GrantPotulny

Grant Potulny

Grant Potulny (born March 4, 1980, in Grand Forks, North Dakota ) is an professional

ice hockey player. Grant was drafted by the Senators in the fifth round of the 2000 NHL

entry draft Draft. Grant was coming off a solid season in the USHL with the Lincoln

Stars where he notched 25 goals and 30 assists during the 1999-2000 USHL season.

Following the USHL Potulny was given a scholarship from Don Lucia to play for the

University of Minnesota where he played from 2000-2004. This scholarship marked the

first time a "non-Minnesotan" was given such an accolade in over 15 years at the

U of M. Potulny's stay in Minnesota will forever be engrained in the minds of all

Gophers Hockey fans across the State-of-Hockey, not for his goal scoring abilities, but for his leadership, and definitely his OT goal in the 2002 National Championship game that returned Minnesota to NCAA hockey supremacy for the first time since 1979. During Grant's Maroon and Gold campaign it included back-to-back National Championships in 2002 and 2003. Grant's most memorable collegiate goal came back in 2002, when he scored the game-winner in overtime over Maine to win the first of two consecutive National Championships for Minnesota. Potulny was not known for his overall offensive ability, but his outstanding clutch play and leadership as the Gophers captain. Potulny was a real leader and character player during his 4 seasons at Minnesota. "He has tremendous hockey smarts, excellent leadership skills and is the consummate team player. He's a mucker and a grinder," Gophers coach Don Lucia said. "He's not pretty, but he's got great character and he seems to come up big in games. It's more his type of game."

A testament to that is Potulny has scored a goal in all three NCAA Tournament games he played in.

"Grant's not the flashiest player, but he's good around the net," Lucia added. "And I don't think there's too many people that are concerned whether he's from the state of Minnesota right now."- Don Lucia comments prior to the 2002 Championship game.

Being the first guy in 15 years to play from out of state is a big deal and I think he's handled it well -- and we're glad to have him," Leopold added. "Most of the guys are from Minnesota … The other guys that aren't, they wear the "M" too. And they're part of our family." Jordan Leopold Comments on Potulny

Following Grant's stay in Minnesota he has played for the NHL's Ottawa Senators "farm/minor team-club" in the AHL the--Binghampton Senators--starting in 2003-2007. So far Grant's best season with the Senators has been the 2005-2006 campaign where he accumulated 46 total points in 78 games played. Grant is also the older brother of former Gophers Hockey standout, and AHL/NHL player; Ryan Potulny.

Regular Season Playoffs

Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM

1998-99 Lincoln Stars USHL 46 7 11 18 76 10 2 1 3 7

1999-00 Lincoln Stars USHL 56 25 30 55 85 10 3 4 7 4

2000-01 U. of Minnesota NCAA 42 22 11 33 38

2001-02 U. of Minnesota NCAA 43 15 19 34 38

2002-03 U. of Minnesota NCAA 23 15 8 23 12

2003-04 U. of Minnesota NCAA 38 16 10 26 28

2003-04 Binghamton Senators AHL 3 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0

2004-05 Binghamton Senators AHL 50 4 6 10 104 6 0 0 0 2

2005-06 Binghamton Senators AHL 78 23 23 46 122

2006-07 Binghamton Senators AHL 47 10 10 20 85