Thomas Hickey (ice hockey)

Thomas Hickey

Hickey with the New York Islanders in October 2015
Born (1989-02-08) February 8, 1989
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 184 lb (83 kg; 13 st 2 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team New York Islanders
NHL Draft 4th overall, 2007
Los Angeles Kings
Playing career 2009–present

Thomas Robert Hickey (born February 8, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Early life

Hickey is a high school graduate of the Edge School in Calgary, Alberta.[1]

Playing career

Hickey joined the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 2004–05 in a limited role for 5 games. The following season, in 2005–06, he tallied 28 points as a rookie. In his draft year, in 2006–07, Hickey improved to 9 goals and 50 points. He was then drafted in the off-season by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1st round, 4th overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. On July 17, 2007, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Kings. Attending the Kings' training camp, he was returned to the Thunderbirds on September 21, 2007, for a third junior season. During the 2008-2009 season, Hickey suffered an ankle injury that required surgery after the season ended. In November, 2009 Hickey suffered a shoulder injury that would also require surgery and keep him off the ice until April 1, 2010. Not much later, one game before the Monarchs would begin their playoff run for the 2009-2010 season, Hickey sprained his ankle and was unable to play again until the semifinals, when the Monarchs lost to the Hershey Bears. During his time with the Monarchs, Hickey was named an Alternate Captain.

On January 15, 2013, Hickey was claimed off waivers from the Kings by the New York Islanders. He immediately joined the team during the 2012–13 training camp.[2] He made his NHL debut with the Islanders on January 27, 2013, against the Winnipeg Jets at the MTS Centre.[3] On February 21, 2013, Hickey scored his first NHL goal, an overtime winner against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

In the 2015-16 season, Hickey scored the overtime winner against the Washington Capitals, and with that goal the Islanders clinched a playoff spot in the 2016 playoffs. Just two weeks later, Hickey scored his first playoff goal in Game 3 in overtime against the Florida Panthers on a pass from Brock Nelson, giving the Islanders a 2-1 series lead.

Hickey has taken a strong disliking to Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals. In the 2015 playoffs, Wilson had a controversial hit on Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, Hickey's partner on defense and mentor. The hit knocked Visnovsky out of the game and the playoffs, and he would not end up playing in the NHL again. Since the hit, Hickey has defended against Wilson and has tried to engage him in fights, with Wilson not willing to participate despite Wilson's heavy advantage in size and strength. In one instance, Hickey hit Wilson into the boards, and as Wilson was falling down, Hickey was falling on him while punching him in the face. Hickey was assessed a two-minute roughing penalty on the play.

International play
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
2008 Czech Republic
2009 Canada

During his third year of major junior, Hickey was chosen to represent Team Canada for the 2008 World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic where he helped Canada to a fourth consecutive gold medal. He was selected the next year for the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa as the team captain, returning with John Tavares, P. K. Subban and Zach Boychuk from the previous year's team. In the third game of preliminaries, he was chosen as Team Canada's player of the game in a 5–1 win against Germany.[4] Canada went on to beat Sweden in the finals for the third straight year to capture its fifth consecutive WJHC gold medal.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2004–05 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 5 2 1 3 5 — — — — —
2005–06 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 69 1 27 28 53 7 1 3 4 10
2006–07 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 68 9 41 50 70 11 3 4 7 4
2007–08 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 63 11 34 45 49 9 1 9 10 4
2008–09 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 57 16 35 51 30 5 2 1 3 4
2008–09 Manchester Monarchs AHL 7 1 6 7 2 — — — — —
2009–10 Manchester Monarchs AHL 19 1 5 6 12 4 0 3 3 0
2010–11 Manchester Monarchs AHL 77 6 18 24 38 7 0 2 2 0
2011–12 Manchester Monarchs AHL 76 3 23 26 36 4 0 4 4 2
2012–13 Manchester Monarchs AHL 33 3 9 12 12 — — — — —
2012–13 New York Islanders NHL 39 1 3 4 8 2 0 0 0 2
2013–14 New York Islanders NHL 82 4 18 22 34 — — — — —
2014–15 New York Islanders NHL 81 2 20 22 26 7 0 1 1 2
2015–16 New York Islanders NHL 62 6 12 18 30 11 1 4 5 8
NHL totals 264 13 53 66 98 20 1 5 6 12

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2008 Canada WJC 1st, gold medalist(s) 7 0 1 1 4
2009 Canada WJC 1st, gold medalist(s) 6 0 3 3 2
Junior totals 13 0 4 4 6

Awards and honours

Award Year
WHL
West Second All-Star Team 2007
West First All-Star Team 2008, 2009
AHL
All-Star Game 2012

References

  1. ↑ "CSSHL School Profile: Edge School for Athletes". Canadian Sport School Hockey League. August 20, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Islanders claim Hickey off waivers". New York Islanders. 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2013-01-15.
  3. ↑ "Gamer preview, Islanders at New Jersey". New York Islanders. 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  4. ↑ "IIHF World U20 Championships – Best Players Per Game" (PDF). IIHF. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Trevor Lewis		 Los Angeles Kings first round draft pick
2007 		Succeeded by
Drew Doughty
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