Wacey Rabbit
| Wacey Rabbit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
November 16, 1986 Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | ||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| ALIH team Former teams |
Nippon Paper Cranes Providence Bruins Milwaukee Admirals KHL Medveščak San Antonio Rampage Lørenskog IK | ||
| NHL Draft |
154th overall, 2005 Boston Bruins | ||
| Playing career | 2006–present | ||
Wacey Rabbit (born November 16, 1986) is a Native Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He currently plays for Nippon Paper Cranes in the Asia League Ice Hockey (AL).
Playing career
Rabbit played major junior in the Western Hockey League (WHL). During his draft year in 2004–05, he recorded 67 points and was then selected in the 5th round, 154th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Rabbit turned pro in 2006–07 season with Boston's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Bruins. However, after he was demoted to the ECHL in January, Vancouver Giants general manager Scott Bonner requested from the Boston Bruins that they send Rabbit back down to the juniors. Rabbit was then traded from the Saskatoon Blades for Kenton Dulle and a second-round pick in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft.[1]
Returning to the WHL, Rabbit helped the 2007 Memorial Cup hosts, the Vancouver Giants, to the WHL Finals against the Medicine Hat Tigers with 20 points in 22 games, but they were defeated in seven games. In the subsequent Memorial Cup, the Giants met the Tigers again in the final game and won the CHL title.
In 2007–08, Rabbit returned to Providence and recorded 26 points in 66 games. The following season, he improved to 34 points in 74 games. In the 2009 off-season after the Bruins declined to extend a contract to Wacey, he was signed on by the Nashville Predators AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals on October 2, 2009.[2] In the 2009–10 season, Rabbit appeared in 76 games with the Admirals, however failed to establish himself and posted a professional career low 18 points.
Without an NHL offer, Rabbit left North America and secured a try-out as a free agent with Croatian team KHL Medveščak of the Erste Bank Hockey League on August 30, 2010.[3] After only a week on trial on September 7, 2010, Rabbit was signed by Medveščak to a one-year contract with an optional second year.[4]
Wacey played with the Florida Panthers AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage during the 2011–12 season helping them qualify for the Calder cup playoffs and beat the Chicago Wolves in the 1st round 3–2 and met with the Oklahoma City Barons by whom they were defeated 4 games to 1.
On June 21, 2012, Rabbit returned to Europe, signing a contract with Norwegian club, Lørenskog IK of the GET-ligaen.[5] After three standout seasons in Norway, Rabbit left as a free agent to sign a one-year contract with Japanese club, Nippon Paper Cranes of the ALIH on July 28, 2015.[6]
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2001–02 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 62 | 21 | 24 | 45 | 33 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 2003–04 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 60 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 70 | 22 | 45 | 67 | 70 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 64 | 28 | 28 | 56 | 45 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 2006–07 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 22 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Vancouver Giants | WHL | 30 | 11 | 25 | 36 | 34 | 22 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 16 | ||
| 2007–08 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 66 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 51 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2008–09 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 74 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 74 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2009–10 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 76 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 53 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | KHL Medveščak | EBEL | 53 | 12 | 27 | 39 | 111 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Cincinnati Cyclones | ECHL | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 71 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 51 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | Lørenskog IK | GET | 44 | 19 | 34 | 53 | 48 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 6 | ||
| 2013–14 | Lørenskog IK | GET | 38 | 16 | 29 | 45 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2014–15 | Lørenskog IK | GET | 36 | 11 | 22 | 33 | 47 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 29 | ||
| AHL totals | 309 | 36 | 59 | 95 | 254 | 33 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | ||||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | ||
| WHL Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy | 2005–06 | |
| CHL Memorial Cup | 2006–07 | |
References
- ↑ "Giants add Rabbit". Spokesman Review. January 9, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
- ↑ "Wacey Rabbit plays key role for his AHL club". nativehockeynews.com. November 1, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
- ↑ "Canadian in Zagreb's Bear den" (in Croatian). KHL Medveščak. August 30, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
- ↑ "Rabbit is a Bear, Fox no more" (in German). KHL Medveščak. September 7, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
- ↑ "Transfers now complete". rb.no. 2012-06-21. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
- ↑ "Paper Cranes sign three new foreign players" (in Japanese). Nippon Paper Cranes. 2015-07-28. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
External links
- Wacey Rabbit's career statistics at EliteProspects.com
- Wacey Rabbit's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Colin Fraser |
WHL Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy 2006 |
Succeeded by Kyle Moir |