Clifford H. Abrecht is a Canadian retired ice hockey defenseman who was an All-American for Princeton.[1]

Cliff Abrecht
Born (1963-05-14) May 14, 1963 (age 61)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Defenseman
Shot Left
Played for Princeton
St. Catharines Saints
Newmarket Saints
Baltimore Skipjacks
Milwaukee Admirals
NHL draft 168th, 1983
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 1982–1988

Career

edit

Abrecht began attending Princeton University in the fall of 1982. The Tigers weren't very good in those years but, despite the team's lack of success, Abrecht played well enough to get selected in the NHL Draft.[2] He was a solid player for Princeton over his first three seasons but Abrecht had a tremendous finale. While serving as team captain, Abrecht set new program records for defensemen with 15 goals, 26 assists and 41 points.[3] He also became the program's all-time leader for goals, assists and points by a defenseman (he was surpassed in assists in 2019). He did all of that in just 30 games and was named an All-American, the first for the program in 33 years. However, because the Tigers finished 9th in the ECAC Hockey standings, they weren't even allowed to participate in the conference tournament. Abrecht signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs after the season, playing 1 game for the St. Catharines Saints.

The next season, Abrecht moved to Newmarket along with the team and played the entire season in the AHL, posting modest numbers on a team that finished dead-last in the league. His second full professional season went much better though he ended up splitting time between AAA and AA hockey. Rather than continue his career, Abrecht retired after the 1988 season.

Having earned a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Abrecht received an MBA from Babson College in 1990 and began his second career. By the 21st century, Abrecht had risen to the position of Vice President in the Merck Millipore company and continues to work as an executive in the field as of 2021.[4]

Personal life

edit

Abrecht's daughter, Charlotte, played college hockey at Holy Cross, graduating in 2020.[5]

Statistics

edit

Regular season and playoffs

edit
    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1982–83 Princeton ECAC Hockey 24 4 10 14 52
1983–84 Princeton ECAC Hockey 23 9 9 18 62
1984–85 Princeton ECAC Hockey 26 6 22 28 31
1985–86 Princeton ECAC Hockey 30 15 26 41 42
1985–86 St. Catharines Saints AHL 1 0 1 1 0
1986–87 Newmarket Saints AHL 63 2 5 7 20
1987–88 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 33 2 9 11 18
1987–88 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 36 12 10 22 22
NCAA totals 103 34 67 101 187
AHL totals 97 4 15 19 38

Awards and honors

edit
Award Year
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1985–86 [6]
AHCA East First-Team All-American 1985–86 [1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  2. ^ "Cliff Abrecht". Hockey Draft Central. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  3. ^ "Men's Hockey Individual Records". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  4. ^ "Cliff Abrecht". Linked In. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "Charlotte Abrecht". Holy Cross Crusaders. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  6. ^ "ECAC All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
edit