Erik Clinton Westrum (born July 26, 1979 in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

) 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 h ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

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) for the Phoenix Coyotes,

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

, and

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 ...

Playing career

Westrum was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes with their 7th pick, 187st overall, in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. At the time he was playing in 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 ...

for 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 land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. Erik played the next four years with the Gophers. After completing his college career he moved to the Springfield Falcons of the AHL for the 2001/2002 season. With the Falcons he played 199 games, scoring 106 points, 37 goals and 69 assists. Westrum made his NHL debut with Phoenix during the

2003–04 NHL season The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series four games to three against the Calgary Flames. For the fourth time in ...

, playing 15 games with 2 points, one goal and one assist. After the NHL season he played an important role in helping Team USA win the bronze medal in the

2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships The 2004 Men's Ice Hockey Championships was the 68th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams participated at several levels of competition. The competition also served as qualifications for division placements in the 2 ...

in Prague, Czech Republic. He scored the winning goal to secure the Bronze medal in a shootout while leading the tournament in face-off percentage and was one of the tournament leaders in scoring. After making an impact with the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2003-2004 NHL season, Westrum was forced to sign a contract with the

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Star ...

in the AHL due to the 2004 NHL lockout. With this team he played 80 games with 18 goals and 15 assists, for a total of 33 points. In the season 2005–06 Erik Westrum signed a two-way contract with

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 ...

after a trade sent him from Phoenix and to his home state of Minnesota. The Wild exchanged Zbynek Michalek for the Coyote's Erik Westrum. But the second experience in the top North America league lasted for only 10 games with one assist. He finished the season with the Wild's farm team, the Houston Aeros. He played 71 games with 98 points, finishing second on the team behind Kirby Law's 110 points. At the end of 2006 season he signed as a free agent with the

in July, 2006, joining Minnesota Gophers teammate John Pohl, already with the Leafs. With Toronto, Westrum played two games scoring no points. As Captain of the Leafs top farm-team, the

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies is owned by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

in the American Hockey League, he finished as the team's top scorer with 58 points (23 goals and 35 assist). After six professional seasons in North America Westrum signed his first European contract in the

Swiss League The Swiss League is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League. The winners of the league each season plays a best-of-seven series against the bottom team of the NL, and if they win, t ...

with the HC Ambri-Piotta. After an explosive start with Ambri-Piotta he signed a four-year contract extension on May 15, 2009. In the first year in Ambrì he became a fan favorite thanks to his spectacular league leading play.

International play

He has represented

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at the

where Team USA won the bronze medal. Westrum scored the game-winning goal in a shootout to secure the Bronze medal against Slovakia and his future teammate Marian Gaborik of the Minnesota Wild.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

Golden Gopher Award Winners

* Frank Pond Rookie of the Year Award, season 1997–98. * Dr. V. George Nagobads Unsung Hero Award second place, season 1998–99. * John Mariucci MVP, season 1999–00. * Tom Mohr Playoff MVP, season 1999–00. * John Mariucci MVP, season 2000–01. * Tom Mohr Playoff MVP, season 2000–01.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Westrum, Erik 1979 births Living people American men's ice hockey centers HC Ambrì-Piotta players Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey people from Minneapolis Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Minnesota Wild players Phoenix Coyotes players Springfield Falcons players Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto Marlies players Utah Grizzlies (AHL) players Arizona Coyotes draft picks