Douglas Allan Zmolek (born November 3, 1970) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 ...

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 played in the

NHL 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 ...

for eight seasons between 1992 and 2000.

Playing career

Zmolek graduated from John Marshall High School in 1989. He was drafted seventh overall by the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

in the

1989 NHL Entry Draft The 1989 NHL Entry Draft was the 27th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 17 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Detroit Red Wings' 1989 draft has been noted as exceptionally successful, with 5,955 total NHL games played by the pla ...

held in Minnesota. Zmolek attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

of the

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

and was named to the WCHA Second All-Star Team and the

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 ...

Second All-American Team in his junior, and final, year in 1992. Zmolek made his debut in the NHL in the 1992–93 season with the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

after he was earlier acquired from the North Stars in the dispersal draft on May 30, 1991. In his second year, Zmolek was traded back to the Stars franchise which had relocated to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. As a physical stay-at-home defenseman, Zmolek spent parts of two seasons with Dallas before stints with the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

and

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

. Zmolek retired after receiving a buyout during the 2000–01 season after playing two games with the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

of the IHL. Doug played 467 career NHL games, scoring 11 goals and 53 assists for 64 points and registering 905 penalty minutes. Since retirement, he has supported the Rochester Youth Hockey Association (RYHA) as an advisor and member of the board. He also runs an off-season hockey camp, "Top Shelf", in

Rochester, MN Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Accor ...

. He has three sons(Riese, William and Bennett) who all play hockey and a daughter(Ella).

Awards and honors

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1970 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Chicago Blackhawks players Chicago Wolves (IHL) players Dallas Stars players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Los Angeles Kings players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Minnesota North Stars draft picks National Hockey League first-round draft picks San Jose Sharks players Sportspeople from Rochester, Minnesota AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans {{US-icehockey-defenceman-stub