Nicholas Joseph Ricci (born June 3, 1959) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. He played 19 games for the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) between 1980 and 1983. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1979 to 1985, was mainly spent in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

and International Hockey League.

Playing career

Born in

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...

, Ricci played junior hockey for the

Niagara Falls Flyers The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982. B ...

of the

Ontario Major Junior Hockey League In 1970, the Junior A level was divided into two more levels, Tier I (Major Junior A) and Tier II (Minor Junior A). In 1974, the "Major Junior A" division of the OHA became the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL) and began to operate ind ...

. He was drafted 94th overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by the

and signed with their organization that summer. He played the 1979–80 season for the

Grand Rapids Owls The Grand Rapids Owls was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior A ice hockey team in the Central States Hockey League. The team played their home games at the Southside Community Ice Center in Byron Center, Michigan. The players, ages 16� ...

of the IHL, and was called up to the Penguins to play four games. For the next three seasons, Ricci played several games each year for the Penguins, but played mostly in the minors. In 1983, he was traded to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

, joining the Leafs' AHL affiliate, the

St. Catharines Saints The St. Catharines Saints was a minor league ice hockey team in St. Catharines, Ontario. It played in the American Hockey League from 1982 to 1986 as the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs. History The Moncton-based New Brunswick Hawks had been ...

. He split the 1983–84 season with the Saints and the

Muskegon Mohawks The Muskegon Mohawks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League from 1965 to 1984. Muskegon were Turner Cup champions in 1968. This team was originally named the Muskegon Zephyrs. After the completion of ...

of the IHL, and played one final season in the IHL in 1984–85 with the

Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs: *Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984 *Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005 *Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013 *Peoria Rivermen (SP ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards

* 1979 F. W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy - OMJHL Award for top rookie goaltender * 1979

Dave Pinkney Trophy The Dave Pinkney Trophy is awarded to the goaltenders of the Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey ...

(shared with Glen Ernst) - OMJHL award to team with best goals against average.

References

External links

* 1959 births Living people Baltimore Skipjacks players Binghamton Whalers players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Erie Blades players Grand Rapids Owls players Ice hockey people from Niagara Falls, Ontario Muskegon Mohawks players Niagara Falls Flyers players Peoria Rivermen (IHL) players Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States St. Catharines Saints players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen {{canada-icehockey-goaltender-stub