Niko Dimitrakos

Niko Dimitrakos
Date of birth	May 21, 1979
place of birth	Somerville , Massachusetts , USA
size	178 cm
Weight	93 kg
position	center
Shot hand	Right
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1999 , 5th lap, 155th position San Jose Sharks
Career stations
1998-2002	University of Maine
2002-2006	San Jose Sharks
2004-2005	SC Langnau
2006-2007	Philadelphia Flyers
2007	Chicago Wolves
2007-2008	Binghamton Senators
2008-2009	Skellefteå AIK
2009-2010	HK CSKA Moscow
2010-2011	MODO Hockey Örnsköldsvik
2011	Adler Mannheim
2011	Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
2011–2012	Adler Mannheim
2012	Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg
2014	Tampereen Ilves

Nicholas "Niko" Dimitrakos (born May 21, 1979 in Somerville , Massachusetts ) is a former American - Greek ice hockey player who played 178 games for the San Jose Sharks and Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League on the position of the center .

Career

Dimitrakos first played four seasons at the University of Maine , with which he won the 1999 championship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and 2000 the championship of Hockey East . After the San Jose Sharks had selected him in the fifth round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft in 155th place, he signed his first professional contract there in the summer of 2002. The American initially played for the Sharks' farm team , the Cleveland Barons , before he got his first chance at the end of the 2002/03 season in the professional squad of the NHL team, which was in upheaval at the time. Dimitrakos convinced and was called back to the NHL in the 2003/04 season , which he had started again in Cleveland, where he finally established himself.

Yanick Lehoux (right) in the face-off against Niko Dimitrakos

During the 2004/05 season , because of the lockout turned out, he stood three times for the SC Langnau in the Swiss National League A on the ice. For the 2005/06 season he returned to the Northern Californians. On March 9, 2006, the Sharks gave him for a third-round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft to the Philadelphia Flyers . He also played there at the beginning of 2006/07 . On October 18, 2006, after a 1: 9 defeat by the Buffalo Sabers , Dimitrakos was sent to the Flyers farm team, the Philadelphia Phantoms , along with Petr Nedvěd . After he announced a little later that he would no longer accrue for the Flyers if they would bring him back to the NHL, he was loaned to the Chicago Wolves on March 1, 2007 . In the summer of 2007 he signed a one-year contract with Ottawa Senators as a free agent . This used him in the course of the season exclusively in the AHL with the Binghamton Senators , where he was one of the team's best attackers with 40 points.

Since his contract expired at the end of the season, he changed teams again after just one year. With Skellefteå AIK from the Swedish Elitserien , he decided again after 2004 for a commitment in Europe. After he had spent the 2009/10 season at HK CSKA Moscow from the Continental Hockey League , he was committed for the following season by MODO Hockey Örnsköldsvik from the Elitserien. After only four goals and one assist in 22 games, he decided in January 2011 to move to Adler Mannheim from the German Ice Hockey League . There he was immediately one of the leading players and scored 21 scorer points in 26 games by the end of the 2010/11 season , including ten goals. However, he subsequently did not receive a new contract with Adler Mannheim. On October 5, 2011 Dimitrakos was signed by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins from the American Hockey League as part of a professional tryout agreement , but could not recommend himself for a firm contract and was released two months later.

From December 2011 Dimitrakos was again under contract with Adler Mannheim until the end of the 2011/12 season . For the 2012/13 season he moved within the league to the Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg , where his contract was dissolved in November 2012 due to unfulfilled expectations. After more than a year without a club, the attacker joined the Finnish club Tampereen Ilves in January 2014 and played nine games in the Liiga by the end of the 2013/14 season .

Since the 2015/15 season, Dimitrakos has been the assistant coach of the Fenwick High School ice hockey team in the US school league.

International

For the USA Dimitrakos took part in the 2003 World Cup, where he finished 13th with his team.

Achievements and Awards

1999 NCAA Division I Championship with the University of Maine 1999 NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team 2000 Hockey East Championship with the University of Maine 2000 Hockey East Tournament MVP

2002 Hockey East Second All-Star Team 2002 NCAA East First All-American Team 2002 AHL Rookie of the Month for November 2003 Participation in the AHL All-Star Classic

Career statistics

				Regular season						Play-offs
season	team	league		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
1998/99	University of Maine	NCAA		35	8th	19th	27	33
1999/00	University of Maine	NCAA		32	11	16	27	14th
2000/01	University of Maine	NCAA		29	11	14th	25th	43
2001/02	University of Maine	NCAA		43	20th	31	51	44
2002/03	Cleveland Barons	AHL		55	15th	29	44	30th		-	-	-	-	-
2002/03	San Jose Sharks	NHL		21st	6th	7th	13	8th		-	-	-	-	-
2003/04	Cleveland Barons	AHL		7th	4th	4th	8th	4th		-	-	-	-	-
2003/04	San Jose Sharks	NHL		68	9	15th	24	49		15th	1	8th	9	8th
2004/05	SC Langnau	NLA		3	0	1	1	2		6th	3	3	6th	16
2005/06	San Jose Sharks	NHL		45	4th	12	16	26th		-	-	-	-	-
2005/06	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		19th	5	4th	9	6th		5	0	0	0	2
2006/07	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		5	0	0	0	6th		-	-	-	-	-
2006/07	Philadelphia Phantoms	AHL		45	15th	13	28	34		-	-	-	-	-
2006/07	Chicago Wolves	AHL		17th	4th	10	14th	20th		15th	3	7th	10	8th
2007/08	Binghamton Senators	AHL		64	20th	20th	40	67		-	-	-	-	-
2008/09	Skellefteå AIK	Elitserien		54	22nd	22nd	44	59		1	0	0	0	0
2009/10	HK CSKA Moscow	KHL		50	12	5	17th	32		3	0	0	0	12
2010/11	MODO Hockey Örnsköldsvik	Elitserien		22nd	4th	1	5	22nd		-	-	-	-	-
2010/11	Adler Mannheim	DEL		20th	7th	8th	15th	14th		6th	3	3	6th	2
2011/12	Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins	AHL		21st	6th	4th	10	20th		-	-	-	-	-
2011/12	Adler Mannheim	DEL		20th	5	9	14th	40		4th	0	1	1	2
2012/13	Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg	DEL		13	4th	7th	11	8th		-	-	-	-	-
2013/14	Ilves Tampere	SM-liiga		9	2	5	7th	31		-	-	-	-	-
NCAA overall				139	50	80	130	134
AHL total				209	64	80	144	175		15th	3	7th	10	8th
NHL overall				158	24	38	62	95		20th	1	8th	9	10
NLA total				3	0	1	1	2		6th	3	3	6th	16
Elitserien total				76	26th	23	49	81		1	0	0	0	0
SM-liiga total				9	2	5	7th	31		-	-	-	-	-
KHL total				50	12	5	17th	32		3	0	0	0	12
DEL total				53	16	24	40	62		10	3	4th	7th	4th

International

Represented the USA at:

• World Championship 2003

year	team	event	result		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
2003	United States	WM	13th place		6th	0	1	1	6th
Men overall					6th	0	1	1	6th

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

• Niko Dimitrakos at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Niko Dimitrakos at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Niko Dimitrakos at hockeydb.com (English)
• Niko Dimitrakos at eurohockey.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Signs" in the crisis: EHC throws Dimitrakos out. In: Official website of the Wolfsburger Nachrichten. November 4, 2012, Retrieved November 6, 2012 .