FSU's Kunitz Ends Four-Cup NHL Career

Chris Kunitz (Ferris State) has called it a career. The four-time Stanley Cup champion retired from NHL play on Tuesday after 15 seasons with Anaheim, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Chicago.

A native of Regina, Sask., Kunitz collected 268 goals and 351 assists for 619 points and 746 penalty minutes in 1,022 NHL regular-season outings from 2003 until 2019. A six-time 20-goal scorer, his highest-scoring NHL campaign came in 2013-14 with Pittsburgh, when he registered career highs of 35 goals and 33 assists for 68 points in 78 games to earn NHL First Team All-Star status. He also tallied 27-66—93 points in 178 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests, winning his first Cup with Anaheim (2007) before following up with three more titles with Pittsburgh (2009, 2016, 2017).

Kunitz, 39, also won a silver medal with Canada at the 2008 World Championships, and earned gold with the Canadians at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. He also notched 41 goals and 87 points along with 184 PIM in 118 American Hockey League regular-season appearances with Cincinnati and Portland.

Kunitz prepped with both Yorkton and Melville in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League prior to skating four seasons at Ferris State (1999-2003). As a senior at FSU, he recorded career highs of 35-44—79 points in 42 outings in leading the Bulldogs to the 2003 Central Collegiate Hockey Association championship game, and an at-large berth in the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

He was also an NCAA First Team All-America selection and a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist his senior season, and was additionally tabbed as the 2002-03 CCHA Player of the Year. In 152 career collegiate outings, he put up 99-76—175 points and 275 PIM, and twice earned All-CCHA First Team accolades. His 99 career goals rank him second all-time at FSU.

Kunitz, who spent last season with Chicago where he played in 1,000^th NHL regular-season game, has joined the Blackhawks as a player development adviser.

NHL, NCAA and Hockey East Make Summer Moves

 

Things have certainly been changing for college hockey so far this year.

In addition to new recruiting rules and an upcoming new conference, the biggest alteration to date is that Joe Bertagna (Harvard) will be stepping down as commissioner of Hockey East after the 2019-20 season, following 23 years at the helm of one of NCAA Division I hockey's top leagues. The conference has won six NCAA men's titles under his watch, four of those by Boston College, with the most recent national crown coming from Providence in 2015. A former goaltender at Harvard, Bertagna previously worked in administration for the ECAC before taking over Hockey East.

Several former NCAA players have also been on the move in the NHL following the conclusion of the 2018-19 campaign in June, including one who played his last year of college this season. Here's a sampling of those moves, through trades or free agency:

- Phil Kessel (Minnesota) from Pittsburgh to Arizona
- Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) from San Jose to Dallas
- Jacob Trouba (Michigan) from Winnipeg to the New York Rangers
- Jimmy Vesey (Harvard) from the New York Rangers to Buffalo
- Dakota Joshua (Ohio State) from Toronto to St. Louis
- Alex Kerfoot (Harvard) from Colorado to Toronto
- Gustav Nyquist (Maine) from San Jose to Columbus
- Anthony Stolarz (Omaha) from Edmonton to Anaheim
- Cam Talbot (Alabama-Huntsville) from Philadelphia to Calgary
- Steven Santini (Boston College) from New Jersey to Nashville

Among NHL free agents who re-signed with their original clubs, Anders Lee (Notre Dame) inked a seven-year, $49 million deal to remain as captain of the New York Islanders.

Former UND Star Johnson Passes Away

Former college scoring star Greg Johnson (North Dakota) died on Tuesday in Detroit, of unknown causes, according to multiple published sources. He was 48 years old.

A native of Thunder Bay, Ont., Johnson remains the all-time leading scorer in University of North Dakota hockey history, having tallied 74 goals and 198 assists for 272 points in 155 appearances between 1989 and 1993. His best collegiate season came as a sophomore in 1990-91, when he collected career highs of 61 assists and 79 points, one year after he helped the then-Fighting Sioux
to the 1990 NCAA Tournament. He was also a three-time Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist.

After UND, Johnson played two seasons with the Canadian National Team. He then appeared in the only three AHL games of his professional tenure, with Adirondack, before embarking on a 12-year NHL career. Drafted by Philadelphia in the second round (33rd overall) of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, he never skated for the Flyers but still accumulated 145-224—369 points in 785 NHL regular-season contests with Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Nashville.

Johnson's best NHL campaign came in 1998-99, when he registered a career-high 34 assists and 50 points for expansion Nashville. He also served as captain of the Predators for several seasons, before retiring following the 2005-06 season at the age of 35 due to a heart condition. He leaves behind a wife and two children.