RJ Umberger

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United StatesUnited States  RJ Umberger Ice hockey player
RJ Umberger
Date of birth May 3, 1982
place of birth Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , USA
size 188 cm
Weight 98 kg
position center
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 2001 , 1st lap, 16th position
Vancouver Canucks
Career stations
1998-2000 USA Hockey National Team Development Program
2000-2003 Ohio State University
2004-2008 Philadelphia Flyers
2008-2014 Columbus Blue Jackets
2014-2016 Philadelphia Flyers

Richard Allen "RJ" Umberger junior (born May 3, 1982 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania ) is a former American ice hockey player who played 809 games for the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets in the 1998-2016 National Hockey League has contested on the position of the center . Umberger celebrated his greatest career success in the service of the Philadelphia Phantoms by winning the Calder Cup of the American Hockey League in 2005.

Career

Umberger started his ice hockey career at Plum High School in the US state of Pennsylvania . After he had scored 116 points in only 26 games in his last season in 1997/98, he moved in the summer of 1998 to the youth development program of the US ice hockey association USA Hockey . In the seasons 1998/99 and 1999/2000 he played for the various junior teams. First in the North American Hockey League , then later in the United States Hockey League . At the age of 18, Umberger left the junior program and went to Ohio State University , for whose university team he played in the game operations of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association , a league in the game operations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . All in all, he remained loyal to the university for three years, during which he always finished the year as the team's top scorer. In his rookie season he was elected to the CCHA's all-rookie team and named Rookie of the Year . In the 2001 NHL Entry Draft that followed, he was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the first round in 16th position due to his performance . After he had delivered similar offensive statistics in the CCHA in the following year, he again increased his performance significantly in his last year in the college league. This resulted in the election to the CCHA First All-Star Team, NCAA West Second All-American Team and a nomination for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award , which Peter Sejna from Colorado College won that year.

RJ Umberger in the jersey of the Columbus Blue Jackets (2010)

Due to a contractual dispute with the Vancouver Canucks, Umberger suspended the entire 2003/04 season. Towards the end of the season he was therefore transferred from the Canucks, together with Martin Grenier , to the New York Rangers , who in return gave up Martin Ručínský . The Rangers also failed to get the striker to sign the contract, after which he was considered a free agent and could get in touch with all interested teams. Finally, on June 16, 2004, he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers . Since the 2004/05 NHL season fell victim to a lockout , the American spent the entire season on the Flyers farm team in the American Hockey League . With the Philadelphia Phantoms he won the Calder Cup , the championship of the AHL , in his first professional season . In the course of the season Umberger recommended himself with 65 scorer points in 80 games of the regular season and ten points in 21 playoff games for a commitment in the NHL with the Flyers. There he finally made his debut in the 2005/06 season and completed 73 of 82 possible games. He was also used in eight AHL games for the Phantoms.

His 38 points for the Flyers, including 20 goals, earned him a place among the top ten points in Philadelphia's internal scorer list. However, the following playoffs were not so successful. During the first round series against the Buffalo Sabers , which Philadelphia lost in six games, Umberger was brought to the ground by Buffalo's defender Brian Campbell during an attempted attack with a hard but fair body check on the open ice surface . With a slight concussion , the striker missed a game and was only able to contribute one goal for Philadelphia. The following season was similar to the playoffs of the previous season for Umberger, but this was also due to the overall performance of the team, which with only 56 points was by far the worst of the entire season. In the 2007/08 season the situation relaxed again, which was also reflected in the center's statistics. He set two new personal records with 50 points and 37 assists and was Philadelphia's most dangerous attacker in the playoffs with ten goals in 17 games. In the second round series against the Montréal Canadiens , he was almost single-handedly responsible for reaching the next round with eight goals in five games.

On June 20, 2008, the ways of Umberger and the Philadelphia Flyers parted ways because they shared a fourth-round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for two options in the first and third round of the same year to Columbus Blue Jackets levy. This had become necessary as the Flyers tried to keep their striker Jeff Carter with a good contract offer. Umberger was no longer financially viable due to the resulting problems with the upper salary limit and his expiring contract. In Columbus, the versatile attacker met his ex-trainer Ken Hitchcock , under whom he made his NHL debut in 2005.

Umberger returned to the Philadelphia Flyers in June 2014, with the Blue Jackets trading him and a four-round suffrage for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft for Scott Hartnell . After two unproductive seasons, the Flyers paid out the remaining contract term (buy-out) in June 2016 , so that from then on he was considered a free agent . It wasn't until July 2017 that he received a trial contract from the Dallas Stars , but this did not result in a permanent engagement.

International

At the international level, Umberger represented his home country a total of five times, four of them in the junior area. In addition to two participations in the U18 sector in 2000 and 2001, there are also two participations in the U20 sector in 2001 and 2002 . Although he was able to collect eleven points scorer in a total of 26 games, he did not win a medal with the team. He completed his first senior world championship in 2006 at the world title competitions in Latvia . However, he only played one game.

Achievements and Awards

Career statistics

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1998/99 US National Team Development Program USHL 5 2 2 4th 0 - - - - -
1998/99 US National Team Development Program NEAR 50 21st 21st 42 32 - - - - -
1999/00 US National Team Development Program USHL 57 33 35 68 20th - - - - -
2000/01 Ohio State University CCHA 32 14th 23 37 18th
2001/02 Ohio State University CCHA 37 18th 21st 39 31
2002/03 Ohio State University CCHA 43 26th 27 53 16
2003/04 without a contract not played because of contractual dispute
2004/05 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 80 21st 44 65 36 21st 3 7th 10 12
2005/06 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 8th 3 7th 10 8th - - - - -
2005/06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 73 20th 18th 38 18th 5 1 0 1 2
2006/07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 81 16 12 28 41 - - - - -
2007/08 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 74 13 37 50 19th 17th 10 5 15th 10
2008/09 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 82 26th 20th 46 53 4th 3 0 3 0
2009/10 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 82 23 32 55 40 - - - - -
2010/11 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 82 25th 32 57 38 - - - - -
2011/12 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 77 20th 20th 40 27 - - - - -
2012/13 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 48 8th 10 18th 16 - - - - -
2013/14 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 74 18th 16 34 26th 4th 0 1 1 2
2014/15 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 67 9 6th 15th 19th - - - - -
2015/16 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 39 2 9 11 15th - - - - -
USHL total 62 35 37 72 20th - - - - -
NCAA overall 112 58 71 129 69
AHL total 88 24 51 75 44 21st 3 7th 10 12
NHL overall 779 180 212 392 312 30th 14th 6th 20th 14th

International

Represented the USA at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
2000 United States U18 World Cup 8th place 6th 1 0 1 2
2001 United States U20 World Cup 5th place 7th 2 2 4th 2
2001 United States U18 World Cup 6th place 6th 1 0 1 0
2002 United States U20 World Cup 5th place 7th 1 4th 5 0
2006 United States WM 7th place 1 0 0 0 0
Juniors overall 26th 5 6th 11 4th
Men overall 1 0 0 0 0

( 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

Commons : RJ Umberger  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Umberger, RJ
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Umberger, RJ; Umberger, Richard Allen junior (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania