Luke Pither

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| image = Luke Pither (8549781311).jpg

| caption = Pither with the Charlotte Checkers in 2013

| image_size = 225px

| team = Bayreuth Tigers

| league = DEL2

| prospect_team =

| prospect_league =

| former_teams = Adirondack Phantoms
Charlotte Checkers
KalPa
EC KAC
St. John's IceCaps
Syracuse Crunch
Utica Comets
Almtuna IS
Nottingham Panthers
EHC Freiburg
HC Pustertal Wölfe

| position = Centre

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 0

| weight_lb = 194

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1989|04|26}}

| birth_place = Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

| draft =

| career_start = 2010

|}}

Luke Pither (born April 26, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He is currently signed with Saugeen Shores Winterhawks of the WOAA Senior AA Hockey League.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/11240/luke-pither|title=Luke Pither at eliteprospects.com|website=www.eliteprospects.com|accessdate=December 9, 2023}}

Playing career

After five seasons of playing junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League, Pither signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on March 4, 2010.{{cite news | url = http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=520158 | title = Flyers Sign Three Prospects | publisher = Philadelphia Flyers | date = 2010-03-04 | accessdate = 2012-02-09}}

On January 13, 2013, it was announced Pither was traded by the Flyers to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for goalie Brian Boucher and Mark Alt.{{cite web| url = http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=650126 | publisher = Carolina Hurricanes | date = 2013-01-13| accessdate = 2013-01-13 | title = Canes acquire Pither from Flyers for Boucher, Alt }}

On July 29, 2013, Pither moved abroad and signed a one-year contract as a free agent in Finland with KalPa who competed in the Liiga.{{cite web| url = http://www.jatkoaika.com/Uutiset/kalpa-palkkasi-farmijyr%C3%A4n/150272 | title = KalPa signs Canadian | publisher = KalPa | date = 2013-07-29 | accessdate = 2013-07-29}} In the 2013–14 season, Pither was hampered by injury and played in just 20 games, contributing with 5 goals.

Pither opted to change European leagues, in agreeing to a one-year contract with Austrian club EC KAC of the EBEL on May 22, 2014.{{cite web | url = http://www.kac.at/luke-pither-verstarkt-die-rotjacken/ | title = Luke Pither reinforces the Redcoats! | publisher = EC KAC | date = 2014-05-22 | accessdate = 2014-05-22 | language = German | archive-url = https://archive.today/20140817121515/http://www.kac.at/luke-pither-verstarkt-die-rotjacken/ | archive-date = August 17, 2014 | url-status = dead }}

After two seasons in Europe, Pither returned to North America and with the 2015–16 season underway, signed a contract with the Brampton Beast of the ECHL on October 28, 2015.{{cite web| url = http://bramptonbeast.com/news/?article_id=509 | title = Former NHLer and Battalion legend Vernace joins beast | publisher = Brampton Beast | date = 2015-10-28 | accessdate = 2015-10-28}} He played two seasons with the Beast, with short stints spread throughout the AHL, before agreeing to return abroad in signing a one-year deal with Swedish outfit, Almtuna IS, of the HockeyAllsvenskan on June 7, 2017.{{cite web| url = http://www.almtuna.com/artikel/9ju8aj3m3-1bc61/ | title = Almtuna presents Luke Pither who last represented the Brampton Beast of the ECHL | publisher = Almtuna IS | date = 2017-06-07 | accessdate = 2017-06-07 | language = Swedish}}

In January 2018, Pither moved to the UK's EIHL to sign for the Nottingham Panthers, remaining with the team until 2019.{{cite web| url = https://twitter.com/PanthersIHC/status/955500560043528192 | title = Canadian Pither signs with Panthers | publisher = Nottingham Panthers | date = January 14, 2018 | accessdate = January 14, 2018}}

After a season in Germany's DEL2 with EHC Freiburg, Pither returned to Canada to sign with former club, the Brampton Beast of the ECHL on October 16, 2020.{{cite web| url = https://www.bramptonbeast.com/en/news/luke-pither-returns-from-europe-and-inks-deal-with-beast | title = Luke Pither returns from Europe and inks deal with Beast | publisher = Brampton Beast | date = October 16, 2020 | accessdate = October 16, 2020}} With the Beast later suspending operations for the season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Pither was subsequently released as a free agent.

Pither later had a short spell in the Alps Hockey League (AlpsHL) with HC Pustertal Wölfe before returning to the DEL2 for the 2021-22 season with Bayreuth Tigers.