Derek Plante

Derek John Plante (born January 17, 1971) is an American ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. Plante played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers. He was a member of the 1999 Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars. He was an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota-Duluth from 2010-2015 before returning to the program as associate head coach in 2020. Plante left UMD in 2022 to become an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Playing career Drafted out of high school by the Buffalo Sabres in 1989, Plante attended the University of Minnesota Duluth and by his senior year was an All-Star leading the WCHA in goals, assists, and total scoring. Plante skipped minor league hockey and jumped right to the NHL in 1994, replacing an injured Pat LaFontaine and scoring 21 goals. By turning pro so quickly, Plante missed out on an opportunity to represent the United States in the 1994 Winter Olympics.

In the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season, Plante managed only three goals and 19 assists, but rebounded nicely in 1995–96 on a rebuilding, but hard-working Sabres squad, netting 23 goals and adding 30 assists. In 1997, Plante became the Sabres' top scoring center. he netted a career high 27 goals and led the surprising Sabres squad to a Northeast Division championship and playoff berth. Plante scored the game winning, series-clinching game seven overtime goal against the Ottawa Senators. Plante knocked down an opponent pass at center, quickly positioned himself, and fired a slapshot that managed to escape the glove of netminder Ron Tugnutt and trickle into the goal. Mobbed by his ecstatic teammates, Plante suffered a cut lip in the ensuing celebration. Plante played well in the next series vs. Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers, but the overmatched team fell in five games.

Plante's numbers slipped in 1997–98, scoring only 13 goals and 34 points, however the Sabres advanced deeper into the playoffs than many expected, losing to the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Final.

Halfway through the 1999 season Plante was traded to the Dallas Stars. The Stars went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals and met Plante's old team, the Sabres. Plante had played in the first two series of the playoffs, scoring a critical goal in the second round, but was a healthy scratch for every game of the finals, which the Stars won 4 games to 2. Even though he didn't play in the finals, Plante got in on the time-honored tradition of taking personal stewardship of the Cup, which he spent in his home town of Cloquet, Minnesota. The Dallas Stars had Plante's name engraved on the Stanley Cup even though he did not play in the required number of games.

The following year Plante found himself in the Chicago Blackhawks organization. For the first time in his career, Plante played on a minor league team, the Chicago Wolves.

In 2000–01 Plante starred for the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms, and by the end of the year was called up to join the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers kept Derek on their playoff roster to face the Sabres. Plante scored a goal against his former teammate Dominik Hašek earlier in the season, but the Sabres prevailed, and Plante hasn't been back in the NHL since.

Plante later went on to play in European leagues, most notably with the Munich Barons. From 2005 to 2007, he played in the Asian Hockey League as a member of the Nippon Paper Cranes, winning the championship in 2007. During 2007–2008, he played for the SC Langenthal.

Coaching career He was hired on June 9, 2010 as a Minnesota Duluth assistant men's hockey coach. In June 2015, he announced he was resigning from his assistant coaching position with UMD. On July 17, 2020 it was announced that he would return to Minnesota Duluth, as associate men’s hockey coach.

On July 29, 2022, Plante was named as an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks on the staff of Luke Richardson. He remains in his role, after Richardson was replaced by Anders Sörensen in November 2024.

Personal life Plante has three sons Zam, Max, and Victor. Zam and Max both play college ice hockey at Minnesota Duluth. Zam was drafted in the fifth round, 150th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2022 NHL entry draft. Max was drafted in the second round, 47th overall, by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2024 NHL entry draft, and was an important part of the United States gold medal performance at the 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1987–88 Cloquet High School HS-MN 23 16 25 41 — — — — — 1988–89 Cloquet High School HS-MN 24 30 33 63 — — — — — 1989–90 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 28 10 11 21 12 — — — — — 1990–91 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 36 23 20 43 6 — — — — — 1991–92 University of Minnesota Duluth WHCA 37 27 36 63 28 — — — — — 1992–93 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 37 36 56 92 30 — — — — — 1993–94 Buffalo Sabres NHL 77 21 35 56 24 7 1 0 1 0 1994–95 Buffalo Sabres NHL 47 3 19 22 12 — — — — — 1995–96 Buffalo Sabres NHL 76 23 33 56 28 — — — — — 1996–97 Buffalo Sabres NHL 82 27 26 53 24 12 4 6 10 4 1997–98 Buffalo Sabres NHL 72 13 21 34 26 11 0 3 3 10 1998–99 Buffalo Sabres NHL 41 4 11 15 12 — — — — — 1998–99 Dallas Stars NHL 10 2 3 5 6 6 1 0 1 4 1999–2000 Dallas Stars NHL 16 1 1 2 2 — — — — — 1999–2000 Michigan K-Wings IHL 13 0 4 4 2 — — — — — 1999–2000 Chicago Wolves IHL 4 2 1 3 2 8 3 1 4 6 1999–2000 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 17 1 1 2 2 — — — — — 2000–01 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 12 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 1 0 2000–01 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 57 18 35 53 19 — — — — — 2001–02 München Barons DEL 60 20 38 58 22 9 3 7 10 10 2002–03 ZSC Lions NLA 44 22 24 46 34 10 1 2 3 4 2003–04 Adler Mannheim DEL 39 6 16 22 40 6 0 0 0 2 2004–05 Adler Mannheim DEL 44 6 7 13 22 7 0 0 0 0 2005–06 Nippon Paper Cranes ALH 35 28 47 75 64 8 7 8 15 4 2006–07 Nippon Paper Cranes ALH 24 20 27 47 42 7 6 7 13 12 2007–08 SC Langenthal NLB 38 24 20 44 30 4 3 0 3 6 NHL totals 450 96 152 248 140 41 6 10 16 18

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1991 United States WJC 7 1 2 3 4 1992 United States WC 6 0 1 1 0 1993 United States WC 6 1 0 1 2 1996 United States WC 8 1 1 2 4 2000 United States WC 7 1 1 2 4 2001 United States WC 9 0 2 2 2 2002 United States WC 7 2 1 3 2 Senior totals 43 5 6 11 14

Awards and honors Award Year All-WCHA Second Team 1991–92 All-WCHA First Team 1992–93 AHCA West First-Team All-American 1992–93 WCHA All-Tournament Team 1993