Mark Eaton

Mark Andrew Eaton (born May 6, 1977) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former defenseman who was previously the interim head coach for the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League (AHL). He played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Islanders. He is the only NHL player to ever come from Delaware. He attended John Dickinson High School in the Wilmington suburbs but played his minor hockey across the state line in Pennsylvania.

Playing career

Eaton started his post-secondary competition with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He was named second team all-USHL, was the league's third-leading scoring defenseman, and was honored with the Curt Hammer Award as the USHL's most gentlemanly player. Eaton then moved on to the University of Notre Dame of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). In his only season at UND, Eaton was named the CCHA Rookie of the Year after scoring 12 goals with 17 assists for 29 points.

On August 4, 1998, Eaton signed a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers as an undrafted free agent. He made his NHL debut on October 2, 1999, against the Ottawa Senators, becoming the first player from the greater Delaware Valley region to play for the Flyers. Eaton scored his first NHL goal, which was the game-winning goal, on April 8, 2000, against Rob Tallas of the Boston Bruins. He played his first NHL playoff game on April 13 against the Buffalo Sabres.

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Eaton on July 3, 2006, as a free agent. He saw limited time in his first two seasons, suffering with injuries, playing only 71 games between in 2006–07 and 2007–08.

He signed with the New York Islanders as a free agent to a two-year contract on July 2, 2010.

On January 22, 2013, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL announced Eaton had signed with the team on a Professional Try Out. He was released in February, and started skating with his former NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. On February 25, the Penguins signed Eaton to a 1-year deal worth $725,000.

International play Eaton played for the United States at the 2001 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships and recorded one goal (the game-winner vs. Finland) and one assist in nine games. He also played for the United States at the 2002 World Championships in Sweden and registered three assists in a 5–2 win vs. Italy.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1995–96 Waterloo Black Hawks USHL 50 4 21 25 12 — — — — — 1996–97 Waterloo Black Hawks USHL 50 6 32 38 62 — — — — — 1997–98 Notre Dame Fighting Irish CCHA 41 12 17 29 32 — — — — — 1998–99 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 74 9 27 36 38 16 4 8 12 0 1999–2000 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 47 9 17 26 6 — — — — — 1999–2000 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 27 1 1 2 8 7 0 0 0 0 2000–01 Nashville Predators NHL 34 3 8 11 14 — — — — — 2000–01 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 34 3 12 15 27 — — — — — 2001–02 Nashville Predators NHL 58 3 5 8 24 — — — — — 2002–03 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 3 1 0 1 2 — — — — — 2002–03 Nashville Predators NHL 50 2 7 9 22 — — — — — 2003–04 Nashville Predators NHL 75 4 9 13 26 6 0 0 0 2 2004–05 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 29 3 3 6 21 — — — — — 2005–06 Nashville Predators NHL 69 3 1 4 44 5 0 0 0 8 2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 35 0 3 3 15 5 0 0 0 0 2007–08 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 36 0 3 3 4 — — — — — 2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 68 4 5 9 36 24 4 3 7 10 2009–10 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 79 3 13 16 26 13 0 3 3 4 2010–11 New York Islanders NHL 34 0 3 3 8 — — — — — 2011–12 New York Islanders NHL 62 1 3 4 10 — — — — — 2012–13 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 6 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 2012–13 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 23 0 0 0 4 8 0 3 3 0 NHL totals 650 24 61 85 242 68 4 9 13 24

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2001 United States WC 4th 9 1 1 2 0 2002 United States WC 7th 7 0 3 3 4 Senior totals 16 1 4 5 4

Awards and honors Award Year All-CCHA Rookie Team 1997–98

Second Team USHL All-Star in 1997 Only the second University of Notre Dame player to be named CCHA Rookie of the Year (as selected by the conference's coaches) in 1997–98 Won the Barry Ashbee Award in 1998–99 which is given to the Philadelphia Phantoms' top defenseman The first ice hockey player to be named Delaware's athlete of the year by the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association on January 27, 2000 Named the IHL Defenseman of the Week for the week of December 18–24, 2000 Stanley Cup championship in 2009 (Pittsburgh) Inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2017