Matt Clackson

Matthew Clackson (born April 26, 1985) is a Canadian-born American former professional ice hockey right winger who played six seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) for five different teams. His father, Kim Clackson, played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Quebec Nordiques.

Matt Clackson
Photo of Matt Clakson
Born (1985-04-26) April 26, 1985
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Right
Played for Philadelphia Phantoms
Adirondack Phantoms
Chicago Wolves
Hershey Bears
Portland Pirates
NHL Draft 215th overall, 2005
Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career 2008–2013

Playing career

Clackson attended Peters Township High School in McMurray, Pennsylvania, and played for the school's varsity ice hockey team, winning two Pennsylvania State AA Ice Hockey Championships. He was a teammate of NHLer Christian Hanson at Peters Township.[1] After high school, he played two seasons of Junior A with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and was selected 215th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers.

Following his draft, he spent three seasons with Western Michigan University of the NCAA circuit. After his junior season, he decided to forgo his senior year by signing with the Flyers on March 19, 2008. That same day, he was assigned to the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League (AHL);[2] he played two games with the AHL team to close out the 2008–09 season. Clackson then played three full seasons with the Philadelphia/Adirondack Phantoms, re-signing with the Flyers following the 2009–10 season.[2]

On June 7, 2011, Clackson was packaged into a trade that sent him, a 2012 third round draft pick and future considerations, to the Phoenix Coyotes, in exchange for goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.[3] Failing to come to terms with the Coyotes on a new contract, he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Several months later, he was invited to the Vancouver Canucks on a tryout basis during the team's training camp.[2]

On July 14, 2012, Clackson signed a one-year deal with the Washington Capitals. He will earn $525,000 at the NHL level and $75,000 at the AHL level.[4]

On April 2, 2013, he was traded from Washington to the Phoenix Coyotes in return of Joel Rechlicz.

NHL video explanation

During the 2011-12 pre-season, Clackson was illegally hit from behind by Calgary Flames forward Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond. In handing down a five-game suspension against Letourneau-Leblond, Brendan Shanahan, the new head of NHL discipline, posted on the NHL website video of the hit on Clackson to illustrate his ruling - the first of what would become Shanahan's trademark video explanations.[5]

Career statistics
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003–04 Chicago Steel USHL 42 5 4 9 108 5 0 1 1 8
2004–05 Chicago Steel USHL 56 10 15 25 270 8 0 2 2 26
2005–06 Western Michigan Broncos CCHA 34 1 1 2 52 — — — — —
2006–07 Western Michigan Broncos CCHA 36 0 8 8 80 — — — — —
2007–08 Western Michigan Broncos CCHA 35 3 3 6 87 — — — — —
2007–08 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 2 0 0 0 19 — — — — —
2008–09 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 80 3 6 9 263 4 0 0 0 4
2009–10 Adirondack Phantoms AHL 60 2 4 6 174 — — — — —
2010–11 Adirondack Phantoms AHL 62 1 3 4 118 — — — — —
2011–12 Chicago Wolves AHL 43 1 1 2 193 1 0 0 0 2
2012–13 Hershey Bears AHL 19 1 2 3 36 — — — — —
2012–13 Portland Pirates AHL 4 0 0 0 30 — — — — —
AHL totals 270 8 16 24 833 5 0 0 0 6

References
  1. Musketeers open against Tri-City Storm
  2. "Matt Clackson". The Sports Network. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
  3. "Flyers trade for Bryzgalov". Philadelphia Flyers. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  4. "Capitals sign Matt Clackson". Washington Capitals. 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
  5. Letourneau-Leblond suspension Video - NHL VideoCenter Archived 2011-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
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