Andrew Otto is an American retired ice hockey

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who was an All-American for Clarkson.

Career

Otto began attending

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an enr ...

after being selected by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

in the NHL Draft. During his freshman season, he was selected to participate at the

1983 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 1983 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''1983 WJHC'') was the seventh edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was held in Leningrad, Soviet Union between December 26, 1982, and January 4, 1983. The host Soviet team won ...

. In his time with Clarkson, Otto was a decent player, helping the team make the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore and nearly overcame a 4-goal deficit against Minnesota–Duluth in the quarterfinals. Otto was named team captain in his senior season and led all defensemen in scoring. He was named an All-American and, while the team's regular season wasn't much different than years past, Clarkson defeated top-seeded

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

to make their first championship game in fifteen years. the Knights ultimately lost the match and did not receive an at-large bid to the national tournament. Otto finished out the year with a single game for the

New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Islanders (1972–1973), New York Rangers (19 ...

. Rather than stay in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, Otto travelled to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to continue his hockey career. He joined the newly formed

Rotterdam Panda's Rotterdam Panda's was a professional ice hockey team in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They played in the Dutch Eredivisie, the highest-level hockey division in the Netherlands. Home games were played at the Weena-ijshal, a (now-closed) arena near Rotterd ...

and helped the team win the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

championship in 1987. He played for HC Auronzo in the Italian second league the following season before returning to the Panda's and helping the club win two more championships in 1989 and 1990. Otto remained with the team for three more years before the closure of their home rink put the club in dire financial circumstances. Otto returned as a player eleven years later in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

, the semi-professional second Dutch league. part way through the next season he was sent down to the Tweede Divisie (Dutch third league) and continued to play at the level until the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

caused the league to suspended operations in 2020.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Andy 1963 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey defensemen Ice hockey players from Illinois Sportspeople from Park Ridge, Illinois Ice hockey people from Cook County, Illinois New York Rangers draft picks Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey players New Haven Nighthawks players Rotterdam Panda's players