Darby Joseph Hendrickson (born August 28, 1972) is an American 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. He played in the

NHL 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 ...

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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

and the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

, and is a former assistant coach with the

for 14 seasons. Currently an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators.

Playing career

He was drafted in the fourth round, 73rd overall, by the

in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. After being named Minnesota Mr. Hockey in 1991 for his play at Richfield Senior High School, Hendrickson entered the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. He played for two seasons with the Golden Gophers before joining Toronto's

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 ...

affiliate, the

St. John's Maple Leafs The St. John's Maple Leafs were a minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, at Memorial Stadium from 1991 to 2001, and at Mile One Stadium from 2001 to 2005. The team was ...

, in the 1993–94 season. After playing on the United States hockey team in the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

, he made his

debut with Toronto during the

1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL), began after the conclusion of the 1993–94 NHL season. Prior to the season, the league renamed its conferences and divisions, and switched from a divis ...

, appearing in two games. Other than a brief move to the

during the 1995–96 season, Hendrickson remained with the Maple Leafs until midway through the 1998–99 season, when he was traded to the

in exchange for

Chris McAllister Christopher J. McAllister (born June 16, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Colorado Avalanche and N ...

on February 16, 1999. The Canucks left him unprotected in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft, and he was selected by the

. After three-plus seasons with the Wild, Hendrickson was traded during the 2003–04 season on February 25, 2004, along with an 8th round draft pick (Brandon Yip), to the

in exchange for a fourth round pick, which in turn was traded to the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

(who used the pick to select

Cody Bass Cody Bass (born January 7, 1987) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators drafted Bass in the fourth rou ...

) in exchange for center Todd White. During

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

Hendrickson, as a friend of Sergei Zholtok, played seven games in

Latvian hockey league The Latvian Hockey Higher League (), also known as the Optibet Hockey League () since 2017 due to sponsorship by Optibet, is the top tier league of ice hockey in Latvia. The league is competed by nine teams from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Pr ...

club

HK Riga 2000 HK Riga 2000 was an ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. The team had played in the LHL since it was founded. In 2004-05 and 2005–06 seasons the club also iced a team in the Belarusian Hockey League, and in 2005-06 finished 3rd. HK Riga 2000 ...

, but after the death of Zholtok he left the club. Hendrickson spent two seasons from 2005–07 playing for

EC Salzburg EC Red Bull Salzburg is a professional ice hockey team based in Salzburg, Austria, that plays in the ICE Hockey League. The club plays their home games at the Eisarena Salzburg. History In their first season, 1977–78, HC Salzburg took third p ...

in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

EBEL The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

before retiring. Hendrickson worked as a Wild commentator for FSN North, and on March 27, 2008, he was named ''Northwest Divisional Representative'' by the

NHLPA The National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA, ) is the labour union for the group of professional hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the 32 member clubs in the National Hockey League (NHL) located in the Unite ...

Personal life

His son, Beckett, was drafted in the fourth round, 124th overall, by 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 ...

in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrickson, Darby 1972 births Living people American expatriate ice hockey players in Austria American expatriate ice hockey players in Latvia American men's ice hockey centers Colorado Avalanche players Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Minnesota Wild coaches Minnesota Wild players Nashville Predators coaches New York Islanders players Olympic ice hockey players for the United States People from Richfield, Minnesota Ice hockey people from Hennepin County, Minnesota EC Red Bull Salzburg players HK Riga 2000 players St. John's Maple Leafs players Syracuse Crunch players Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks Toronto Maple Leafs players Vancouver Canucks players 20th-century American sportsmen