Mark A. Rycroft (born July 12, 1978) 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 ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

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

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Rycroft is currently a TV studio analyst for

Altitude Sports and Entertainment Altitude Sports and Entertainment (usually referred to as simply Altitude) is an American regional sports cable and satellite television channel owned by Stan Kroenke's Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The channel, which serves the Rocky Moun ...

, the local affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.

Playing career

Prior to playing professional hockey, Rycroft played two seasons with

Nanaimo Clippers The Nanaimo Clippers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Island Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Frank Crane Arena. Franchis ...

in the

British Columbia Hockey League The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams. From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Ca ...

(BCHL) and three collegiate seasons at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

. Having gone undrafted in any

NHL Entry Draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...

, on May 15, 2000, Rycroft signed an NHL contract with the

as a free agent. In the 2001–02 season, he made his NHL debut with the Blues. During the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, Rycroft played for the

Diables Rouges de Briançon The Diables Rouges de Briançon ''(: Briançon Red Devils)'' (''Briançon Alpes Provence Hockey Club'' and before ''Hockey Club Briançon'') is the ice hockey team of Briançon (Hautes-Alpes). Their home arena is the Patinoire René Froger. Awar ...

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 ...

. On July 12, 2006, he was signed as a free agent by the

to a two-year contract. After playing the 2006–07 season with the Avalanche, Rycroft was assigned to the club'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 Lake Erie Monsters, to start the 2007–08 season. On January 22, 2008, Rycroft was traded 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, ...

in exchange for

Darcy Campbell Darcy Campbell (born May 12, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Playing career Campbell played two years of junior hockey in the Alberta Ju ...

and

Philippe Dupuis Philippe Dupuis (; born April 24, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Colorado Avalanche and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing career Dupuis was drafted 104th overall ...

. He was immediately assigned to the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate,

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the Upstate Medical University Arena. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa ...

, and ultimately never played a game for Columbus. On July 17, 2008, Rycroft signed with Dinamo Minsk of the newly-formed

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL), but was later released without having played a game for the team. Rycroft is currently a TV color commentator for

, the local affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rycroft, Mark 1978 births Living people Canadian ice hockey right wingers Colorado Avalanche players Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players Diables Rouges de Briançon players Ice hockey people from British Columbia Lake Erie Monsters players Sportspeople from Penticton St. Louis Blues players Syracuse Crunch players Undrafted National Hockey League players University of Denver alumni Worcester IceCats players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in France