Steve Rucchin

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size =
team = Atlanta Thrashers
former_teams = New York Rangers
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
league = NHL
position = Centre
shoots = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 2
weight_lb = 215
nickname =
nationality = CAN
birth_date = birth date and age|1971|7|4
birth_place = Thunder Bay, ON
draft = 1994 NHL Supplemental Draft
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
draft_year =
draft_team =
career_start = 1994

Steve Andrew Rucchin (born July 4, 1971 Thunder Bay, Ontario) is a centre who currently plays for the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League.

Rucchin played high school hockey for Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School in London, Ontario. His coach happened to also be an assistant with the University of Western Ontario and recruited him. He was an Ontario University All-Star in three of his four seasons there, and was named Player of the Year and First-team All-Canadian in his senior season.

He was drafted 2nd overall in the 1994 NHL Supplemental Draft by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He soon centered Anaheim's top line with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selänne. Rucchin was an alternate captain from 2000–2003, and captain 2003–05.

In the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Rucchin earned his spot in Mighty Ducks immortality when he helped the Ducks upset the Detroit Red Wings in a sweep of four games by scoring the game-winning and series-clinching overtime goal in Game 4.

At the World Championship 1998 in Switzerland he and his older brother Larry made history when they face each other when Steve used to play for Canada while Larry played for Italy.

In August 2005, he was traded to the New York Rangers for minor-league enforcer Trevor Gillies and a conditional 2007 draft pick in a move to dump salary. He ranks third in Ducks history in assists (279), goals (153), points (432), and game-winning goals (23). Known as a great locker-room teammate, he provided veteran leadership in 2005–06, as an alternate captain (along with Jaromir Jagr and Darius Kasparaitis) on a young Rangers team.

On July 3rd, 2006, Rucchin signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Thrashers. on March 6, 2007, he suffered a concussion on a hit by Ben Guite of the Colorado Avalanche. This injury ended his season, and caused him to miss the start of the following season in 2007.

Career statistics

External links

*hockeydb|00014931
* [http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/1999/March/31/Sports2.htm Ducks aren't quite as tough as Mustangs (uwo.ca)]
* [http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/08/24/sections/sports/sports/article_646510.php Veterans Rucchin and Leclerc are traded to free cap room (ocregister.com)]