Mike Green (ice hockey, born 1985)

Green played his minor hockey career with the NASA Hockey Association, in Calgary, Alberta. He played major junior in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for five full seasons with the Saskatoon Blades. After a 14-goal, 39-point season in 2003–04, he was drafted in the first round, 29th overall, by the Washington Capitals in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

In 2005–06, Green split the season with the Capitals and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hershey Bears. He scored his first career NHL goal against Ed Belfour of the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 3, 2006,{{Cite web|title=NHL.com - Recap: Toronto @ Washington - 02/03/2006|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2005020794|access-date=2009-02-25|date=2006-02-03|publisher=NHL.com}} and finished with three points in 22 games for the Capitals. The next season, 2006–07, Green was selected to play in the 2007 NHL YoungStars Game for the Eastern Conference, where he registered three assists despite playing with a bruised foot.{{cite news|title=Foot Doesn't Stop Green's Big Night|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012301956.html|access-date=2009-02-11|date=2007-01-24|newspaper=Washington Post|first=Tarik|last=El-Bashir}} Not having played the 25-game minimum to qualify as a rookie the previous season, the 2006–07 season counted as Green's rookie campaign. He completed his second season with 12 points in 70 games, while still appearing in 12 games in the AHL with the Bears.

File:Mike Green Caps 2007.jpg

In 2007–08, Green emerged as an elite offensive NHL defenceman while playing on a young and talented Washington team which included forwards Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Nicklas Bäckström. Green earned the nickname "Game Over," made popular by play-by-play announcer Joe Beninati after his game-winning goals in the last minutes of the third period or overtime became a regular occurrence.{{Cite web|title=Mike "Game Over" Green |url=http://media.fans.nhl.com/_Mike-Game-Over-Green/BLOG/394252/111820.html |access-date=2011-04-10 |year=2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721232922/http://media.fans.nhl.com/_Mike-Game-Over-Green/BLOG/394252/111820.html |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |df=mdy }} Green finished the season with four game-winning goals to go with his NHL-leading 18 goals among defencemen and 56 points. Green did not start his goal-scoring run until after Bruce Boudreau replaced Glen Hanlon as head coach on Thanksgiving Day, 2007.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} That season, the Capitals made the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2003, and in his first career NHL playoff game on April 11, 2008, against the Philadelphia Flyers, Green brought Washington back from a 4–2 deficit with two goals in the third period. The Capitals eventually won the game on an Ovechkin game-winning goal. Known for his very powerful and heavy shot, Green took a slapshot from the blue line that same game that was blocked by Philadelphia's Patrick Thoresen; the shot broke Thoresen's protective cup and nearly ruptured a testicle, and he had to be taken to a local hospital, missing the next game.{{Cite web|title=Lucky Thoresen has grit|url=http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/131-04132008-1518265.html|access-date=2009-02-11|date=2008-04-13}}{{dead link|date=December 2011}} After the game, Green called Thoresen to check in on him. In Game 3, on April 15, Green recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, an assist and a fight) in a 6–3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. The series went the distance, but the Capitals would lose in the seventh game.

During the 2008 playoffs, Green's signature "faux hawk" hairstyle received increased publicity as his profile in the NHL was raised. An Elliot in the Morning promotion, "Rawk the Hawk," had Green into the studio for the haircut, which willing fans could also have done for playoff tickets. The D.C. morning talk radio show brought this promotion back for the 2009 season, offering tickets for the first game of each new series.{{Cite web|title=EITMonline.com - Rawk The Hawk round 1 |url=http://www.eitmonline.com/eitmphotos.html |access-date=2009-05-11 |date=2009-04-14 |publisher=Elliot in the Morning |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425180738/http://www.eitmonline.com/eitmphotos.html |archive-date=April 25, 2009 }} Additionally, during the season, an unofficial Green fan club, dubbed the "Gang Green" began showing up to home games wearing dark green T-shirts with "Gang Green" written on the front and Green's nickname, "GAME OVER," as the name plate on the back above the number 52.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}

