Mark Eaton (ice hockey)

Mark Andrew Eaton (born May 6, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Islanders. He is the only NHL player to ever come from Delaware. He attended John Dickinson High School in the Wilmington suburbs but played his youth hockey across the state line in Pennsylvania. He is currently the director of player development for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Mark Eaton
Eaton with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013
Born (1977-05-06) May 6, 1977
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 212 lb (96 kg; 15 st 2 lb)
Position Defense
Shot Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
Nashville Predators
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Islanders
National team  United States
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1998–2013

Playing career
Eaton with the Islanders in 2010.

Eaton started his post-secondary competition with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He was named second team all-USHL, was the league's third-leading scoring defenseman and was honored with the Curt Hammer Award as the USHL's most gentlemanly player.[1] Eaton then moved on to the University of Notre Dame of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). In his only season at UND, Eaton was named the CCHA Rookie of the Year after scoring 12 goals with 17 assists for 29 points.[2]

On August 4, 1998, Eaton signed a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers as an undrafted free agent.[3] He made his NHL debut on October 2, 1999, against the Ottawa Senators, becoming the first player from the greater Delaware Valley region to play for the Flyers.[4] Eaton scored his first NHL goal, which was the game winning goal, on April 8, 2000, against Rob Tallas of the Boston Bruins. He played his first NHL playoff game on April 13 against the Buffalo Sabres.[3]

Eaton was traded from the Flyers to the Nashville Predators on September 29, 2000, for a third round pick. While playing for the Predators in 2003–04, he set the franchise record for plus/minus at +16.[3] He scored a career-high three assists in a 5–3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on October 25, 2003. On March 3, 2006, Eaton was placed on injured reserve by the Predators with a strained knee injury.[5]

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Eaton on July 3, 2006, as a free agent.[6] He saw limited time in his first two seasons, suffering with injuries, playing only 71 games between in 2006–07 and 2007–08.[3]

He won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, scoring 4 goals in the playoffs. On March 30, 2009, Eaton was named a nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy.[7]

Eaton in his first stint with the Penguins in 2009.

He signed with the New York Islanders as a free agent to a two-year contract on July 2, 2010.[8]

On January 22, 2013, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL announced Eaton had signed with the team on a Professional Try Out.[9] He was released in February, and started skating with his former NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. On February 25, the Penguins signed Eaton to a 1-year deal worth $725,000.[10]

International play

Eaton played for the United States at the 2001 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships and recorded one goal (the game-winner vs. Finland) and one assist in nine games. He also played for the United States at the 2002 World Championships in Sweden and registered three assists in a 5–2 win vs. Italy.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1995–96 Waterloo Black Hawks USHL 50 4 21 25 12 — — — — —
1996–97 Waterloo Black Hawks USHL 50 6 32 38 62 — — — — —
1997–98 Notre Dame Fighting Irish CCHA 41 12 17 29 32 — — — — —
1998–99 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 74 9 27 36 38 16 4 8 12 0
1999–2000 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 47 9 17 26 6 — — — — —
1999–2000 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 27 1 1 2 8 7 0 0 0 0
2000–01 Nashville Predators NHL 34 3 8 11 14 — — — — —
2000–01 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 34 3 12 15 27 — — — — —
2001–02 Nashville Predators NHL 58 3 5 8 24 — — — — —
2002–03 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 3 1 0 1 2 — — — — —
2002–03 Nashville Predators NHL 50 2 7 9 22 — — — — —
2003–04 Nashville Predators NHL 75 4 9 13 26 6 0 0 0 2
2004–05 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 29 3 3 6 21 — — — — —
2005–06 Nashville Predators NHL 69 3 1 4 44 5 0 0 0 8
2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 35 0 3 3 15 5 0 0 0 0
2007–08 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 36 0 3 3 4 — — — — —
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 68 4 5 9 36 24 4 3 7 10
2009–10 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 79 3 13 16 26 13 0 3 3 4
2010–11 New York Islanders NHL 34 0 3 3 8 — — — — —
2011–12 New York Islanders NHL 62 1 3 4 10 — — — — —
2012–13 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 6 0 1 1 4 — — — — —
2012–13 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 23 0 0 0 4 8 0 3 3 0
NHL totals 650 24 61 85 242 68 4 9 13 24

International
Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2001 United States WC 4th 9 1 1 2 0
2002 United States WC 7th 7 0 3 3 4
Senior totals 16 1 4 5 4

Awards and honors
Award Year
All-CCHA Rookie Team 1997–98
  • Second Team USHL All-Star in 1997
  • Only the second University of Notre Dame player to be named CCHA Rookie of the Year (as selected by the conference's coaches) in 1997–98
  • Won the Barry Ashbee Award in 1998–99 which is given to the Philadelphia Phantoms' top defenseman
  • The first ice hockey player to be named Delaware's athlete of the year by the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association on January 27, 2000
  • Named the IHL Defenseman of the Week for the week of December 18–24, 2000
  • Stanley Cup championship in 2009 (Pittsburgh)
gollark: * has become bad
gollark: Institutions evolve over time due to fairly inevitable forces. It doesn't really matter what if was like before if it became bad now and cannot easily be fixed.
gollark: It's an accursed hyperscale hellscape.
gollark: Why would you like *any* institution in Warhammer?
gollark: Unless they're me. But they can't *all* be me.

References
  1. "Notre Dame Ice Hockey :: UND.COM :: The Official Site of Notre Dame Athletics". www.und.com.
  2. "Former Irish Hockey Standout Mark Eaton Captures Stanley Cup".
  3. "Former Irish Hockey Great, Stanley Cup Champion Mark Eaton Returns To Campus This Weekend". und.com. August 31, 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  4. "Mark Eaton". NHL.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  5. "Eaton, Perreault placed on IR". NHL.com. March 3, 2006. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  6. "PENGUINS SIGN DEFENSEMAN MARK EATON". NHL.com. July 3, 2006. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  7. "Clemmensen, Streit, Betts, Knuble, Eaton get Atlantic Division 2009 Bill Masterton Trophy nods". NHL.com. March 30, 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  8. "Eaton and Jurcina agree to terms". New York Islanders. 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
  9. "Penguins Sign Mark Eaton to PTO". Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  10. "Penguins Sign Defenseman Mark Eaton". Pittsburgh Penguins. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Daryl Andrews		 CCHA Rookie of the Year
1997–98		 Succeeded by
Mike Comrie
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