Jonathan D'Aversa (born March 2, 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 hock ...

defenceman 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

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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) with

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and are the AHL affiliates of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre ...

before spending the majority of his professional career in Europe.

Playing career

D'Aversa was an undrafted player who played for the

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...

of the

OHL OHL or Ohl may refer to: Initialisms *Latvian Hockey Higher League, known in Latvian as the ''Optibet hokeja līga'' *Oberste Heeresleitung, the Supreme Army Command of Germany in World War I *Obrascón Huarte Lain, a Spanish construction company * ...

. Serving as an assistant captain for the Wolves in the 2006–07 season, D'Aversa was third on the team in scoring and was selected to play in the OHL All-Star classic. In the play-offs he was ranked second in scoring for defensemen. After completing his junior years, D'Aversa was signed as a free agent to a three-year contract by the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

on May 25, 2007. In the 2007–08 season, D'Aversa spent time with the Penguins

affiliate the

and the

Wheeling Nailers The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey Lea ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

, representing the Nailers in the

ECHL All-Star Game The ECHL All-Star Game is an exhibition ice hockey game that traditionally marks the midway point of the ECHL's regular season, with many of the league's star players playing against each other. The starting lineup for the teams, including the start ...

. On July 11, 2010, D'Aversa left North America and signed a one-year contract 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 German

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

for the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season. Despite scoring 33 points in 51 games, Augsburg missed the playoffs and on April 1, 2011, D'Aversa left to sign with fellow DEL club

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their hom ...

. After one season in Köln, d'Aversa transferred as a free agent to the neighbouring

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...

with

Dornbirner EC Dornbirn Bulldogs is a professional ice hockey team in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, Austria, who formerly played in the Austrian Hockey League (IceHL), the first level of ice hockey in Austria, since 2012. until 2022. The club was founded in 1992 and i ...

on August 4, 2012. He remained with the club until the end of the 2015-16 season. In April 2016, he penned a deal with another Austrian team,

EHC Linz The Steinbach Black Wings Linz are a member of the Austrian Hockey League. They play their home games in Linz, Austria at the Keine Sorgen EisArena. History The EHC Black Wings Linz was founded in 1992. After several years in the Austrian minor ...

. Following his third season with the Black Wings in 2018–19, D'Aversa opted to end his 12 year professional career and return to North America.

Career statistics

References

External links

* 1986 births Living people Augsburger Panther players EHC Black Wings Linz players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Dornbirn Bulldogs players Ice hockey people from Ontario Kölner Haie players Ontario Junior Hockey League players Sportspeople from Richmond Hill, Ontario Sudbury Wolves players Wheeling Nailers players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Austria Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany {{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1980s-stub