Matthew P. Hussey (born May 28, 1979) 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

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 ...

and

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. He later played professional ice hockey in Europe in Finland, Germany, Slovakia and France.

Playing career

Hussey was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

and raised in Plymouth, Minnesota. He was drafted in the ninth round, 254th overall, by the

in the

1998 NHL Entry Draft The 1998 NHL Entry Draft was the 36th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. A total of 258 players were drafted. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Brian Gionta, Mi ...

. Drafted from the high school hockey team, Avon Old Farms, Hussey was recruited to play collegiate hockey with the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 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 ...

. After his senior year, Hussey scored 84 points in 154 games with the Badgers. On September 27, 2002, he was signed to an entry-level contract with the Penguins. Hussey made his professional debut with the Penguins AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the 2002–03 season. He spent the next four seasons primarily in the AHL, playing only 16 games with Pittsburgh. In the 2005–06 season he led the baby pens in scoring with 51 points. On July 13, 2006, Hussey signed as a free agent with the

to a one-year contract. He played in five games with the Wings in 2006–07 but similarly played most of the year in the AHL with affiliate, the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey, hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National H ...

. On July 13, 2007, Hussey then signed a one-year contract with the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

. He failed to make the Avalanche and was assigned to AHL affiliate, 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 ...

for their inaugural 2007–08 season. In his first game with the Lake Erie, Hussey was credited with scoring the Monsters' first goal in franchise history in a 3-2 loss to the Griffins on October 6, 2007. Midway into the season, Hussey left the Monsters and signed with Finnish team

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (English: Jokers or Jesters) are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga (1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2002). Jokerit plays its ...

on January 30, 2008. Hussey signed with the German team

Straubing Tigers The Straubing Tigers are a professional men's ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, that competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Straubing plays its home games at the Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which has a capacity of 5,800 spectators. ...

of the DEL, for 2008–09 before transferring to ERC Ingolstadt on March 9, 2009. In his third year with the team, he was named European Hockey Player of the Month for January 2012 by Eurohockey.com. He scored five goals and nine assists in nine games. After remaining a free agent midway into the 2013–14 season, Hussey agreed to play for the remainder of the season with his third DEL club, the

Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, on December 11, 2013. Hussey returned from Europe at the conclusion of the season with the Ice Tigers and took a year's hiatus from professional hockey. On October 13, 2015, he returned to professional hockey after he signed a contract in the ECHL with the Evansville IceMen to begin the 2015–16 season. He later returned to Europe and after a stint in Slovakia, he finished his professional career in France with

Dragons de Rouen Rouen Hockey Élite 76 (also known as the Dragons de Rouen (Rouen Dragons)) is a French ice hockey team based in Rouen playing in the Ligue Magnus. The team was founded in 1982 and plays home games at the Île Lacroix. History Only 3 years aft ...

in the

Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champion ...

in the 2016–17 season.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussey, Matt 1979 births Living people American men's ice hockey centers Detroit Red Wings players Dragons de Rouen players ERC Ingolstadt players Evansville IceMen players HC 07 Detva players Grand Rapids Griffins players Ice hockey people from New Haven, Connecticut Ice hockey players from Minnesota Jokerit players Lake Erie Monsters players People from Plymouth, Minnesota Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players Straubing Tigers players Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey players Avon Old Farms alumni American expatriate ice hockey players in Finland American expatriate ice hockey players in Germany American expatriate ice hockey players in Slovakia American expatriate ice hockey players in France