Noah Paul Welch (born August 26, 1982) 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 ...
defenseman
Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...
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 ...
,
Florida Panthers,
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...
and the
Atlanta Thrashers. Welch completed his professional career in Europe, most notably winning two
Swedish Hockey League championships with the
Växjö Lakers
Växjö Lakers Hockey Club (often referred to as the Växjö Lakers or VLH) is a Swedish ice hockey club from Växjö in Sweden. The club plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien), the top-level league of Swedish ice hockey, and ...
.
Welch was an
Alternate captain for the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
at the
2018 Winter Olympics
The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...
in South Korea.
Playing career
Welch was drafted 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 ...
in the
2001 NHL Entry Draft, chosen 54th overall in the 2nd round. Noah was the captain of the
Harvard University Hockey team, graduating in 2005. Before his college career at Harvard he played high school hockey at
St. Sebastian's School in
Needham, Massachusetts.
Welch made his NHL debut in the latter stages of the
2005–2006 season for the Penguins in a victory over the NY Islanders picking up his first NHL point with an assist. In his next game against the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
, having replaced the suspended
Eric Cairns, he suffered a nightmare start, scoring in his own net, but made amends by scoring his first NHL goal in the third period against the team he always cheered against as a child and Boston Bruins fan. In total he scored four points (one goal, three assists) in five games. He was named to the AHL 2007 All-Star game, representing the
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-Barr ...
.
On February 27, 2007, Welch was traded by the Penguins to the
Florida Panthers in exchange for
Gary Roberts.
After two seasons with the Panthers, Welch was traded along with a third round draft pick to the
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...
for defenseman
Steve Eminger
Steve Eminger (born October 31, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Playing career
Eminger, who is also known for his physical play, started his hockey career with the Kitch ...
. A short time after that, he instead signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Thrashers.
For season 2011–12, Welch signed a one-year contract with the Swedish team
HV71
HV71 (), often referred to as just HV, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Jönköping, playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the first tier of Swedish ice hockey. The team played in the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League ...
in the Swedish elite league
Elitserien (SEL).
He scored 10 points in 51 games. In May 2012 he signed a one-year contract with the SEL team
Växjö Lakers
Växjö Lakers Hockey Club (often referred to as the Växjö Lakers or VLH) is a Swedish ice hockey club from Växjö in Sweden. The club plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien), the top-level league of Swedish ice hockey, and ...
and eventually stayed three years in Växjö, helping the club capture the 2015 SEL championship, while being presented with the
Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy
Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) playoffs' most valuable player (MVP), as decided by SICO (Sweden's Ice hockey players Central Organisation). It was installed in 2010 and resembles the Conn Smythe T ...
as MVP of the SHL playoffs.
He left the Lakers after winning the title and then spent one season with
Modo Hockey
Modo Hockey (or MoDo with uppercase letters) is a professional ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team plays in Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan. The club was founded in 1987 and has won one SHL championships; in 2007. ...
, before signing with fellow SHL side
Malmö Redhawks
The IF Malmö Redhawks (colloquially referred to simply as Malmö or by past abbreviation MIF) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Malmö which plays in the SHL, with Malmö Arena as the venue for home games.
The history of the ...
for the
2016–17 campaign.
Welch returned to the Lakers for his final professional season in
2017–18. While largely affected throughout the season with injury, Welch retired after helping the Lakers claim their second Swedish Championship. Welch now owns and operates The Dome Red Deer, a 107,000 square foot state of the art athletic development facility in Red Deer, Alberta.
Personal
Welch decided to donate his brain to
concussion research at the
Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the
Boston University School of Medicine after his death. He has a degree in
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
from Harvard. In the summer of 2011, Welch married teammate
Paul Postma
Paul Edward Postma (born February 22, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for EC KAC of the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). He was drafted 205th overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers ...
's sister Alissa Postma.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
Awards and honors
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Noah
1982 births
Living people
American men's ice hockey defensemen
Atlanta Thrashers players
Chicago Wolves players
Florida Panthers players
Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey players
HV71 players
Ice hockey players from Boston
Malmö Redhawks players
Modo Hockey players
Olympic ice hockey players of the United States
Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks
Pittsburgh Penguins players
Rochester Americans players
Tampa Bay Lightning players
Växjö Lakers players
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players
AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans