Derek Plante
Born (1971-01-17) January 17, 1971
Cloquet, Minnesota, U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Buffalo Sabres
Dallas Stars
Chicago Blackhawks
Philadelphia Flyers
National team  United States
NHL Draft 161st overall, 1989
Buffalo Sabres
Playing career 19932008
Coaching career
Biographical details
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota Duluth
Playing career
1989–1993Minnesota Duluth
Position(s)Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2010–2015Minnesota Duluth (asso.)
2015–2020Chicago Blackhawks (dev.)
2020–2022Minnesota Duluth (asso.)
2022–PresentChicago Blackhawks (asst.)

Derek John Plante (born January 17, 1971) is an American ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. Plante played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers. He was a member of the 1999 Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars. He was an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota-Duluth from 2010-2015 before returning to the program as associate head coach in 2020, a position he holds to this day.

Playing career

Drafted out of high school by the Buffalo Sabres in 1989, Plante attended the University of Minnesota Duluth and by his senior year was an All-Star leading the WCHA in goals, assists, and total scoring.[1] Plante skipped minor league hockey and jumped right to the NHL in 1994, replacing an injured Pat LaFontaine and scoring 21 goals. By turning pro so quickly, Plante missed out on an opportunity to represent the United States in the 1994 Winter Olympics.[2]

In the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season, Plante managed only 3 goals and 19 assists, but rebounded nicely in 1995–96 on a rebuilding, but hard-working Sabres squad, netting 23 goals and adding 30 assists. In 1997, Plante became the Sabres' top scoring center. he netted a career high 27 goals and led the surprising Sabres squad to a Northeast Division championship and playoff berth. Plante scored the game winning, series-clinching game 7 overtime goal against the upstart Ottawa Senators. Plante knocked down an opponent pass at center, quickly positioned himself, and fired a slapshot that managed to escape the glove of netminder Ron Tugnutt and trickle into the goal. Mobbed by his ecstatic teammates, Plante suffered a cut lip in the ensuing celebration. Plante played well in the next series vs. Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers, but the overmatched team fell in 5.

Plante's numbers slipped in 1997–98, scoring only 13 goals and 34 points, however the Sabres advanced deeper into the playoffs than many expected, losing to the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Halfway through the 1999 season Plante was traded to the Dallas Stars. The Stars went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals and met Plante's old team, the Sabres. Plante had played in the first two series of the playoffs, scoring a critical goal in the second round, but was a healthy scratch for every game of the finals, which the Stars won 4 games to 2. Even though he didn't play in the finals, Plante got in on the time-honored tradition of taking personal stewardship of the Cup, which he spent in his home town of Cloquet, Minnesota. The Dallas Stars had Plante's name engraved on the Stanley Cup even though he did not play in the required number of games.

The following year Plante found himself in the Chicago Blackhawks organization. For the first time in his career, Plante played on a minor league team, the Chicago Wolves.

In 2000–01 Plante starred for the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms, and by the end of the year was called up to join the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers kept Derek on their playoff roster to face the Sabres. Plante scored a goal against his former teammate Dominik Hašek earlier in the season, but the Sabres prevailed, and Plante hasn't been back in the NHL since.

Plante later went on to play in European leagues, most notably with the Munich Barons. From 2005 to 2007, he played in the Asian Hockey League as a member of the Nippon Paper Cranes, winning the championship in 2007. During 2007–2008, he played for the SC Langenthal.

Coaching career

University of Minnesota Duluth (2010–2015, 2020–Present)

He was hired on June 9, 2010 as a Minnesota Duluth assistant men's hockey coach. In June 2015, he announced he was resigning from his assistant coaching position with UMD. On July 17, 2020 it was announced that he would return to Minnesota Duluth, as associate men’s hockey coach.[3]

On July 29, 2022, Plante was named as an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks on the staff of Luke Richardson. [4]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1987–88 Cloquet High School HS-MN 23162541
1988–89 Cloquet High School HS-MN 24303363
1989–90 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 2810112112
1990–91 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 362320436
1991–92 University of Minnesota Duluth WHCA 3727366328
1992–93 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 3736569230
1993–94 Buffalo Sabres NHL 7721355624 71010
1994–95 Buffalo Sabres NHL 473192212
1995–96 Buffalo Sabres NHL 7623335628
1996–97 Buffalo Sabres NHL 8227265324 1246104
1997–98 Buffalo Sabres NHL 7213213426 1103310
1998–99 Buffalo Sabres NHL 414111512
1998–99 Dallas Stars NHL 102356 61014
1999–2000 Dallas Stars NHL 161122
1999–2000 Michigan K-Wings IHL 130442
1999–2000 Chicago Wolves IHL 42132 83146
1999–2000 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 171122
2000–01 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 121234 50110
2000–01 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 5718355319
2001–02 München Barons DEL 6020385822 9371010
2002–03 ZSC Lions NLA 4422244634 101234
2003–04 Adler Mannheim DEL 396162240 60002
2004–05 Adler Mannheim DEL 44671322 70000
2005–06 Nippon Paper Cranes ALH 3528477564 878154
2006–07 Nippon Paper Cranes ALH 2420274742 7671312
2007–08 SC Langenthal NLB 3824204430 43036
NHL totals 45096152248140 416101618

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1991 United States WJC 7 1 2 3 4
1992 United States WC 6 0 1 1 0
1993 United States WC 6 1 0 1 2
1996 United States WC 8 1 1 2 4
2000 United States WC 7 1 1 2 4
2001 United States WC 9 0 2 2 2
2002 United States WC 7 2 1 3 2
Senior totals 43 5 6 11 14

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-WCHA Second Team 1991–92
All-WCHA First Team 1992–93
AHCA West First-Team All-American 1992–93
WCHA All-Tournament Team 1993 [5]

References

  1. "Derek Plante - Men's Hockey Coach".
  2. Kellner, Jenny (March 11, 1998). "HOCKEY; Good Thing Gets Away From Isles - New York Times". query.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  3. "Umd Men's Hockey Assistant Coach Plante Resigns for Personal Reasons". 23 June 2015.
  4. "Derek Plante leaving Bulldogs staff to become Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach". 29 July 2022.
  5. "WCHA Tourney History". WCHA. Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
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