Luc Snuggerud (born January 2, 1995) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

former

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 was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

for

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

Playing career

Snuggerud was a star defenseman for

Eden Prairie High School Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) is a four-year public high school in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States established in 1923. The present high school opened in 1981 and was significantly added to in 1990, 1994 and 1997. It was named a Blue R ...

, receiving the

Reed Larson Reed David Larson (born July 30, 1956) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman and former captain of the Detroit Red Wings who played 904 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1976 and 1990. He featured in th ...

award as the top defenseman in the state and leading the Eagles to the state tournament. After graduating, Snuggerud was selected by the

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 ...

in the 5th round of the NHL draft and then began preparing for his freshman season at

. Snuggerud fit in well with the Mavericks, helping the team reach the NCAA Tournament, win its first two postseason games and appear in its first ever

Frozen Four The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...

. Snuggerud was named to the conference All-Rookie team and continued the sturdy play as a sophomore. He was named an

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

as a junior and took a big step forward, nearly tripling his goal production. While Omaha could only manage a .500 record, Snuggerud was named an All-American. After Omaha was eliminated from postseason contention, Snuggerud ended his college career by signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Blackhawks. He finished out the season with their minor league affiliate, 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 ...

. For his first full season as a pro, Snuggerud remained in the AHL and put up decent numbers, though he only played in about half of the team's games due to injury. His second season was an utter disaster as he was limited to just 4 games because of multiple

concussions A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brie ...

. Before the season was even over, Snuggerud was placed on unconditional waivers by Chicago and the remainder of his contract was bought out. Despite the health concerns, Snuggerud did return to the ice. He finished out the season with the

Stavanger Oilers Stavanger Ishockeyklubb, commonly referred to as the Stavanger Oilers, is a Norwegian professional ice hockey team based in Stavanger, Norway. They currently play in the Fjordkraftligaen, which is the top division in Norwegian ice hockey. As o ...

and helped the team reach their league semifinals. The following fall, Snuggerud received a try-out from the

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

but he was released before the end of training camp. He then spend a little time in the AHL before returning to Europe and playing in the

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 ...

. After the season was cut short due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Snuggerud had to scrounge to find a home in 2020. He eventually wound up with

Rytíři Kladno Rytíři Kladno (') is a Czech Republic, Czech professional ice hockey team based in the city of Kladno. They are currently a member of the Czech Extraliga. The team president and owner is Jaromír Jágr, a former National Hockey League, NHL pla ...

, playing alongside

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 ...

legend

Jaromír Jágr Jaromír Jágr (; born 15 February 1972) is a Czech professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger and owner of Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh ...

. He seemed to find his game during the season and proved solid on the blueline. Snuggerud helped the team win the 1st League championship and receive a promotion to the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

for 2021–22.

Personal life

Both Luc's father Bo and his uncle

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

played college hockey. Dave is also a former NHL player, appearing in 265 games over six seasons. His cousin,

Jimmy Snuggerud Jimmy Snuggerud (born June 1, 2004) is an American professional ice hockey right wing for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 23rd overall by the Blues in the 2022 NHL entry draft. He played college hockey at ...

, was drafted 23rd overall by the

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 ...

in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Snuggerud, Luc 1995 births Living people American men's ice hockey centers Ice hockey players from Minnesota Ice hockey people from Edina, Minnesota AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Muskegon Lumberjacks players Omaha Lancers players Omaha Mavericks men's ice hockey players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Stavanger Oilers players Syracuse Crunch players Binghamton Devils players HC TWK Innsbruck players Rytíři Kladno players Bratislava Capitals players HC Košice players Chicago Blackhawks draft picks American expatriate ice hockey players in Norway American expatriate ice hockey players in Austria American expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic American expatriate ice hockey players in Slovakia 21st-century American sportsmen