Travis Roche
Roche with the San Antonio Rampage in 2007
Born (1978-06-17) June 17, 1978
Grande Cache, Alberta, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for Minnesota Wild
Phoenix Coyotes
SC Bern
Modo Hockey
EHC Black Wings Linz
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2001–2016

Travis Roche (born June 17, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenseman who last played for EHC Black Wings Linz of the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL).

Playing career

An offensive defenceman, Roche played two seasons for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. In his freshman season, 1999-2000, the Sioux won the NCAA Frozen Four, defeating Maine in the semifinals, then Boston College in the championship game held in Providence, Rhode Island. Roche was named to the WCHA All-Tournament Team.[1]

The following season (the final season at “old” Ralph Engelstad Arena), the team captured the MacNaughton Cup as the WCHA regular season champions with an 18–4–6 record in 2000-01. The team lost the Final Five championship game to St. Cloud State in overtime, 6-5, and the Sioux were defeated by Boston College 3–2 in the Frozen Four title game, with Roche named to the WCHA All-Tournament team, the NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team, and he was honored as an NCAA West First Team All-American. Roche holds Fighting Sioux single-game records for goals by a defenceman (3), points by a defenceman (6), and assists by a defenceman.[2][3]

For his collegiate career, Roche appeared in 88 games, scoring 17 goals, passing out 60 assists, and scoring 77 points.[4]

He was signed to a two-season contract by the Minnesota Wild on April 8, 2001, one day after the end of the Sioux's 2001 national championship run, appearing in the final game of the Wild's 2000–2001 season. He joined their AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros for the better part of the 2001–02 season, finishing with 34 points (13G-21A) in 60 games while playing a handful of games with the parent club in Minnesota.

Roche returned to Houston for the better part of the 2002–03 season, establishing career highs in goals (14), assists (34) and points (48) and was a key player in the team's run to the 2003 Calder Cup title. In 2003–04, Roche spent the majority of season with the Houston while playing a handful of games with the Wild.

Roche signed with the Atlanta Thrashers in the summer 2004 and competed for the club's AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves for in the 2004–2005 and 2005–2006 seasons, and was named AHL First Team All-Star in 2005 with the team advancing to the AHL Finals.

Roche signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Coyotes in the summer of 2006, and after a strong training camp for head coach Wayne Gretzky, and with 17 games played, one goal and nine assists for the team's AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, Roche was called up by the Coyotes for the remainder of the 2006–2007 NHL season. Roche established NHL career highs for games played (50), goals (6), assists (13), points (19) and PIM (22) and also led the team in plus/minus ratio (+2). His first NHL goal was scored on Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames on December 16, 2006. He had a multiple point game two weeks later, and he had a game-winning goal against the Los Angeles Kings on January 20, 2007.[5]

Roche represented Canada at the Spengler Cup in 2009, 2010[6] and 2012,[7] and was also named to the 2013 roster.[8] He was also named to Team Canada for the 2011 tournament,[9] but did not play due to injury. At the 2010 tournament, he was named one of the tournament's best defencemen after Team Canada won silver.[10] He won gold with Team Canada at the 2012 tournament.[7]

Roche appeared in 60 games over four NHL seasons between 2000–01 and 2006–07, where he collected 6 goals and 14 assists for 20 points and was assessed 24 PIM.[11]

On August 11, 2014, after six seasons with SC Bern in the Swiss National League A, Roche left as a free agent to sign in the Swedish Hockey League on a one-year contract with Modo Hockey.[12]

Personal life

He and his wife, Darcie live in the St. Paul, Minnesota area in the off-season. He is from Grande Cache, Alberta and was raised in Whitecourt, Alberta

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1996–97 Trail Smoke Eaters BCHL 49174057159 —————
1997–98 Trail Smoke Eaters BCHL 38113142104 1108821
1999–00 University of North Dakota WCHA 426222860 —————
2000–01 University of North Dakota WCHA 4611384942 —————
2000–01 Minnesota Wild NHL 10000 —————
2001–02 Minnesota Wild NHL 40002 —————
2001–02 Houston Aeros AHL 60132134107 122356
2002–03 Houston Aeros AHL 6514344842 2335826
2003–04 Minnesota Wild NHL 50110 —————
2003–04 Houston Aeros AHL 608303818 20002
2004–05 Chicago Wolves AHL 7312385059 1816718
2005–06 Chicago Wolves AHL 598313973 —————
2006–07 San Antonio Rampage AHL 1718916 —————
2006–07 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 506131922 —————
2007–08 San Antonio Rampage AHL 716354165 50228
2008–09 SC Bern NLA 49163248120 40336
2009–10 SC Bern NLA 478223050 15281028
2010–11 SC Bern NLA 399324116 90226
2011–12 SC Bern NLA 25213158 30114
2012–13 SC Bern NLA 315172214 193121514
2013–14 SC Bern NLA 385162149 —————
2014–15 Modo Hockey SHL 372111330 —————
2015–16 EHC Black Wings Linz EBEL 30002 50330
NHL totals 606142024 —————
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Canada
Spengler Cup
Silver medal – second place 2010 Canada
Gold medal – first place 2012 Canada

Awards and honors

Award Year
BCHL
Second All-Star Team 1997
Rookie of the Year Award 1997
Playoff MVP Award 1997
First All-Star Team 1998
Best Defenceman Award 1998
College
All-WCHA Rookie Team 1999–00
WCHA All-Tournament Team 2000, 2001 [13]
All-WCHA First Team 2000–01
AHCA West First-Team All-American 2000–01
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 2001 [14]
AHL
Yanick Dupre Memorial Award 2002
First All-Star Team 2005
NLA
Most assists by Defenseman (32) 2011
Most Points by Defenseman (41) 2011
Championship (SC Bern) 2010, 2013
Spengler Cup
All-Star Team 2010 [10]

Transactions

References

  1. ↑ Travis Roche: Pre-collegiate/Collegiate Statistics
  2. ↑ Fighting Sioux Record Book, page 4
  3. ↑ Fighting Sioux
  4. ↑ Fighting Sioux Media Guide History pp25+
  5. ↑ Travis Roche career stats Archived 2008-01-20 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Canada's Team Roster for 2010 Spengler Cup". spenglercup.ch. 2010-12-17. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  7. 1 2 Paul Romanuk (January 1, 2013). "Romanuk: Spengler Cup provided some great memories". TSN. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Without NHL stars, Canada looks to defend Spengler Cup title". TSN. December 22, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Canada's roster for Spengler Cup". eurohockey.com. December 9, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Yashin goal helps St. Petersburg beat Canada for Spengler Cup". The Sports Network (TSN)/The Canadian Press. 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  11. ↑ "Career Stats – Travis Roche". TSN. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
  12. ↑ "Travis Roche complete defense" (in Swedish). Modo Hockey. 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
  13. ↑ "WCHA Tourney History". WCHA. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  14. ↑ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  15. ↑ "Minnesota Wild: Team Transactions 2000-2001". Minnesota Wild. 2001-05-06. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
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