Richard Park (ice hockey)

Korean-American ice hockey player (born 1976)

Ice hockey player

Richard Park

Park with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2012

Born|  (1976-05-27) May 27, 1976 (age 49)
Seoul, South Korea
Height|  6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight|  190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position|  Right wing
Shot|  Right
Played for|  HC Ambrì-Piotta
Pittsburgh Penguins
Genève-Servette HC
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Philadelphia Flyers
Minnesota Wild
Vancouver Canucks
New York Islanders
National team|  United States
NHL draft|  50th overall, 1994
Pittsburgh Penguins[1]
Playing career|  1995-2014

Medal record

Representing  United States
Ice hockey
World Championships
| 2004 Prague |

Richard Park (Korean name: Bak Yong-Su, Hangul: 박용수; born May 27, 1976) is a South Korean-born American former professional ice hockey forward who played 14 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons with six different teams. Park is currently a pro scout for the Minnesota Wild.

## Playing career

[edit]

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Park moved to Rancho Palos Verdes, California, with his family at age three.[citation needed] As a youth, he played in the 1989 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Los Angeles Kings minor ice hockey team.[2] At age 13, he moved to Ontario and played minor hockey in the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), and played in the 1990 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Young Nationals.[2] Park and his brother Horton attended De La Salle College and captained their hockey team.[citation needed] He eventually worked his way up to the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and played for Belleville from 1992–93 to 1995–96.[3]

Following his second OHL season, he was drafted 50th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.[4] He made his NHL debut when he played one regular season game and three Stanley Cup playoff games for Pittsburgh during the 1994–95 season. He became only the second Korean-born person to play in the NHL after Jim Paek.[citation needed] Coincidentally, both of them were drafted by the Penguins. Park played most of the 1995–96 NHL season, appearing in 56 games. He spent the next few years moving between the Anaheim Ducks, Philadelphia Flyers and various International Hockey League (IHL) and American Hockey League (AHL) teams. He played again in the NHL during the 2001–02 season after signing with the Minnesota Wild.[citation needed]

Park with the Vancouver Canucks in 2005.

Park spent three seasons in Minnesota, from 2001–02 to 2003–04, where over the course of several seasons, he achieved career-highs in games played (81), goals scored (14), assists earned (15) and points totalled (25). During the Wild's run in the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Park scored the winning goal in overtime in Game 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Colorado Avalanche.[citation needed]

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Park played in Europe as a member of the United States national men's ice hockey team, which won the 2004 Deutschland Cup.[5] He would go on to sign short-term contracts in Sweden and Switzerland with the Malmö Redhawks and SCL Tigers respectively. On August 8, 2005, prior to the 2005–06 season, Park signed a one-year, US$750,000 contract with the Vancouver Canucks. At the end of his contract, he signed a two-year contract with the New York Islanders.[citation needed]

On March 29, 2008, Park was named the recipient of the Bob Nystrom Award, awarded annually to the Islander "who best exemplifies leadership, hustle and dedication". Park usually played in a penalty killing role and is considered an above-average skater. He also served as the Islanders alternate captain in the 2008–09 season.[6] During his time with the Islanders, he scored two shorthanded goals on 5-on-3's, a very rare feat in the NHL.[7]

On September 9, 2010, Park left the NHL after 684 career games, signing a three-year contract with Genève-Servette HC of the National League A (NLA), marking his return to Switzerland after a brief stint during the 2004–05 lockout.[8]

On September 8, 2011, Park made a return to the NHL, signing a one-year, two-way contract for a second stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins.[9]

In August 2012, Park signed a two-year contract to return to the NLA with HC Ambrì-Piotta, where he finished his playing career.[citation needed]

## Post-playing career

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In 2014, Park was hired as a player development coach for the Minnesota Wild organization.[10] During the 2018–19 season, he transitioned to the role of pro scout.[11]

Park served as assistant coach of the South Korea men's national ice hockey team from 2014 to 2018.

## Career statistics

[edit]

### Regular season and playoffs

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|  | Regular season |  | Playoffs