Image:Mike Green.jpg

At the end of the season, on May 21, 2008, Green was named to the Sporting News' NHL All-Star team along with teammate Alexander Ovechkin.{{cite magazine|title=Sporting News lauds Ovechkin |url=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/sports/story.html?id=8d76e6a8-c5c1-483d-b0a8-6b708bfb637c |access-date=2009-02-11 |date=2008-05-21 |magazine=Sporting News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106055027/http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/sports/story.html?id=8d76e6a8-c5c1-483d-b0a8-6b708bfb637c |archive-date=November 6, 2012 |df=mdy }} Later in the summer, Green signed a four-year contract extension with the Capitals, on July 1, averaging to $5.25 million per year.{{cite news|title=Mike Green gets 4 years, $21 million from Caps|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hki/5865568.html|access-date=2009-02-11|date=2008-07-01|newspaper=Houston Chronicle}}

Green picked up where he left off in 2008–09, but was plagued by injuries early in the season. Returning from the sidelines, Green captured back-to-back NHL Third Stars of the Week for the weeks ending February 1 and 8, 2009.{{Cite news|title=Quick, Hossa, Green named 'Three Stars'|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=408511|access-date=2009-04-01|date=2009-02-09|publisher=National Hockey League}} On February 14, Green scored in his eighth consecutive game, setting the NHL record for most consecutive games with a goal by a defenceman. The former record was set by Mike O'Connell in the 1983–84 season.{{Cite news|title=Capitals' Green sets NHL record|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/capitals-defenceman-green-sets-nhl-record-1.853547|publisher=CBC|access-date=2009-02-14|date=2009-02-14}} Then, after receiving a Second Star of the Week for the week ending March 23,{{cite news|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/23/sports/HKN-NHL-Players-of-The-Week.php|title=NHL Stars of the Week|date=2009-03-23|access-date=2009-04-01|newspaper=International Herald Tribune}}{{dead link|date=December 2011}} he became just the eighth defenceman in history to score 30 goals in a season in a game against the New York Islanders on April 1.{{cite news|title=Green reaches milestone in Caps win|url=http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/02/greens-reaches-milestone-in-caps-win/|access-date=2009-04-01|date=2009-04-01|newspaper=Washington Times}} Finishing with 31 goals on the season, Green tallied 18 on the power play, one short of Sheldon Souray's 2006–07 record of 19.{{Cite news|title=Green Means Go For The Norris|newspaper=Bleacher Report |url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/150022-green-means-go-for-the-norris|access-date=2009-04-13|publisher=BleacherReport|last1=Evans |first1=Zach }}

In April 2009, Green was nominated for the James Norris Memorial Trophy for the NHL's top defenceman, along with Zdeno Chára and Nicklas Lidström.{{Cite news|title=Lidstrom up for 7th Norris Trophy|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/lidstrom-up-for-7th-norris-trophy-1.775189|access-date=2009-05-14|date=2009-04-23|publisher=CBC}} Green has been nominated for the award twice.{{cite magazine|title=Mike Green colors the Norris race|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/sarah_kwak/02/06/mike.green/|access-date=2010-04-28|date=2009-02-06|magazine=Sports Illustrated|archive-date=February 13, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213221408/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/sarah_kwak/02/06/mike.green/|url-status=dead}}

In 2009–10, Green set a career-high with 76 points. He missed a lot of time during the following two seasons due to various injuries.

On July 16, 2012, Green signed a three-year contract extension worth $18.25 million to stay with the Capitals.{{cite web|url=http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/07/mike-green-signs-contract-extension-with-capitals-77889.html|title=Mike Green signs contract extension with Capitals|first=Sinclair Broadcast|last=Group|date=July 16, 2012|access-date=July 16, 2012|archive-date=September 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120917234450/http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/07/mike-green-signs-contract-extension-with-capitals-77889.html|url-status=dead}}

In the 2012–13 NHL season, Green led all NHL defencemen in goals scored with 12.

In the 2013–14 season, Green was demoted to Washington's second power play unit. The emergence of John Carlson led to less ice time for “Game Over Green”.

