John Cullen

John Cullen
Date of birth	2nd August 1964
place of birth	Puslinch , Ontario , Canada
size	178 cm
Weight	85 kg
position	center
Shot hand	Right
Draft
NHL Supplemental Draft	1986 , 1st round, 3rd position Buffalo Sabers
Career stations
1983-1987	Boston University
1987-1988	Flint Spirits
1988-1991	Pittsburgh Penguins
1991-1992	Hartford Whalers
1992-1994	Toronto Maple Leafs
1994-1995	Pittsburgh Penguins
1995-1998	Tampa Bay Lightning

John Cullen (born August 2, 1964 in Puslinch , Ontario ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player who played for the Pittsburgh Penguins , Hartford Whalers , Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League from 1988 to 1999 .

Career

Cullen played for Boston University during his junior years in the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Here he was one of the strongest players in the league. The Buffalo Sabers selected him in the 1986 NHL Supplemental Draft . After his time in Boston, Cullen moved to the International Hockey League for the Flint Spirits . After an excellent season there with 157 scorer points, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed him as a free agent .

For the 1988/89 season he made the breakthrough, but only in his second season, in which he brought it to 92 points, he was able to show his strength. In the 1990/91 season he had already reached 94 points after 65 games before he was given to the Hartford Whalers together with Zarley Zalapski and Jeff Parker to bring Ron Francis , Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson to the Penguins.

There he finished the best season of his career with 110 points. He was also successful next year in Hartford, but in the course of the 1992/93 season he was given to the Toronto Maple Leafs , where his father and uncle Brian had already played. He helped the Leafs get into the Conference Finals, but the year and a half in Toronto were overshadowed by numerous injuries.

For the 1994/95 season , which started later due to the strike , he returned to Pittsburgh, but could not connect there to the earlier performances, and so he moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 1995/96 season .

After two regular seasons he was diagnosed with cancer ( non-Hodgkin lymphoma ). Badly damaged by chemotherapy , he spent 1997, but he managed to overcome cancer and for the 1998/99 season he even made the leap back to the NHL. After four games with the Lightning and six more in the IHL with the Cleveland Lumberjacks , however, he ended his active career and was employed as an assistant coach in Tampa for another year.

In his honor, the John Cullen Award was named after him, which was given to the player who fought his way back into the team after a protracted injury or illness and who contributed to the team's success with his achievements.

Achievements and Awards

1984 ECAC Rookie of the Year 1985 Hockey East First All-Star Team 1986 Hockey East First All-Star Team 1986 NCAA East Second All-American Team 1987 Hockey East Second All-Star Team 1988 IHL First All-Star Team

1988 James Gatschene Memorial Trophy 1988 Garry F. Longman Memorial Trophy (with Ed Belfour ) 1988 Leo P. Lamoureux Memorial Trophy 1991 NHL All-Star Game 1992 NHL All-Star Game 1999 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	10	621	187	363	550	898
Playoffs	7th	53	12	22nd	34	58

Web links

• John Cullen at hockeydb.com (English)
• John Cullen at legendsofhockey.net (English)