Cory Cross (born January 3, 1971) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

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

, who played twelve seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL).

Draft

Cross was selected by the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

first overall in the

1992 NHL Supplemental Draft The 1992 NHL Supplemental Draft was the seventh NHL Supplemental Draft. It was held on June 19, 1992. The supplemental draft was shortened to a single round in 1992 and limited to the six teams that missed the 1992 Stanley Cup playoffs and the exp ...

Playing career

After being drafted first overall in the 1992 Supplemental Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Cross went on to spend 12 NHL seasons with 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. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Divi ...

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

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

and

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. He was a physically imposing player with a powerful shot. After getting recruited from his hockey class at the University of Alberta, Cross spent three seasons with the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Ruth ...

, during which time they won three Canada West championships and one national championship in 1992. Cross made his professional debut with the Atlanta Knights of the IHL in the 1993-1994 season. The Knights won the Turner Cup championship, only losing 2 games in the playoffs. He was called up to the parent club Tampa Bay Lightning for the last five games of the 93-94 season. Despite making the Lightning after the 94-95 exhibition season, he returned to the Knights during the NHL lockout. At the end of the lockout, Cross was called up to the Lightning for the remainder of the season. After spending five full seasons in Tampa Bay, Cross, along with a seventh-round draft pick, was dealt in the off-season to the

in exchange for Fredrik Modin. Cross scored one of the biggest goals of his career on April 16, 2001, when he potted the overtime game-winning goal for Toronto over the Ottawa Senators in Game 3 in the first round of the 2001 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on the way to an upset sweep of the number-two seeded Senators. After three relatively good seasons with the Leafs, Cross was signed as an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

. Cross played only 26 games in New York before being traded again, this time along with Radek Dvorak to the

in exchange for Anson Carter and Ales Pisa. Cross played 113 games for Edmonton before being traded along with Jani Rita to the

for Dick Tarnstrom. On March 9, 2006, Cross was traded from the Penguins to the

for a fourth-round draft pick in 2007. Cross signed with the

Hamburg Freezers The Hamburg Freezers were a German professional men's ice hockey club from Hamburg, Germany that played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The club announced its withdrawal from the DEL and ceased operations on 24 May 2016 when Anschutz Entertainment ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

in July 2006. Cross played one season with Hamburg and formally retired as an active player in September 2009.

International play

Cross was a member of Team Canada at three World Championships (1997, 1998, 2003), winning gold in 1997 and 2003.

Coaching career

On September 27, 2009, the

Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venue ...

' head hockey coach Mark Howell announced that Cross would be an assistant head coach along with former NHL player Brad Isbister. Cross has recently been serving as an assistant coach with the West Kelowna Warriors. They won the

2016 RBC Cup The 2016 Royal Bank Cup was the 46th Canadian junior A Ice Hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior Hockey League. It was the 46th consecutive year a national championship was awarded to this skill level since the breakaway of Major ...

, held in Cross' hometown, Lloydminster.

Personal life

Cross was born in

Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administrat ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, and now resides in West Kelowna,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, with his wife Shannon, a former city police officer turned artist, and their two children. Cross is part-owner of an oil and gas service company, R'ohan Well and Rig Services, and one of the co-founders of ProSmart Sports, an online hockey learning platform.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Cory 1971 births Living people Alberta Golden Bears ice hockey players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian ice hockey defencemen Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Oilers players Hamburg Freezers players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey people from Alberta National Hockey League supplemental draft picks New York Rangers players Pittsburgh Penguins players Sportspeople from Lloydminster Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks Tampa Bay Lightning players Toronto Maple Leafs players