Randy M. Robitaille (born October 12, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He last played for HC Donbass of the Kontinental Hockey League. Robitaille has previously played for nine teams in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Randy Robitaille
Born (1975-10-12) October 12, 1975 (age 48)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
Nashville Predators
Los Angeles Kings
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Islanders
Atlanta Thrashers
Minnesota Wild
Philadelphia Flyers
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Ottawa Senators
Metallurg Novokuznetsk
HC Donbass
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1993–2014

Playing career edit

Robitaille first attracted notice playing for the Ottawa Jr. Senators of the CJHL. While not drafted by an NHL team, he was offered a scholarship at Miami University on the basis of his offensive totals.[1] After two solid seasons at Miami, he was signed by the Boston Bruins of the NHL on March 17, 1997. After playing one game straight out of college, he played the next two seasons for the Bruins' AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, while playing a few games for the Bruins in between. He also helped Providence to their first Calder Cup win in 1998–99 while winning the Les Cunningham Award as the league's MVP.

On June 25, 1999, the Bruins traded Robitaille to the Atlanta Thrashers for Peter Ferraro. His stay in Atlanta did not last long as they quickly traded him to the Nashville Predators for Denny Lambert on August 16, 1999. While in Nashville, he played mainly in the NHL, only having a few brief stints with the Milwaukee Admirals. In fact, he spent a whole season in the NHL during the 1999–2000 NHL season, a career first. However, following the 2000–01 NHL season, the Predators chose not to re-sign him.

The Los Angeles Kings signed him as a free agent on July 7, 2001. Midway through that season, he was claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins off waivers on January 4, 2002. Although he played in Pittsburgh for two seasons, he would never play one complete season in the city, as they traded him to the New York Islanders on March 9, 2003, for a draft pick. He completed the season for the Islanders, they chose not to re-sign him, so he became an unrestricted free agent for the first time. On August 12, 2003, he signed a contract that returned him to the Atlanta Thrashers.

During the lockout, he played for Zurich of Nationalliga A, becoming the league's top scorer and league MVP, beating out Joe Thornton and Rick Nash for both awards. Following the ratification of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, he again found himself with the Nashville Predators, having signed a contract with them on August 19, 2005. However, they assigned him to AHL on October 3 and the next day he was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Wild. After playing the whole season there, he again found himself a free agent.

On July 4, 2006, Robitaille signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.[2] He returned to the Islanders on December 20, 2006, along with a fifth round draft pick for Mike York.[3] When unsigned at the beginning of the 2007–08 season, he chose to sign to play in Russia. After several games, he resigned from the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team and was signed by the Ottawa Senators on October 16, 2007, for one season.[4]

On August 23, 2008, Robitaille returned to Europe and signed as a free agent to a three-year contract with Swiss team HC Lugano. After a disappointing campaign in 2008-09, Robitaille rebounded nicely in 2009-10, becoming the league's top scorer. However, following a poor playoff performance in which HC Lugano was swept in the first round, Robitaille was informed in April 2010 he was no longer in the Club's future plans, despite him being under contract for the 2010-11 season.

He is not related in any way to former NHL players Luc Robitaille, Mike Robitaille or Louis Robitaille.

Career statistics edit

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1993–94 Ottawa Jr. Senators CJHL 57 33 55 88 31
1994–95 Ottawa Jr. Senators CJHL 54 48 77 125 111 17 11 23 34 18
1995–96 Miami Redskins CCHA 46 14 31 45 26
1996–97 Miami Redskins CCHA 39 27 34 61 44
1996–97 Boston Bruins NHL 1 0 0 0 0
1997–98 Providence Bruins AHL 48 15 29 44 16
1997–98 Boston Bruins NHL 4 0 0 0 0
1998–99 Providence Bruins AHL 74 28 74 102 34 19 6 14 20 20
1998–99 Boston Bruins NHL 4 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
1999–2000 Nashville Predators NHL 69 11 14 25 10
2000–01 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 19 10 23 33 4
2000–01 Nashville Predators NHL 62 9 17 26 12
2001–02 Manchester Monarchs AHL 6 7 3 10 0
2001–02 Los Angeles Kings NHL 18 4 3 7 17
2001–02 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 40 10 20 30 16
2002–03 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 41 5 12 17 8
2002–03 New York Islanders NHL 10 1 2 3 2 5 1 1 2 0
2003–04 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 69 11 26 37 20
2004–05 ZSC Lions NLA 36 22 45 67 56 15 2 17 19 10
2005–06 Minnesota Wild NHL 67 12 28 40 54
2006–07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 28 5 12 17 22
2006–07 New York Islanders NHL 50 6 17 23 22 5 0 2 2 8
2007–08 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 14 3 5 8 10
2007–08 Ottawa Senators NHL 68 10 19 29 18 2 0 1 1 0
2008–09 HC Lugano NLA 30 1 27 28 10 7 2 1 3 22
2009–10 HC Lugano NLA 50 16 49 65 72 3 0 1 1 30
2010–11 San Antonio Rampage AHL 28 5 14 19 8
2011–12 Metallurg Novokuznetsk KHL 53 13 13 26 52
2012–13 Metallurg Novokuznetsk KHL 38 9 24 33 38
2012–13 HC Donbass KHL 11 4 5 9 8
2013–14 HC Donbass KHL 49 8 20 28 55 5 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 531 84 172 256 201 13 1 4 5 8
KHL totals 151 34 62 96 153 5 0 0 0 0

Awards and honours edit

Award Year
All-CCHA Rookie Team 1995-96
All-CCHA First Team 1996–97
AHCA West First-Team All-American 1996–97

References edit

  1. ^ "Miami Hockey 2005-06 Media Guide". cstv.com. January 2, 2007. Archived from the original on June 30, 2008.
  2. ^ "Flyers sign center Robitaille". Philadelphia Flyers. July 4, 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  3. ^ "Flyers acquire forward Mike York for Randy Robitaille". Philadelphia Flyers. December 20, 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  4. ^ "Bulletin: Senators sign Randy Robitaille to a one-year deal". Ottawa Senators. October 16, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2010.

External links edit