In the 2014-15 season, Green played bottom pairing minutes mainly alongside defensive partner Nate Schmidt. Green periodically got more ice time on the first power play unit and was able to have a respectable offensive season with 45 points. Still a far-cry from his output in previous years, Green played an integral role in the capitals playoff run with the services of Dmitry Orlov being unavailable for the entire season.

On July 1, 2015, the Detroit Red Wings signed Green to a three-year, $18 million contract.{{cite web|title=Green agrees to three-years with Wings|url=http://redwings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=773493|publisher=Detroit Red Wings|first= Bill|last=Roose|date=July 1, 2015|access-date=July 1, 2015}}

On October 17, 2016, Green notched his first career hat trick against Andrew Hammond of the Ottawa Senators.{{cite web|url=https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-ott/2016/10/17/2016020035/recap|title=Ottawa Senators - Detroit Red Wings - October 17th, 2016|website=NHL.com}}

During the 2017–18 season, Green was named to the NHL All-Star Game for the second time in his career after leading team defencemen in scoring and ranking fourth overall on the team.{{cite web|last1=Kujawa|first1=Kyle|title=Mike Green named 2018 NHL All-Star|url=https://www.nhl.com/redwings/news/mike-green-named-2018-nhl-all-star/c-294843114|website=NHL.com|access-date=March 22, 2018|date=January 10, 2018}} Green's season was cut short in March when he was ruled out for the rest of the season due to his injuries.{{cite web|title=Green out rest of season for Red Wings|url=https://www.nhl.com/news/mike-green-out-rest-of-season-for-detroit/c-297215236|website=NHL.com|access-date=March 22, 2018|date=March 22, 2018}}

On June 30, 2018, the Red Wings resigned Green to a two-year, $10.75 million contract. After playing in 43 games the following season, Green was announced to be sitting out the rest of the year to recover from a virus on March 7, 2019.{{cite web|title=Red Wings' Mike Green out for season to recover from virus|url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/red-wings-mike-green-season-recover-virus/|access-date=March 7, 2019|date=March 7, 2019 | publisher = Sportsnet.ca }} During the 2019–20 season, Green recorded three goals and eights assists in 48 games for the Red Wings.{{cite web| url = https://www.tsn.ca/edmonton-oilers-acquire-mike-green-from-detroit-red-wings-1.1447498 | title = Oilers acquire Green from Red Wings | publisher = The Sports Network | date = February 23, 2020 | access-date = February 23, 2020}}

On February 24, 2020, Green was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Kyle Brodziak and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.nhl.com/redwings/news/conditional-draft-pick-acquired-from-oilers-for-green/c-315469588 |title=Red Wings acquire conditional draft pick from Oilers for Green |first=Kyle |last=Kujawa |website=NHL.com |date=February 24, 2020 |access-date=February 24, 2020}} He skated in two games for the team before suffering a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL).{{cite web |title=#Oilers defenceman Mike Green will be out of action for three to four weeks with a sprained MCL. |url=https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1233450642938548224 |website=Twitter |access-date=February 28, 2020}}

Green decided to opt out of the league's return to play program after the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite web |title=RELEASE: Green opts out of NHL's Return To Play Program |url=https://www.nhl.com/oilers/news/release-green-opts-out-of-nhls-return-to-play-program/c-317387456 |website=Edmonton Oilers |access-date=July 11, 2020}} On August 26, 2020, Green announced his retirement in an interview with The Athletic.{{cite news| url=https://theathletic.com/2022765/2020/08/26/i-needed-to-move-on-mike-green-retires-reflects-on-capitals-family-career/?source=twittered | work= The Athletic | title = 'I needed to move on': Mike Green retires, reflects on Capitals, career and future | date = 2020-08-26 | access-date = 2020-08-26}}

