References 8 External links //

Playing career

College and junior

Kunitz played Junior A in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) with the Melville Millionaires for two seasons before joining the NCAA college ranks with the Ferris State Bulldogs in 1999–00. After a 79-point campaign in his senior year, he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 2003 (given to Peter Sejna), the same year Ferris State made it to the Division I Regional Finals, just missing out on the Frozen Four. He was part of the only Ferris State team to have ever make a NCAA Tournament appearance.[1]

Professional

Kunitz was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on April 1, 2003. He split his professional rookie season between Anaheim and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. After spending the 2004–05 NHL lockout with Cincinnati, he was picked up on waivers by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2005–06. Two weeks later, however, he was re-claimed off waivers by the Ducks and went on to play 67 games with them, scoring 19 goals and adding 22 assists for 41 points, surpassing Paul Kariya's club record 39-point rookie season in 1994–95 (Kunitz still qualified as a first-year player because he did not play the maximum required games with Anaheim in 2003–04 to register as his NHL rookie season).

In the 2006–07 NHL season, Kunitz improved to 25 goals and 60 points. He went on to help the Ducks advanced to through the playoffs past past the Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks, and Detroit Red Wings, en route to a Finals victory against the Ottawa Senators to capture both his and the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship. Kunitz had been injured during the semi-finals against the Red Wings, but returned late in the Stanley Cup Final against Ottawa to help clinch the championship in game five.

The next season, in 2007–08, Kunitz was named one of the team's alternate captains, his first time with the Ducks and his professional career. In regards to Kunitz' new position, Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle explained, "Rob Niedermayer was an [alternate] last year and did a fine job, and we thought it was important to involve our