Rob Ricci (born December 12, 1984) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey forward who most recently played for the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL.

Rob Ricci
Born (1984-12-12) December 12, 1984 (age 39)
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Left
team
Former teams
Free Agent
Peoria Rivermen
Odense Bulldogs
Mora IK
Herning Blue Fox
Dundee Stars
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2009–present

Playing career

edit

Ricci started his junior career with the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Provincial A Junior Hockey League, playing one game in the 2001–02 season with no points or penalty minutes. For the 2002–03 season, Ricci moved to the Milton Merchants (also of the OPJHL), where he put up an impressive 76 points in combined goals and assists and 10 penalty minutes over 49 games.

Ricci skated with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League from 2003 to 2005, earning 99 points in regular season play and 8 points in the post-season. Ricci finished the 2004–05 season with a plus/minus of +20. The RoughRiders won both the regular season points championship (Anderson Cup) and the post-season Clark Cup that year.

From 2005 to 2009, Ricci attended Merrimack College, where he played all but his sophomore year due to an "unspecified violation of team rules and school policy."[1] Ricci led the Warriors in scoring during his freshman year, and in points (34), assists (21), and power play goals (6) his junior season. He served as assistant captain his junior year and was named a co-captain for his senior season.[2] Ricci was named team MVP for all three seasons he played at Merrimack.[3]

At the end of the 2008–09 season, Ricci signed with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL and launched his pro career. He played 4 regular season games with the Wranglers in which he earned 2 assists and 4 penalty minutes. Ricci moved to the South Carolina Stingrays for the post-season, scoring one goal in what became a league-record third successful run for the Kelly Cup.

Ricci returned to the Stingrays for the 2009–10 season, earning 50 points in combined goals (25) and assists (25) in regular season play, as well as scoring one goal in the Stingrays' first-round playoff elimination. Ricci earned his first professional hat trick against the Cincinnati Cyclones in March of that year.[4]

Ricci re-signed with the Stingrays for the 2010–11 season. Ricci tallied his second professional hat trick against the Gwinnett Gladiators in a 4–1 victory in January 2011.[5]

In July 2011, Ricci signed with the Odense Bulldogs of Denmark's AL-Bank Ligaen.[6] He had a successful season with the team, scoring 44 points in 37 regular season games and 19 points in 15 playoff games, as Odense finished as runners-up of the 2011–12 season. His efforts earned him a spot on the Danish League All Star Team and in March of that season he was named the league's player of the month.[7] For the 2012–13 season, Ricci began the season playing with Mora IK in Allsvenskan, the Tier 2 league in Sweden. However, after playing 8 games with the team and 2 games with its J20 squad, Ricci returned to Denmark and spent the rest of the season with the Herning Blue Fox where he chipped in 15 goals and 25 assist, for 40 points, in 28 games. For the 2013–14 season, Ricci completed another tour with the Bulldogs, contributing 28 points in 40 games. The 2014–15 season will bring Ricci to Glasgow, Scotland, on a one-year contract with the Dundee Stars of the EIHL.[8] After 15 games, Ricci felt uneasy about continuing and left Dundee. Once the ECHL's Brampton Beast invited him, the prospect of being a part of his hometown team, "playing at home in front of my family and my friends was something that I thought I’d enjoyed.” After a struggling beginning, with just 4 goals in 24 games, Ricci was considering retirement. Once the Stingrays, now coached by a former teammate of Ricci's, Spencer Carbery, offered to bring Ricci to their squad, Ricci felt he should give a chance to his first professional team and an old friend. The Stingrays traded defensemen Guy Leboeuf for Ricci, who helped the team reach a record winning streak of 18 games.[9]

Personal life

edit

Ricci is married since 2013 to Danielle.[7][9]

Career statistics

edit
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2001–02 Georgetown Raiders OPJHL 1 0 0 0 0
2002–03 Milton Merchants OPJHL 49 29 47 76 10
2003–04 Cedar Rapids RoughRiders USHL 60 17 22 39 22 4 1 1 2 2
2004–05 Cedar Rapids RoughRiders USHL 59 26 34 60 38 11 3 3 6 2
2005–06 Merrimack College HE 34 10 16 26 59
2007–08 Merrimack College HE 34 13 21 34 26
2008–09 Merrimack College HE 31 11 12 23 20
2008–09 Las Vegas Wranglers ECHL 4 0 2 2 4
2008–09 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 7 1 0 1 0
2009–10 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 72 25 25 50 18 4 1 0 1 0
2010–11 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 67 26 28 54 32 4 1 1 2 4
2010–11 Peoria Rivermen AHL 5 0 0 0 0
2010–12 Odense Bulldogs DEN 37 22 22 44 36 15 10 9 19 12
2012–13 Herning Blue Fox DEN 28 15 25 40 2 6 1 4 5 0
2012–13 Mora IK Allsv 8 2 0 2 2
2013–14 Odense Bulldogs DEN 40 9 19 28 31 5 3 2 5 27
2014–15 Dundee Stars EIHL 15 6 4 10 8
2014–15 Brampton Beast ECHL 24 4 10 14 10
2014–15 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 33 11 8 19 12 11 1 2 3 2
ECHL totals 200 66 73 139 76 26 4 3 7 6

Awards and honors

edit
Award Year
Regular season MVP, Merrimack College 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09
All-Hockey East Rookie Team 2005–06
Kelly Cup Champion 2009
Sher-Wood Hockey ECHL Player of the Week (January 3–9) 2011 [10]
Danish League All-Star Team 2010–12

References

edit
  1. ^ McMahon, Mike (2006-09-26). Merrimack's Ricci, Watson suspended. College Hockey News. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  2. ^ Press release (September 2, 2008). Rob Ricci and Joe Loprenio Named Captains Archived March 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. merrimackathletics.com.
  3. ^ Press release (April 3, 2009). Ricci Earns Third Team MVP Award; Bowen, Barton, Ross Captains for 2009-10 Archived March 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. merrimackathletics.com.
  4. ^ Brand, Phil (2010-03-11). Ricci's hat trick is timely for Stingrays Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine. prohockeynews.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  5. ^ Miller, Andrew (2011-01-05). Ricci's hat trick powers Stingrays. The Post and Courier. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  6. ^ Press release (July 7, 2011). "Ricci fuldender angrebet (Ricci completes attack [line])" (in Danish). Odense Bulldogs. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Ricci fuldender angrebet (All-Star forward returns)" (Press release) (in Danish). Odense Bulldogs. May 1, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  8. ^ "Rob Ricci is Dundee Stars' import number 9". dundeestars.com. August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Rob Ricci glad to be back in Lowcountry with streaking Stingrays". The Post and Courier. March 12, 2015.
  10. ^ Press release (2011-01-11). South Carolina's Ricci named Sher-Wood Hockey ECHL Player of the Week Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine. ECHL. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
edit