McGill grad called up to play for Habs

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McGill grad called up to play for Habs

Published: 19 January 2010

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(PHOTO COURTESY OF MONTREAL CANADIENS)

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MONTREAL - The Montreal Canadiens have recalled forward Mathieu Darche, from the Hamilton Bulldogs, their American Hockey League affiliate.

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Should the 33-year-old native of St. Laurent, Que., dress for Wednesday's home game against St. Louis at he Bell Centre, he will become the third 香蕉视频 Redmen graduate to skate for the Canadiens and the first in 72 years, joining left winger Jack McGill, who played from 1934 to 1937 and defenceman Nels Crutchfield (1934-35).

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Darche, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound left winger, has previously played in the National Hockey League with Columbus, Nashville, San Jose and Tampa Bay. In 101 career NHL games, he has scored eight goals and 24 points with 26 penalty minutes.

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At the time of his call-up, he was serving as captain of the Bulldogs, where he has scored 16 goals and 25 points in 32 games under the guidance of head coach Guy Boucher and assistant coach Martin Raymond, both of whom were also former captains and coaches with the McGill Redmen.

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He has been the top goal-scorer with five different AHL teams. In nine AHL seasons, Darche has a 212-231-443 record with 290 PIMs in 552 regular-season contests with Syracuse, Milwaukee, Hershey, Worcester, Norfolk, Portland and Hamilton.听 In 2003-04, he helped Milwaukee win the Calder Cup league championship.

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Darche, who signed with the Canadiens as a free agent on July 2, 2009, participated in his first training camp with the Canadiens last September. He played two of the club鈥檚 seven preseason games before being assigned to Hamilton on September 21.听 He missed 12 games this season due to a shoulder injury.

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Darche is the 10th player out of McGill to make the NHL and is one of 158 Canadian university players who has made the lofty leap to that level. He originally signed as a free agent with Columbus in 2000 after four seasons with McGill, where he was an All-Canadian, served as captain, earned Team MVP honours and registered 170 points, including 78 goals, in 133 games. He also played one season of varsity football at McGill, won the Forbes trophy as male athlete of the year and graduated with a commerce degree in 2000.

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Darche's 35-year-old brother Jean-Philippe, a former all-star linebacker at McGill, played nine years as a long snapper in the National Football League, including two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs after seven years with the Seattle Seahawks.

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Among the other McGill players who have skated in the NHL, two earned the league's rookie-of-the-year honours -- goaltender Jack Gelineau with the Bruins in 1949-50 and Russ Blinco with the Montreal Maroons in 1933-34.

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FORMER McGILL PLAYERS IN THE NHL

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Bert Lindsay (goaltender; played 1917-19 with Montreal Wanderers and Toronto Arenas)

Sam Rothschild (left wing; played 1924-28 with Montreal Maroons, NY Americans & Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lester Patrick (defenceman; played 1926-28 with New York Rangers; also coached from 1926-39)

*Russ Blinco (forward; played 1933-39 with Montreal Maroons and Chicago Blackhawks)

Nels Crutchfield (defenceman; played 1934-35 with Montreal Canadiens)

Jack McGill (left wing; played 1934-37 with Montreal Canadiens)

Johnny Peirson (forward; played 1946-58 with Boston Bruins)

*Jack Gelineau (goaltender; played 1948-54 with Boston & Chicago)

Reggie Sinclair (right wing; played 1950-53 with New York & Detroit)