Sean Sullivan (ice hockey)

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Sean Sullivan
Born (1984-03-29) March 29, 1984 (age 40)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Defense
Shot Left
Played for San Antonio Rampage
Worcester Sharks
Lake Erie Monsters
Modo Hockey
Iserlohn Roosters
Hamburg Freezers
Straubing Tigers
ERC Ingolstadt
NHL draft 272nd overall, 2003
Phoenix Coyotes
Playing career 2007–2020

Sean Sullivan (born March 29, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He most notably played in the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Sullivan holds dual citizenship in the US and Germany.[1]

Playing career[edit]

A Boston native, Sullivan attended St. Sebastian's School in Needham, before he was recruited to play collegiate hockey with Boston University of the Hockey East. In his tenure at St. Sebastian's, Sullivan co-captained the team, and was an All-League selection in both seasons. In 2003, he led all New England prep defensemen in scoring with 39 points in 2003 to also earn a position in the All-New England Team.[2]

Sullivan at the All-Star Game in 2010.

Primarily a defensive defenseman in his early years with the Terriers, Sullivan was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 9th round (272nd overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. After capturing the HE championship in his Junior year, Sullivan captained the Terriers in his senior year in 2006–07 season and led the team from the blueline to be selected as the Best defensive defenseman in the Hockey East. He was then signed to his first professional two-year entry-level contract with the Phoenix Coyotes on March 27, 2007.[3]

In his third season in 2008–09 with the Coyotes' AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, Sullivan developed his offensive instincts and led the team amongst defenseman in scoring with 32 points in 65 games. He was consequently re-signed to a one-year extension with the Coyotes on July 20, 2009.[4] Sullivan familiarly started the 2009–10 campaign with the Rampage. In his first 8 games of the season, Sullivan scored 10 points to be awarded the AHL player of the week award and subsequently received his first recall by the Coyotes on October 23 in backup of the injured Zbyněk Michálek.[5] Sullivan was later returned to San Antonio without making his debut to lead the defense in scoring for a second consecutive season with 49 points and earn a place in the 2010 AHL All-Star Game.[6]

On July 12, 2010, Sullivan was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the San Jose Sharks to a one-year contract.[7] He was then assigned to the Sharks affiliate, the Worcester Sharks. In his second season within the Sharks organization on January 26, 2012, he was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Tim Kennedy. He was immediately assigned to the AHL, which marked a return to the San Antonio Rampage.[8]

On July 10, 2012, Sullivan signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche as a free agent.[9] With the impending lockout coming to affect, Sullivan was assigned directly to the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. Sullivan's 2012–13 season was limited to just 34 games, due to broken jaw suffered mid-season. He returned to health and upon the conclusion of the Monsters campaign he was recalled to the Avalanche, however did not feature in a game.[10]

With the conclusion of his contract expiring, Sullivan signed his first European contract in Sweden, on a one-year deal with Modo Hockey of the Swedish Hockey League on June 7, 2013.[11] In the 2013–14 season, Sullivan failed to solidify a position among the defenseman of Modo and after 10 games he was mutually released from his contract after opting to join the Straubing Tigers of the German DEL on October 13, 2013.[12] Sullivan instantly regained his scoring touch with the Tigers, and despite failing to qualify for the post-season, contributed with 4 goals and 27 points in 40 games.

After a single season with the Iserlohn Roosters, Sullivan joined his third DEL club in three campaigns, in agreeing to a three-year deal with the Hamburg Freezers on June 17, 2015.[13] He became a free agent after the club folded in May 2016.[14]

In October 2016, he returned to old stomping grounds, signing a try-out deal with the Straubing Tigers.[15] On November 29, 2016, he saw his contract extended until the end of the 2016–17 season.[16] Sullivan left the Tigers after his contract had expired and signed with fellow DEL team ERC Ingolstadt in April 2017.[17]

On November 6, 2020, Sullivan announced his retirement from professional hockey.[18]

