Mark Anthony Cundari (born April 23, 1990) 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 ...
. As a
junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
, Cundari was a member of two
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...
championship teams with the
Windsor Spitfires
The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975†...
before turning professional in 2010. An
undrafted
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
player, he spent the majority of three seasons in the
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...
organization before being traded to the
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
in 2013.
Playing career
Cundari played four seasons of major junior hockey with the
Windsor Spitfires
The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975†...
of the
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...
(OHL) between 2006 and 2010. He appeared in 248 games in that time and scored 30 goals, 133 points, and had 553
penalty minutes
A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...
.
A
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 ...
, Cundari was eligible for the
2008 NHL Entry Draft
The 2008 NHL Entry Draft was the 46th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted by the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, on June 20–21, 2008. The Senators were originally awarded the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, but because of ...
but went unselected due to his small stature. The
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...
invited him to their development camp over the summer and after he participated in their training camp prior to the 2008–09 season, signed Cundari to a contract before returning him to the Spitfires. Cundari and the Spitfires won consecutive
OHL championships in
2008–09 and
2009–10 and in both years won the
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...
as
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...
champions.
Following his graduation from junior hockey, Cundari turned professional within the Blues organization as he joined the team's
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) affiliate, the
Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs:
*Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984
*Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005
*Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013
*Peoria Rivermen (SP ...
. He scored 30 points in 69 games in the
2010–11 AHL season
The 2010–11 AHL season was the 75th season of the American Hockey League. An all-time high of thirty teams played 80 games each during the regular season schedule, which started on October 8, 2010 and ended on April 10, 2011. This season featur ...
, then 15 in 49 games in
2011–12.
In his third season with Peoria, Cundari was named to play in the AHL All-Star game, where he recorded an assist and, with a
tripping
Tripping may refer to:
* Psychedelic experience
* Tripping (ice hockey), a penalty infraction
* Tripping (pipe), the act of running or pulling drill pipe into or out of a wellbore on a drilling rig
* "Tripping" (song), a 2005 single by Robbie Wil ...
call, became the first player in eight years to be penalized during the contest. Cundari was traded to the
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
in an April 1, 2013, deal by the Blues, along with goaltender
Reto Berra
Reto Berra (born 3 January 1987) is a Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the National League (NL). Berra played seven seasons in Switzerland's National League A, spending time with the G ...
and a first round draft pick (which the Flames later used to draft Emile Poirier of the Gatineau Olympiques) in exchange for defenceman
Jay Bouwmeester
Jay Daniel Bouwmeester (born September 27, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. He was a firs ...
. Cundari, who was recovering from a wrist injury at the time, was assigned to the
Abbotsford Heat
The Abbotsford Heat were a professional ice hockey team that played five seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) between 2009 and 2014. The team was based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and played its home games at the 7,046-seat A ...
, Calgary's AHL affiliate.
The Flames recalled Cundari late in the
2012–13 season. He made his NHL debut on April 21, 2013, and scored his first goal against
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 ...
goaltender
Niklas Bäckström
Niklas Oskar Bäckström (; born 13 February 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender and current goaltending coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played ten seasons for the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames in the Nation ...
. He appeared in four games with Calgary and added two assists to go along with 28 points in the AHL combined between Peoria and Abbotsford.
Cundari failed to impress the Flames coaching staff during training camp before the
2013–14 season and was demoted to Abbotsford to begin the season. He fell further out of favour by midseason and was subsequently loaned to 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 ...
, AHL affiliate of the Blues.
However, after recording 13 points in his first 22 games with the Wolves while playing in all defensive situations, Cundari was recalled by Calgary for the final games of the NHL season.
On July 2, 2015, Cundari left the Flames organization as a free agent to sign a one-year, two-way contract 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 ...
. In the
2015–16 season, Cundari was unable to build upon his previous season in his first season within the Sharks organization. He contributed with 8 points in 34 games with the
San Jose Barracuda
The San Jose Barracuda are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. The team will play at Tech CU Arena beginning in the 2022-23 season.
The Barracuda is a relocation of the ...
before he was loaned by the Sharks to the
Lake Erie Monsters
The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team began play in 2007 as the Lake Erie Monsters and since 2015 has served as the top affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hock ...
, an affiliate to the
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...
, for the remainder of the year on March 7, 2016. Cundari appeared in 7 regular season games with the Monsters, before suffering an injury that ruled him out for the remainder of the season.
As an impending free agent, Cundari left the NHL to sign his first contract abroad in agreeing to a one-year deal with the German DEL club,
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 ...
on June 9, 2016. After two seasons with the Panthers, Cundari left after his contract opting to continue with the DEL on a one-year pact with
Eisbären Berlin
Eisbären Berlin (; English: ''Berlin Polar Bears'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey, and is also one ...
on June 13, 2018.
Cundari's single season in Berlin during the
2018–19 campaign was cut short through injury, limited to just 14 games for 7 points. As a free agent in the off-season, Cundari continued his tenure in the DEL, securing a one-year contract with Krefeld Pinguine on May 21, 2019.
Career statistics
Awards and honours
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cundari, Mark
1990 births
Abbotsford Heat players
Adirondack Flames players
Augsburger Panther players
Calgary Flames players
Canadian ice hockey defencemen
Chicago Wolves players
EC VSV players
Eisbären Berlin players
Krefeld Pinguine players
Lake Erie Monsters players
Living people
Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players
San Jose Barracuda players
Undrafted National Hockey League players
Windsor Spitfires players