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Following his break-out season with the Capitals, Green debuted for Team Canada at the 2008 IIHF World Championship as the host country. He recorded 12 points in eight games as Canada went on to win a silver medal, losing to Russia in overtime in the gold medal game. Green was named to the tournament All-Star team. He was also selected for the 2010 Winter Olympics summer roster for Team Canada in August 2009 and considered a favourite, but did not make the final roster cut.{{cite news| url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/breaking-down-canada-s-olympic-camp-invitees-1.832570 | work= CBC News | title = Canada's roster possibilities | date = 2009-08-22 | access-date = 2009-08-22}}

File:Michelle Obama Lets Move hockey cropped (Green).jpg Michelle Obama at the White House in 2011 to promote her Let's Move! initiative]]

Green is involved in a number of community organizations and events. He is raising money for Children's National Medical Center as part of America's Giving Challenge, sponsored by Parade magazine. He also participated with Alexander Ovechkin in speaking at a local middle school and participating in a game of floor hockey.{{cite web|url=http://capitals.nhl.com/team/app/?service%3Dpage%26page%3DNewsPage%26articleid%3D350302 |title=Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green and Dean Evason Host Capitals Hockey School at Arlington's Williamsburg Middle School|access-date=January 18, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119065149/http://capitals.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=350302 |archive-date=January 19, 2008 }} Green also has a program called "Green's Gang," where he purchases seven season tickets and donates them to Most Valuable Kids, a non-profit organization that works with underprivileged kids and active military.{{cite web|url=http://www.mostvaluablekids.org/greensgang.cfm|title=Most Valuable Kids - Home|website=www.mostvaluablekids.org}}

In 2008, Green founded a charity called So Kids Can with Elliot Segal, host of DC101's Elliot in the Morning. During the 2011–12 season, the group raised money to construct a playground at Hopkins-Tancil Court in Old Town Alexandria (Virginia). Working with [http://www.kaboom.org KaBOOM!], a national non-profit dedicated to building playgrounds, the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and over 200 Washington Capitals fans and community volunteers, Green and Segal oversaw the construction of that playground. The S.T.A.R.S playground held its official opening on September 19, 2012. So Kids Can has raised over $200,000 since its founding.{{cite web |url=http://www.ontaponline.com/2012/10/01/caps-players-hard-at-work-on-the-playground/ |title=Caps Players Hard at Work on the Playground |access-date=2013-07-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324073815/http://www.ontaponline.com/2012/10/01/caps-players-hard-at-work-on-the-playground/ |archive-date=March 24, 2013 |df=mdy-all }} On August 9, 2014, Green married his longtime girlfriend, Courtney Parrie{{cite web|url=http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2014/08/09/mike-green-got-married-looked-excellent/|title=Mike Green Got Married, Looked Excellent|date=August 9, 2014}} and the couple have three children together.{{cite web |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BEw36l8Am_d/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/BEw36l8Am_d |archive-date=December 24, 2021 |url-access=registration|title=Mikegreen25 on Instagram}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/B5IxXuGJUgL/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/B5IxXuGJUgL |archive-date=December 24, 2021 |url-access=registration|title=Mikegreen25 on Instagram}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CPqJCP5h2vN/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CPqJCP5h2vN |archive-date=December 24, 2021 |url-access=registration| title=Mikegreen25 on Instagram}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BOGPHHrjBLO/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/BOGPHHrjBLO |archive-date=December 24, 2021 |url-access=registration|title=Mikegreen25 on Instagram: "Axel's first snow day in Detroit. He loved it. Photo Cred @cparrie"|website=Instagram}}{{cbignore}}

• Longest consecutive goal scoring streak by a defenceman — 8 games in 2008–09 (surpassed Mike O'Connell, 7 games in 1983–84)

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{{succession box | before = Jeff Schultz | title = Washington Capitals first round draft pick | years = 2004 | after = Sasha Pokulok}}

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Category:1985 births

Category:Living people

Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States

Category:Canadian ice hockey defencemen

Category:Detroit Red Wings players

Category:Edmonton Oilers players

Category:Hershey Bears players

Category:Ice hockey people from Calgary

Category:NHL first-round draft picks

Category:National Hockey League All-Stars

Category:Saskatoon Blades players

Category:Washington Capitals draft picks

Category:Washington Capitals players

Category:21st-century Canadian sportsmen