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Season | Team  | League  | GP  | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP  | G  | A  | Pts  | PIM
1992–93 | Belleville Bulls | OHL | 66  | 23  | 38  | 61  | 38  | 5  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 14
1993–94 | Belleville Bulls  | OHL  | 59  | 27  | 49  | 76  | 70  | 12  | 3  | 5  | 8  | 18
1994–95 | Belleville Bulls  | OHL  | 45  | 28  | 51  | 79  | 35  | 16  | 9  | 18  | 27  | 12
1994–95 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 1  | 0  | 1  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 2
1995–96 | Belleville Bulls  | OHL  | 6  | 7  | 6  | 13  | 2  | 14  | 18  | 12  | 30  | 10
1995–96 | Pittsburgh Penguins  | NHL  | 56  | 4  | 6  | 10  | 36  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0
1996–97 | Cleveland Lumberjacks | IHL | 50  | 12  | 15  | 27  | 30  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1996–97 | Pittsburgh Penguins  | NHL  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1996–97  | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL  | 11  | 1  | 1  | 2  | 10  | 11  | 0  | 1  | 1  | 2
1997–98 | Cincinnati Mighty Ducks | AHL | 56  | 17  | 26  | 43  | 36  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1997–98 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim  | NHL  | 15  | 0  | 2  | 2  | 8  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1998–99 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL  | 75  | 41  | 42  | 83  | 33  | 16  | 9  | 6  | 15  | 4
1998–99 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL  | 7  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1999–2000 | Utah Grizzlies | IHL  | 82  | 28  | 32  | 60  | 36  | 5  | 1  | 0  | 1  | 0
2000–01 | Cleveland Lumberjacks  | IHL  | 75  | 27  | 21  | 48  | 29  | 4  | 0  | 2  | 2  | 4
2001–02 | Houston Aeros | AHL  | 13  | 4  | 10  | 14  | 6  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2001–02 | Minnesota Wild | NHL  | 63  | 10  | 15  | 25  | 10  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2002–03 | Minnesota Wild  | NHL  | 81  | 14  | 10  | 24  | 16  | 18  | 3  | 3  | 6  | 4
2003–04 | Minnesota Wild  | NHL  | 73  | 13  | 12  | 25  | 28  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2004–05 | Malmö Redhawks | SEL | 9  | 1  | 3  | 4  | 4  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2004–05 | SCL Tigers | NLA | 10  | 3  | 0  | 3  | 8  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2005–06 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL  | 60  | 8  | 10  | 18  | 29  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2006–07 | New York Islanders | NHL  | 82  | 10  | 16  | 26  | 33  | 5  | 0  | 1  | 1  | 2
2007–08 | New York Islanders  | NHL  | 82  | 12  | 20  | 32  | 20  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2008–09 | New York Islanders  | NHL  | 71 | 14 | 17 | 31 | 34  | — | — | — | — | —
2009–10 | New York Islanders  | NHL  | 81 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 28  | — | — | — | — | —
2010–11 | Genève–Servette HC | NLA  | 47 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 16  | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2
2011–12 | Pittsburgh Penguins  | NHL  | 54 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 12  | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2
2012–13 | HC Ambrì–Piotta | NLA  | 48 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 18  | — | — | — | — | —
2013–14 | HC Ambrì–Piotta  | NLA  | 41 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 22  | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 29
NHL totals  | 738 | 102 | 139 | 241 | 266  | 40 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12

### International

[edit]

Year  | Team  | Event  |  | GP  | G  | A  | Pts  | PIM

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1994 | United States | WJC | 7  | 3  | 2  | 5  | 4
1995 | United States  | WJC  | 7  | 1  | 7  | 8  | 29
2002 | United States  | WC | 7  | 3  | 3  | 6  | 0
2004 | United States  | WC  | 9  | 5  | 3  | 8  | 0
2005 | United States  | WC  | 5  | 1  | 0  | 1  | 0
2006 | United States  | WC  | 7  | 1  | 1  | 2  | 0
Junior totals  | 14  | 4  | 9  | 13  | 33
Senior totals  | 28  | 10  | 7  | 17  | 0
Richard Park on the Nassau Coliseum ice, playing for the New York Islanders.

## Awards

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* Bob Nystrom Award – 2007–08
* OHL All-Rookie Team – 1993
* AHL Second All-Star Team – 1999

## Transactions

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* March 18, 1997 – Traded to Anaheim by Pittsburgh for Roman Oksiuta.
* August 24, 1998 – Signed as a free agent by Philadelphia.
* September 22, 1999 – Signed as a free agent by Utah (IHL).
* June 6, 2000 – Signed as a free agent by Minnesota.
* November 8, 2004 – Signed as a free agent by Malmo (Sweden).
* January 4, 2005 – Signed as a free agent by Langnau (Swiss).
* August 8, 2005 – Signed as a free agent by Vancouver.
* October 2, 2006 – Signed as a free agent by NY Islanders.
* September 9, 2010 – Signed as a free agent by Geneve (Swiss).
* September 8, 2011 – Signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh.
* August 7, 2012 – Signed as a free agent by Ambri-Piotta (Swiss).
* October 14, 2014 – Retired.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results". National Hockey League.
2. ^ a b "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
3. ^ "Richard Park at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
4. ^ Molinari, Dave (1994), Penguins' No. 2 pick aims for swift ascent, web: Pittsburgh Post Gazette, retrieved March 13, 2023
5. ^ "Team USA blanks Slovakia, 4-0, to win Deutschland Cup". CSTV. November 5, 2004. Archived from the original on December 31, 2007. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
6. ^ "Elite Prospects - Team Captains of New York Islanders". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
7. ^ "5-on-3 SHG in NHL History". NHL.com. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
8. ^ "Richard Park signs three-year deal with Swiss team". The Sports Network. September 9, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
9. ^ "Penguins sign Park to one-year deal". NHL.com. September 8, 2011. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
10. ^ "RICHARD PARK JOINS WILD STAFF, BICKEL ASSIGNED TO IOWA". Iowa Wild. October 14, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
11. ^ "Ex-NHLer Richard Park on scouting for the Minnesota Wild, former teammate John Tavares' captaincy with Maple Leafs". www.sportingnews.com. August 12, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2023.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richard Park.

* Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

Awards and achievements

Preceded by

Andrew Brunette

|  Minnesota Wild captain
December 2003 | Succeeded by

Brad Bombardir