November 30, 2009
By Jack McCarthy
Special to USAHockey.com
Jamie Langenbrunner is off to one of the best starts in his 12-year NHL career, which is not only good news for his New Jersey Devils, but for USA Hockey, too.
Langebrunner, the Devils’ 34-year-old captain, ranks in the top 45 in the league in points with 22 (5 goals, 17 assists) in 24 games. His contributions have helped the Devils land in second place in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, just a point behind defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh.
Could a call to represent the U.S. at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games be on the horizon?
 | Langenbrunner is putting together a strong showing as he awaits the Olympic team announcement. |
“You’ve got to be playing well [to make the team],” Langenbrunner said. “I had a good season last year, and I’m sure that’s why I’m here. Hopefully I’ll have a good [2009-10] year and we’ll see.”
He’s coming off a career-best regular season in which he posted 69 points (29 goals, 40 assists) in 81 games. Big numbers like that make the Cloquet, Minn., native a highly attractive prospect to make the 2010 U.S Olympic hockey team.
“It’s a great honor,” said Langenbrunner, among 34 invitees to a Team USA orientation camp over the summer in suburban Chicago. “Anytime you get the opportunity you want to do it and do your best at it.
“It’s fun to be a part of it. There’s a lot of great players starting with [Mike] Modano, down to the youngest — Patrick [Kane] — and a bunch in between.”
Langenbrunner is no stranger to Team USA. He’s had four previous appearances on U.S. national teams, including 2004 World Cup of Hockey, the 1998 Olympics and World Junior Championships in 1994 and 1995.
The 6-foot, 1-inch forward has played in 20 national team games, with three career goals and one assist.
Langenbrunner was a standout high school hockey player in Minnesota, leading the Cloquet Lumberjacks to back-to-back appearances in the state high school hockey tournament.
“[Hockey] is definitely a way of life in Cloquet,” he said. “It’s something you don’t think about as a kid, you just do it and enjoy it.”
Selected 35th overall by Dallas in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, Langenbrunner spent two seasons with Peterborough of the Ontario Hockey League. He chalked up 190 points (75 goals, 115 assists) in 124 games.
From there, it was on the International Hockey League and a stop in Kalamazoo, Mich., and with the Michigan K Wings. He played 59 IHL games over two seasons (1994-96) had 65 points in 59 games.
He also had two call-ups with the Stars, appearing in two games in 1994-95 and 12 the following season.
By 1996-97, Langenbrunner had landed a regular role in Dallas. He played in 76 games, was sixth in the league among rookies with 39 points and was named Stars rookie of the year.
Through six seasons in Texas, he appeared in 412 regular season games and collected 88 goals and 143 assists. In the 1998-99 playoffs, he appeared in 23 games and recorded 10 goals and 7 assists to help the Stars to a Stanley Cup.
Late in 2001-02, Langenbrunner and Joe Nieuwendyk were traded to New Jersey for two players and a first-round draft pick. (Nieuwendyk eventually returned to Dallas to become the Stars’ general manager.)
The trade paid dividends the following season as Lagenbrunner had a then career-high 22 goals and 33 assists during the regular season and led the team in goals (11) and points (18) in the postseason as the Devils captured the Stanley Cup.
For 2010, he’d like to add one more achievement—Olympic gold medalist.
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc. |