Willie Mitchell (ice hockey player)

Willie Mitchell
Date of birth	April 23, 1977
place of birth	Port McNeill , British Columbia , Canada
size	191 cm
Weight	93 kg
position	defender
number	# 33
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1996 , 8th lap, 199th position New Jersey Devils
Career stations
1997-1999	Clarkson University
1999-2001	Albany River Rats
2001-2006	Minnesota Wild
2006	Dallas Stars
2006-2010	Vancouver Canucks
2010-2014	Los Angeles Kings
2014-2016	Florida panthers

William Reid "Willie" Mitchell (born April 23, 1977 in Port McNeill , British Columbia ) is a Canadian ice hockey player who played 996 games for the Minnesota Wild , Dallas Stars , Vancouver Canucks , Los Angeles Kings and Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League on the position of defender . Mitchell celebrated his greatest career success in the service of the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014 when he won the Stanley Cup . In addition, he won the gold medal with the Canadian national team at the 2004 World Cup .

Career

Mitchell in the Jersey of the Florida Panthers

In the 1996 NHL Entry Draft , Mitchell was selected as 199th in the eighth round by the New Jersey Devils . The 1.91 m tall defender then played during his college days for the team from Clarkson University in ECAC Hockey , a league in the game operations of the NCAA . In his first NCAA season, the left-shot was the second best rookie of the year behind Erik Cole . In 1999 he was finally elected to the “ECAC First All-Star Team ” and the “Second All-Star Team” of the entire NCAA.

Mitchell made his NHL debut in the 1999/00 season , but in two years with the New Jersey Devils the Canadian was most of the time in the American Hockey League with the farm team Albany River Rats . In March 2001 he was finally transferred to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for defense attorney Sean O'Donnell . There Mitchell became a regular player. After the lockout in the 2004/05 season , the defensive player became team captain of the game in December 2005 due to the usual rotation principle in the team . After the franchise missed the play-offs , the Canadian moved to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Martin Škoula and Shawn Belle in March 2006 . After the season he was still a free agent , so the Vancouver Canucks Mitchell signed in July. There he received a four-year contract that him 14 million US dollars to contribute. After the 2007-08 season , the Canadian was voted the team's best defender. In August 2010, Mitchell signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent . In the following years he won the Stanley Cup twice with the Kings (2012 and 2014), although he could not contest the 2012/13 season due to a knee injury and lockout .

His contract, which expired at the end of the 2013/14 season, was not renewed, so he signed a two-year contract with the Florida Panthers in July 2014 . There he acted as the seventh team captain in the two following seasons before he declared his career over in the summer of 2016 at the age of 39.

International

With the Canadian national team , Willie Mitchell won the gold medal at the 2004 Ice Hockey World Championship . He played a total of nine games in this tournament.

Achievements and Awards

1997 SJHL First All-Star Team 1997 SJHL Top Defenseman Award 1998 ECAC Second All-Star Team 1998 ECAC Rookie of the Year (together with Erik Cole )

1999 ECAC First All-Star Team 1999 NCAA East Second All-American Team 2012 Stanley Cup win with the Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup win with the Los Angeles Kings

International

• 2004 gold medal at the world championship

Career statistics

Status: end of the 2015/16 season

				Regular season						Play-offs
season	team	league		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
1997/98	Clarkson University	NCAA		34	9	17th	26th	105
1998/99	Clarkson University	NCAA		34	10	19th	29	40
1998/99	Albany River Rats	AHL		6th	1	3	4th	29		-	-	-	-	-
1999/00	Albany River Rats	AHL		63	5	14th	19th	71		5	1	2	3	4th
1999/00	New Jersey Devils	NHL		2	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
2000/01	Albany River Rats	AHL		41	3	13	16	94		-	-	-	-	-
2000/01	New Jersey Devils	NHL		16	0	2	2	29		-	-	-	-	-
2000/01	Minnesota Wild	NHL		17th	1	7th	8th	11		-	-	-	-	-
2001/02	Minnesota Wild	NHL		68	3	10	13	68		-	-	-	-	-
2002/03	Minnesota Wild	NHL		69	2	12	14th	84		18th	1	3	4th	14th
2003/04	Minnesota Wild	NHL		70	1	13	14th	83		-	-	-	-	-
2005/06	Minnesota Wild	NHL		64	2	6th	8th	87		-	-	-	-	-
2005/06	Dallas Stars	NHL		16	0	2	2	26th		5	0	0	0	2
2006/07	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		62	1	10	11	45		12	0	1	1	12
2007/08	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		72	2	10	12	81		-	-	-	-	-
2008/09	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		82	3	20th	23	59		10	0	2	2	22nd
2009/10	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		48	4th	8th	12	48		-	-	-	-	-
2010/11	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		57	5	5	10	21st		6th	1	1	2	4th
2011/12	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		76	5	19th	24	44		20th	1	2	3	16
2012/13	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		not played due to lockout and injury
2013/14	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		76	1	11	12	58	18th	1	3	4th	20th
2014/15	Florida panthers	NHL		66	3	5	8th	25th	-	-	-	-	-
2015/16	Florida panthers	NHL		46	1	6th	7th	18th	-	-	-	-	-
NCAA overall				68	19th	36	55	145
AHL total				110	9	30th	39	194	5	1	2	3	4th
NHL overall				907	34	146	180	787	89	4th	12	16	90

International

Represented Canada to:

• World Championship 2004

year	team	event	result		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
2004	Canada	WM			9	0	0	0	0
Men overall					9	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 : Willie Mitchell  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Willie Mitchell at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Willie Mitchell at eliteprospects.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kings sign deal with Willie Mitchell