Craig Allen Darby (born September 26, 1972) is an American 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 hock ...

center who played 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) with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

, Philadelphia Flyers and

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

Playing career

Darby was drafted in the second round (43rd overall) of the

1991 NHL Entry Draft The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was the 29th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. A total of 264 players were drafted. The worst team in the previous 1990–91 season, the Quebec Nordiques, was give ...

by the

. Darby entered into the NHL in 1994, following a successful time playing with

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

in the NCAA and a season with the Fredericton Canadiens of the AHL, playing 10 games and registering two assists. That same season Darby was traded to the

in a package along with

Kirk Muller Kirk Christopher Muller (born February 8, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played in the National Hockey League for 19 seasons from 1984–85 until 2002–03. He was also the head coach of the National Hockey League ...

and Mathieu Schneider in exchange for Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov, playing three more games in the 1994–95 season. On June 4, 1996, Darby was claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers after he spent most of the 1995–96 season in the AHL with the Worcester IceCats. In 1998, he was claimed by the Nashville Predators in the expansion draft, but returned to the Montreal Canadiens in 1999 as a free agent without playing a game with Nashville. There he enjoyed his two best NHL seasons, playing 154 games and registering 45 points in the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons, before leaving for the New Jersey Devils as a free agent after playing the 2001–02 season with Quebec of the AHL. Again Darby was unable to consistently remain in the NHL, playing just 5 games over the next two seasons before leaving the Devils and signing as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who traded him to the Vancouver Canucks for Future Considerations. After 2006, Darby finished his career in Europe with

Augsburger Panther The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion. Founded in 1878, the team's name was Augsburger EV ...

of the DEL in Germany and HC TWK Innsbruck in Austria.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darby, Craig 1972 births Albany River Rats players American men's ice hockey centers Augsburger Panther players Fredericton Canadiens players HC TWK Innsbruck players Ice hockey players from New York (state) Living people Manitoba Moose players Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) players Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players New Jersey Devils players New York Islanders players People from Oneida, New York Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Providence Friars men's ice hockey players Quebec Citadelles players Springfield Falcons players Worcester IceCats players