Eric John Weinrich (born December 19, 1966) 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 ...

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 ...

who played 17 seasons in 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) with the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its 25-year existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1 ...

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

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 ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

, and

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 ...

. He played 1,157 career NHL games, scoring 70 goals and 318 assists for 388 points.

Amateur career

Eric Weinrich grew up in the small town of

Gardiner, Maine Gardiner is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Popular with tourists, Gardiner is noted for its culture and old architecture. Gardiner is a nationally accredit ...

, went to high school at North Yarmouth Academy in

Yarmouth, Maine Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland, Maine, Portland. When originally settled in 1636, as North Yarmouth, Maine, North Yarmouth, it was part of the Massachusetts ...

, and played his college hockey at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

, where he studied

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

. He played 83 games over three seasons at the

, and was named an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

East Second Team All-American for the 1986–87 season. Weinrich would leave the team the next season to play for the United States national team.

Professional career

Weinrich was originally selected by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

in the 1984 NHL entry draft although the pick was deemed invalid as he had yet to clear the minimum age restriction for eligible draftees. Weinrich entered the draft the next year and was drafted 32nd overall by the

in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. Weinrich joined the Utica Devils, the AHL developmental affiliate team of his draft team, the

for the 1988–89 and 1989–90 AHL seasons, winning the Eddie Shore Award in 1990. He would also play 21 games for the NHL Devils during those years, scoring nine points. He joined New Jersey full-time for the

1990–91 NHL season The 1990–91 NHL season was the 74th season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–2 against the Minnesota North Stars to claim their first championship. This ...

, having his best offensive year with 38 points and earning a spot on the NHL All-Rookie Team, but would be traded with Sean Burke to the

for Bobby Holik and draft choices on August 28, 1992. After spending just over a season with the Whalers, Weinrich was traded with Patrick Poulin to the

for Steve Larmer and

Bryan Marchment Bryan William Marchment (May 1, 1969 – July 6, 2022) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League for the Winnipeg Jets (1972–96), Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, Hartford Whalers, Edmonton Oilers, Tampa ...

. He would play for the Blackhawks for several seasons before being traded once again shortly into the

1998–99 NHL season The 1998–99 NHL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 27 teams with the addition of the Nashville Predators. The NHL also realigned to a strictly geographic six-division structure, with three ...

, this time to the

. Weinrich again would not last long with his new team, being traded yet again to the

for

Patrick Traverse Patrick Traverse (born March 14, 1974) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey Defenseman (ice hockey), defenceman. He played 279 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with five teams. Playing career As a youth, Traverse play ...

midway through the

2000–01 NHL season The 2000–01 NHL season was the 84th regular season of the National Hockey League. With the addition of the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild, 30 teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalan ...

in what is believed to have been the first trade between the two teams since 1964. Weinrich signed a three-year contract with the

as a free agent on July 5, 2001 and played his 1000th game with them during the

2002–03 NHL season The 2002–03 NHL season was the 86th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the New Jersey Devils, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. League business Entry draft ...

. However, this was not enough to prevent him from being traded once again, this time to the

, shortly after the 2004 NHL All-Star game. During the

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 ...

, he played with VSV EC of the

Austrian Hockey League 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 ...

, but returned to the Blues for the

2005–06 NHL season The 2005–06 NHL season was the 89th season of operation (88th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season succeeded the 2004–05 season which had all of its scheduled games canceled due to a labor dispute with the Na ...

, during which he was traded for the final time, his last NHL team being the

Weinrich announced his retirement on August 4, 2006 after 17 seasons in the NHL. Upon his retirement, he became an assistant coach for the

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks ...

in the AHL, then on January 25, 2007 he signed a professional tryout contract with the team and began playing immediately. Weinrich skated with the Pirates for two seasons before hanging up the skates for good after the 2007–08 season. Weinrich worked as a professional scout for the Buffalo Sabres for three years. In 2015 he was named a development coach for the New Jersey Devils. He is currently an interim assistant coach with the Utica Devils.

Awards and honors

* AHL First All-Star Team (1990) * Eddie Shore Award (1990) * NHL All-Rookie Team (1991)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weinrich, Eric 1966 births AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey defensemen Boston Bruins players Buffalo Sabres scouts Chicago Blackhawks players EC VSV players Hartford Whalers players Ice hockey players from Maine Ice hockey people from Virginia Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics Living people Maine Black Bears men's ice hockey players Montreal Canadiens players New Jersey Devils draft picks New Jersey Devils players North Yarmouth Academy alumni Olympic ice hockey players for the United States People from Gardiner, Maine Philadelphia Flyers players Portland Pirates players Sportspeople from Kennebec County, Maine Sportspeople from Roanoke, Virginia St. Louis Blues players Utica Devils players Vancouver Canucks players 20th-century American sportsmen