Erik Wayne Rasmussen (born March 28, 1977) is a retired 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 ...

player.

Early life

Rasmussen, originally from

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota, gained statewide recognition in 1995 when he was awarded the prestigious Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award, an honor given annually to the most outstanding high school hockey player in the state. His talent and dedication earned him a spot with 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 ...

, where he competed in NCAA Division I hockey for two seasons.

Career

Rasmussen was chosen seventh overall in the first round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft 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 ...

, marking him as one of the top prospects of his class. Throughout his professional career, Rasmussen suited up for the Sabres,

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

, and

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 ...

. During the 2007–08 season, he played for the

Lowell Devils The Lowell Devils were a minor league ice hockey team in the American Hockey League playing in Lowell, Massachusetts, at the Tsongas Center. As their name implied, they were the top minor league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils of the National ...

, 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 ...

(AHL) affiliate of the New Jersey Devils. Following that season, Rasmussen took his talents overseas by signing with

Porin Ässät Porin Ässät ry is a sports club based in Pori, Finland. The club's only programs are ice hockey and esports, but it used to have an association football program. Porin Ässät ry operates an ice hockey team in the Finnish Elite League. Porin ...

, a team in Finland’s top professional league, the

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

, for the 2008–09 season. During his time with the Porin Ässät organization, Rasmussen played in 31 regular-season games, tallying one goal and eight assists. The team finished 12th in the standings and was forced into the play-out round to determine which club would face relegation against a

Mestis Mestis (from , meaning 'Championship series', stylized as MEST1S) is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division ...

team, Finland's second-tier league. After losing the play-out, Ässät faced

Vaasan Sport Sport, known by its full name as Hockey Team Vaasan Sport Oy or simply Vaasan Sport, is a Finnish ice hockey team playing in Liiga, and is based at the 5,200-capacity Vaasa Arena in Vaasa. The team was established in 1939 as IF Sport (Idrottsf� ...

in a best-of-seven relegation series. Rasmussen played in 13 total playoff and relegation games, contributing four goals and five assists for nine points. In the decisive seventh game of the series, he scored Ässät's first goal and assisted on their third, helping secure the team’s spot in the SM-liiga.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasmussen, Erik 1977 births Living people American men's ice hockey left wingers Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Ice hockey people from Hennepin County, Minnesota Ice hockey players from Minnesota Los Angeles Kings players Lowell Devils players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players New Jersey Devils players NHL first-round draft picks Rochester Americans players Sportspeople from St. Louis Park, Minnesota