Ben Youds (born April 20, 1988) is an American 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 ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. He is currently playing with

IK Oskarshamn Ishockeyklubben Oskarshamn, commonly known as IK Oskarshamn, is an ice hockey club from Oskarshamn in Sweden. The team plays in the second-highest league, the HockeyAllsvenskan. The 2019–20 season was the team's first season in the top-tier l ...

in the

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

(SHL).

Playing career

Youds attended

Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

where he played NCAA college hockey with the

Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey The Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey team is an NCAA Division I college ice hockey program that represents Minnesota State University, Mankato. The Minnesota State Mavericks, Mavericks compete in the Central Collegiate Hockey Associatio ...

team. Undrafted on September 1, 2011, Younds signed his first professional contract with the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

of 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 ...

for the 2011–12 season. After a successful first season with the

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Providence, Rhode Island. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Hi ...

in the 2013–14 season, in which Youds established career highs of 20 points in 57 games, he was invited to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

2014 training camp on September 18, 2014. Youds was reassigned to Providence on September 26, a signed an AHL contract with the club for the 2014–15 season. Establishing a regular position on the Providence blueline, Youds had already eclipsed his career highs in goals and points before he was traded in consideration of an NHL transaction, to the

Lake Erie Monsters A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a depression (geology), basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land an ...

on March 2, 2015. Youds closed out the season with the Monsters, immediately contributing with 3 goals and 11 points in 18 games. As an un-signed free agent, on September 16, 2015, Youds was signed to a professional try-out contract to attend training camp in a return to the Boston Bruins organization. He was later signed to a one-year AHL contract with Providence. Upon completing his fifth North American season, Youds opted to pursue a European career in signing a one-year deal with Swedish club,

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish professional ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, Swedish Hockey League (SHL), after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus ...

of the SHL on May 23, 2016. In his lone season with Leksands in 2016–17, Youds established himself in a top-four role and contributed with 4 goals and 17 points in 44 games, however was unable to prevent Leksands from relegation. In early July 2017, he inked a one-year contract with fellow SHL side

Växjö Lakers The Växjö Lakers Hockey Club (often referred to as the Växjö Lakers or VLH) are a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Växjö in Sweden. The club plays at the Vida Arena and plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien), ...

. He appeared in 8 games with the Lakers to begin the 2017–18 season, however through limited playing time he opted to leave the club and join fellow SHL club,

Rögle BK Rögle BK (Rögle Bandyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Ängelholm that has been playing in the SHL since the 2015–16 season. Rögle has previously played in the SHL (previously named Elitserien) in 1992–1996, 2008–20 ...

, on November 25, 2017. In an expanded role with BK, Youds featured in 32 games and contributed with 16 points, earning a one-year extension. In the following 2018–19 season, Youds was limited to just 12 games with Rögle BK through injury. He left the club at the conclusion of his contract with club at seasons end. As a free agent, Youds left Sweden after four seasons and returned to North America, agreeing to continue his career by signing a contract for the 2019–20 season with the

Indy Fuel The Indy Fuel are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2014–15 season. Based in Fishers, Indiana, the Fuel play their home games at the Fishers Event Center, after having started play at the Indiana Farmers ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

on October 15, 2019. He later returned to the AHL after securing a loan with the Fuel affiliate, the

. After appearing in 17 contests with 7 assists for the IceHogs, Youds left the club to return to Sweden for the remainder of the season, signing with IK Oskarshamn of the SHL on February 9, 2020.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Youds, Ben 1988 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Indy Fuel players Lake Erie Monsters players Leksands IF players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey players People from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota Ice hockey people from Hennepin County, Minnesota Providence Bruins players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Rögle BK players Toledo Walleye players Växjö Lakers players Minnesota State University, Mankato alumni