Career statistics[edit]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999–2000 South Boston High School HSMA
2000–01 St. Sebastian's School HS Prep
2001–02 St. Sebastian's School HS Prep 31 3 11 14 4
2002–03 St. Sebastian's School HS Prep 41 9 30 39 59
2003–04 Boston University HE 36 2 5 7 14
2004–05 Boston University HE 41 1 3 4 10
2005–06 Boston University HE 40 3 14 17 32
2006–07 Boston University HE 38 3 12 15 12
2006–07 San Antonio Rampage AHL 7 0 0 0 0
2007–08 Arizona Sundogs CHL 22 9 16 25 19
2007–08 San Antonio Rampage AHL 34 0 8 8 13 1 0 0 0 4
2008–09 San Antonio Rampage AHL 65 9 23 32 24
2009–10 San Antonio Rampage AHL 77 12 37 49 32
2010–11 Worcester Sharks AHL 73 12 23 35 46
2011–12 Worcester Sharks AHL 32 5 19 24 7
2011–12 San Antonio Rampage AHL 29 1 9 10 9 3 0 0 0 0
2012–13 Lake Erie Monsters AHL 34 1 6 7 13
2013–14 Modo Hockey SHL 10 0 0 0 2
2013–14 Straubing Tigers DEL 40 4 23 27 26
2014–15 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 44 4 24 28 8 7 4 3 7 4
2015–16 Hamburg Freezers DEL 50 5 5 10 49
2016–17 Straubing Tigers DEL 42 2 19 21 10 2 2 0 2 0
2017–18 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 52 3 21 24 4 1 0 0 0 0
2018–19 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 41 6 5 11 4 7 0 1 1 14
2019–20 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 50 2 14 16 16
AHL totals 350 40 124 164 144 4 0 0 0 4
DEL totals 319 26 111 137 117 17 6 4 10 18

Awards and honors[edit]

Award Year
USHS
All-League 2002, 2003
All-New England Team 2003 [2]
College
HE Best Defensive Defenseman 2007
All-Hockey East First Team 2006–07 [19]
AHCA East Second-Team All-American 2006–07

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sport1.de. "Deutsche Staatsbürgerschaft für Sean Sullivan von Iserlohn Roosters". Sport1.de (in German). Retrieved 2016-02-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b "Sean Sullivan player profile". HockeysFuture.com. 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  3. ^ "Coyotes' sign Sean Sullivan to multi-year contract". Phoenix Coyotes. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  4. ^ "Coyotes re-sign Spina, Hoggan and Sullivan". Phoenix Coyotes. 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  5. ^ "Desert Dog Blog: Maloney explains Sullivan move". Phoenix Coyotes. 2009-10-24. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  6. ^ "Sullivan named to AHL All-Star Game". Phoenix Coyotes. 2009-12-30. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
  7. ^ "Player Bio - Sean Sullivan". The Hockey News. 2010-07-12. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
  8. ^ "Panthers Send Kennedy to Sharks for Sullivan". The Sports Network. 2012-01-26. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  9. ^ "Avalanche signs six players". Colorado Avalanche. 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  10. ^ "Avalanche add Vincour to lineup in St. Louis". Denver Post. 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
  11. ^ "American to Modo Hockey". Modo Hockey (in Swedish). 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  12. ^ "Tigers commit to defender Sullivan" (in German). Straubing Tigers. 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
  13. ^ "Sean Sullivan switches to the Hamburg Freezers". Hamburg Freezers (in German). 2015-06-17. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
  14. ^ "Former NHLer Schubert's last-ditch effort to save Hamburg Freezers fails, DEL team folds". ddexpress.info | the world's sports. 2016-05-26. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
  15. ^ "Straubing Tigers statten Sean Sullivan mit Probevertrag aus". www.telekomeishockey.de. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  16. ^ "Sean Sullivan bleibt bis Saisonende in Straubing". Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  17. ^ "VERTEIDIGER SULLIVAN KOMMT ZUM ERC". Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  18. ^ "REIMER UND SULLIVAN BEENDEN KARRIERE". ERC Ingolstadt (in German). 2020-11-06. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  19. ^ "2007 Conference Honours". insidecollegehockey.com. 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2007-04-05.

External links[edit]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Hockey East Best Defensive Defenseman
2006–07
Succeeded by
Joe Charlebois