Colin Peter Greening (born March 9, 1986) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He played for the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

and the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was originally drafted by the Senators in the seventh round, 204th overall, in the

2005 NHL Entry Draft The 2005 NHL Entry Draft was the 43rd NHL Entry Draft. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, the 2004–05 NHL lockout led to the draft being postponed to July 30. Special procedures were required to determine the order of picks, because ...

Playing career

While playing for

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Greening was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the seventh round, 204th overall, of the

. Greening played four full seasons of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

collegiate hockey at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

without missing a single game, serving as captain in his junior and senior year and being selected for membership in the

Quill and Dagger Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University. It is often recognized as one of the most prominent societies of its type, along with Skull and Bones and Scroll and Key at Yale University. In 1929, ''The New York Times'' stated ...

society. At Cornell, Greening played on a line with another future NHLer,

Riley Nash Riley Nash (born May 9, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). He was originally selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, 21st over ...

After graduating from Cornell in 2010, Greening joined the Binghamton Senators of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL), the top minor league affiliate of the Ottawa Senators. He made his NHL debut on February 1, 2011, in a game in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

against the New Jersey Devils. On March 3, 2011, Greening scored his first career NHL goal against the Atlanta Thrashers in a 3–1 Ottawa victory. On May 19, 2011, Greening was signed to a three-year, one-way contract by the Senators that will pay him $700,000 in 2011–12, $800,000 in 2012–13, and $950,000 in 2013–14. On January 12, 2012, Greening was selected to participate in the

NHL YoungStars Game The NHL YoungStars Game was an annual match held as part of the National Hockey League All-Star Game weekend activities, which ran from the 2002 All-Star Game to the 2009 game, featuring notable young NHL players and leading prospects. Replaci ...

, which coincided with the 2012 All-Star Game held in Ottawa. He finished his rookie season with 17 goals and 37 points while playing in all 82 of Ottawa's games, largely playing on the first line with

Daniel Alfredsson Daniel Alfredsson (; born 11 December 1972) is a Swedish-Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He spent 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), primarily with the Ottawa Senators. He also briefly played for the Detroit Red Win ...

and

Jason Spezza Jason Rocco Anthony Spezza (born June 13, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Spezza played 19 career seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2002 to 2022, and is currently a part of the Toronto Maple Leafs' fr ...

. During the

2012–13 NHL lockout The 2012–13 NHL lockout was a labor dispute between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) that began at 11:59 pm EDT on September 15, 2012. A tentative deal on a new collective barg ...

, Greening spent time with the

Aalborg Pirates Aalborg Pirates is a professional ice hockey team (previously known as Aalborg Ishockey and AaB Ice Hockey) playing in the Danish ice hockey league, Metal Ligaen. The ice hockey team first appeared in 1967 as AaB Ice Hockey organized under Aalbor ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

's AL-Bank Ligaen. On September 9, 2013, Greening signed a three-year, $7.95 million contract extension that pays him $2 million in 2014–15, $2.75 million in 2015–16 and $3.2 million in 2016–17. Since 2015, his playing time has been split between Ottawa and Binghamton. On February 9, 2016, Greening was traded to the

in a nine-player deal which saw

Dion Phaneuf Dion Phaneuf (born 10 April 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted ninth overal ...

going to the Ottawa Senators. Greening would make his Toronto debut two days later against the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

. On July 1, 2017, Greening as a free agent opted to remain with the Maple Leafs, re-signing to a one-year, two-way deal. After the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, where the Marlies won their first

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its cur ...

, Greening signed a one-year AHL contract with the Marlies. Following the 2018–19 AHL season, Greening retired from professional hockey in order to further his education, enrolling at Harvard Business School to pursue a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

(MBA).

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greening, Colin 1986 births Living people Aalborg Pirates players Binghamton Senators players Canadian ice hockey centres Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Newfoundland and Labrador Nanaimo Clippers players Ottawa Senators draft picks Ottawa Senators players Sportspeople from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto Marlies players Upper Canada College alumni Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Denmark Harvard Business School alumni