Dean Strong

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| alt =

| name = Dean Strong

| image =

| image_size = 230px

| caption =

| played_for = Worcester Sharks
Chicago Wolves
Lake Erie Monsters
HC Valpellice

| position = Forward

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1985|07|17}}

| birth_place = Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 9

| weight_lb = 174

| shoots = Right

| draft = Undrafted

| career_start = 2009

| career_end = 2014

}}

Dean Strong (born July 17, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played for HC Valpellice of the Italian Elite.A.

Playing career

Undrafted and prior to turning professional, he attended the University of Vermont, where he played four seasons of NCAA Division I college hockey with the Vermont Catamounts men's ice hockey team. In his final year with Vermont as a senior in the 2008–09 season, he set a Vermont record when he appeared in his 154th-straight game with the Catamounts. He also captained the team to the Frozen Four.{{cite web| url = https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/puck-daddy-chats-vermonts-dean-strong-battling-bu--nhl.html | title = Puck daddy chats with Vermont's Dean Strong | publisher = Yahoo! Sports | date = 2009-04-09 | accessdate = 2012-12-02}}

On August 4, 2011, Strong signed a one-year deal to remain contracted with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL for his third professional season in 2011–12.{{cite web | url = http://www.echl.com/k-wings-sign-trio-of-forwards-p172095 | title = K-Wings sign trio of forwards | publisher = ECHL | date = 2011-08-04 | accessdate = 2011-08-04 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110920192345/http://www.echl.com/k-wings-sign-trio-of-forwards-p172095 | archive-date = September 20, 2011 | url-status = dead }} After beginning the year with the Chicago Wolves, Strong played in 21 games for the Wings, posting 23 points, before he was loaned to the Lake Erie Monsters for the remainder of their regular season. He appeared in a career-high 54 games AHL for 17 points.

Strong was signed to a one-year AHL contract to return to the Lake Erie Monsters for the following season.{{Cite web | url = http://www.lakeeriemonsters.com/news/news/?article_id=1737 | title = 2012-13 training camp roster announced | publisher = Lake Erie Monsters | date = 2012-09-28 | accessdate = 2012-09-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140110085547/http://lakeeriemonsters.com/news/news/?article_id=1737 | archive-date = January 10, 2014 | url-status = dead }} Suffering an early injury and used as a reserve forward, Strong was loaned to the Central Hockey League affiliate, the Denver Cutthroats, on December 5, 2012. After 3 games he returned to the Monsters and claimed a regular checking line role to contribute with 13 points in 36 games.

As a free agent, Strong was signed to his second European contract, with Italian club, HC Valpellice, on September 2, 2013.{{Cite web| url = http://www.hcvalpellice.net/NotiziaDettaglio.php?idNews=3644 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130903044334/http://www.hcvalpellice.net/NotiziaDettaglio.php?idNews=3644 | url-status = usurped | archive-date = September 3, 2013 | title = Great participation for the opening campaign | publisher = HC Valpellice | date = 2013-09-02 | accessdate = 2013-09-02 | language = Italian}}

Career statistics

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Regular season

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Playoffs

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Season

! Team

! League

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

ALIGN="center"

| 2002–03

| Milton Merchants

| OPJHL

| 43

| 14

| 7

| 21

| 8

| —

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2003–04

| Milton Icehawks

| OPJHL

| 48

| 29

| 32

| 61

| 28

| —

ALIGN="center"

| 2004–05

| Vernon Vipers

| BCHL

| 56

| 35

| 56

| 91

| 28

| 14

| 6

| 5

| 11

| 16

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2005–06

| University of Vermont

| HE

| 38

| 9

| 15

| 24

| 21

| —

ALIGN="center"

| 2006–07

| University of Vermont

| HE

| 39

| 13

| 18

| 31

| 50

| —

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2007–08

| University of Vermont

| HE

| 39

| 8

| 20

| 28

| 20

| —

ALIGN="center"

| 2008–09

| University of Vermont

| HE

| 39

| 5

| 19

| 24

| 10

| —

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2009–10

| Kalamazoo Wings

| ECHL

| 34

| 16

| 21

| 37

| 27

| 5

| 1

| 2

| 3

| 0

ALIGN="center"

| 2009–10

| Worcester Sharks

| AHL

| 16

| 2

| 3

| 5

| 2

| 6

| 1

| 2

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2010–11

| Eispiraten Crimmitschau

| 2.GBun

| 25

| 10

| 13

| 23

| 8

| —

ALIGN="center"

| 2010–11

| Kalamazoo Wings

| ECHL

| 6

| 3

| 4

| 7

| 2

| 15

| 7

| 14

| 8

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2011–12

| Chicago Wolves

| AHL

| 5

| 0

| 3

| 2

| —

ALIGN="center"

| 2011–12

| Kalamazoo Wings

| ECHL

| 21

| 11

| 12

| 23

| 20

| 8

| 0

| 2

| 0

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2011–12

| Lake Erie Monsters

| AHL

| 49

| 4

| 10

| 14

| 10

| —

ALIGN="center"

| 2012–13

| Lake Erie Monsters

| AHL

| 36

| 5

| 8

| 13

| 12

| —

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2012–13

| Denver Cutthroats

| CHL

| 3

| 1

| 0

| 1

| 2

| —

ALIGN="center"

| 2013–14

| HC Valpellice

| ITL

| 39

| 26

| 23

| 49

| 40

| 4

| 1

| 5

| 2

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | AHL totals

! 106

! 11

! 24

! 35

! 26

! 6

! 1

! 2

Awards and honours

class="wikitable"

! Award

! Year

Hockey East Len Ceglarski Award - Sportsmanship

| 2008–09

| {{cite web|url=http://www.vermontcynic.com/sports/sports-sports-shorts-1.1624245#.TvABOvKwVM0 |publisher=University of Vermont |date=2009-03-02 |accessdate=2011-01-02 |title=Strong earns sportsmanship nod |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510184210/http://www.vermontcynic.com/sports/sports-sports-shorts-1.1624245 |archivedate=May 10, 2012 |df=mdy }}