Eric Weinrich

Eric John Weinrich (born December 19, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, and Vancouver Canucks. He played 1,157 career NHL games, scoring 70 goals and 318 assists for 388 points, and has represented Team USA in more international hockey tournaments than any other American player .

Amateur career Eric Weinrich grew up in the small town of Gardiner, Maine, went to high school at North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth, Maine, and played his college hockey at the University of Maine, where he studied archaeology and anthropology. Weinrich joined the Utica Devils, the AHL developmental affiliate team of his draft team, the New Jersey Devils for the 1988–89 and 1989–90 AHL seasons, winning the Eddie Shore Award in 1990.

After spending just over a season with the Whalers, Weinrich was traded with Patrick Poulin to the Chicago Blackhawks for Steve Larmer and Bryan Marchment. He would play for the Blackhawks for several seasons before being traded once again shortly into the 1998–99 NHL season, this time to the Montreal Canadiens. Weinrich again would not last long with his new team, being traded yet again to the Boston Bruins for Patrick Traverse midway through the 2000–01 NHL season in what is believed to have been the first trade between the two teams since 1964.

Weinrich signed a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent on July 5, 2001 and played his 1000th game with them during the 2002–03 NHL season. However, this was not enough to prevent him from being traded once again, this time to the St. Louis Blues, shortly after the 2004 NHL All-Star game. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he played with VSV EC of the Austrian Hockey League, but returned to the Blues for the 2005–06 NHL season, during which he was traded for the final time, his last NHL team being the Vancouver Canucks.

Weinrich announced his retirement on August 4, 2006 after 17 seasons in the NHL. Upon his retirement, he became an assistant coach for the Portland Pirates in the AHL, then on January 25, 2007 he signed a professional tryout contract with the team and began playing immediately. Weinrich skated with the Pirates for two seasons before hanging up the skates for good after the 2007–08 season. In 2015 he was named a development coach for the New Jersey Devils. He is currently an interim assistant coach with the Utica Devils.

Awards and honors Award Year All-Hockey East First Team 1986–87 AHCA East Second-Team All-American 1986–87 Hockey East All-Tournament Team 1987

AHL First All-Star Team (1990) Eddie Shore Award (1990) NHL All-Rookie Team (1991)

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1983–84 North Yarmouth Academy HS-ME 17 23 33 56 — — — — — — 1984–85 North Yarmouth Academy HS-ME 20 6 21 27 — — — — — — 1985–86 University of Maine HE 34 0 14 14 26 — — — — — 1986–87 University of Maine HE 41 12 32 44 59 — — — — — 1987–88 University of Maine HE 8 4 7 11 22 — — — — — 1987–88 United States National Team Intl 38 3 9 12 24 — — — — — 1988–89 New Jersey Devils NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1988–89 Utica Devils AHL 80 17 27 44 70 5 0 1 1 4 1989–90 Utica Devils AHL 57 12 48 60 38 — — — — — 1989–90 New Jersey Devils NHL 19 2 7 9 11 6 1 3 4 17 1990–91 New Jersey Devils NHL 76 4 34 38 48 7 1 2 3 6 1991–92 New Jersey Devils NHL 76 7 25 32 55 7 0 2 2 4 1992–93 Hartford Whalers NHL 79 7 29 36 76 — — — — — 1993–94 Hartford Whalers NHL 8 1 1 2 2 — — — — — 1993–94 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 54 3 23 26 31 6 0 2 2 6 1994–95 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 48 3 10 13 33 16 1 5 6 4 1995–96 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 77 5 10 15 65 10 1 4 5 10 1996–97 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 81 7 25 32 62 6 0 1 1 4 1997–98 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 2 21 23 106 — — — — — 1998–99 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 14 1 3 4 12 — — — — — 1998–99 Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 6 12 18 77 — — — — — 1999–00 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 4 25 29 39 — — — — — 2000–01 Montreal Canadiens NHL 60 6 19 25 34 — — — — — 2000–01 Boston Bruins NHL 22 1 5 6 10 — — — — — 2001–02 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 4 20 24 26 5 0 0 0 4 2002–03 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 81 2 18 20 40 13 2 3 5 12 2003–04 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 54 2 7 9 32 — — — — — 2003–04 St. Louis Blues NHL 26 2 8 10 14 5 0 1 1 0 2004–05 EC VSV EBEL 10 3 8 11 8 3 0 1 1 6 2005–06 St. Louis Blues NHL 59 1 16 17 44 — — — — — 2005–06 Vancouver Canucks NHL 16 0 0 0 8 — — — — — 2006–07 Portland Pirates AHL 36 2 12 14 34 — — — — — 2007–08 Portland Pirates AHL 52 1 7 8 68 — — — — — NHL totals 1,157 70 318 388 825 81 6 23 29 67

International