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Courtney Martinez | NCAA.com | April 14, 2016

NHL Playoffs 2016: Where players and coaches got their start in NCAA hockey

The NHL Playoffs begin on Wednesday with the Stanley Cup on the line and the rosters are chock-full of players that made their way up from the ranks of NCAA hockey.

Out of the 60 teams in Division I, 36 different programs have combined for 121 players on current 16 NHL playoff rosters. Minnesota leads all teams with 11 former players while recent champion North Dakota and Wisconsin tie for second with nine each.

As far as which professional franchise has the most former players, the Pittsburgh Penguins have 15 players on their roster while Minnesota Wild have 14, including five that also played college hockey in The Land of 10,000 Lakes. The Eastern Conference outnumbers the Western Conference by 11 players..

  2009 Boston University championship team
The most members from a NCAA championship team goes to the 2009 Boston Terriers, represented by Nashville’s Colin Wilson, Islanders’ Brian Strait, Pittsburgh’s Nick Bonino, San Jose’s Kevin Shattenkirk. Fellow Beanpot member Boston College has three with its 2012 national championship team (Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider for Rangers, Brian Dumoulin for Penguins).

A total of 18 players won a national championship during their time in the NCAA, with Paul Martin and Matt Carle the only two to win a pair of NCAA titles. Martin won back-to-back national titles with the 2002 and 2003 Minnesota team and Carle followed the feat with the 2004 and 2005 Denver teams.

The NHL playoffs aren't just limited to the players on the roster, but the team's head coaches as well who either played or coached in the NCAA.

  Flyers and former UND head coach Dake Hakstol
Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill was at the helm of Western Michigan's program for just one season, but earned several coach of the year honors with the Broncos. Mike Sullivan, who took over as Pittsburgh head coach in December, spent four seasons at Boston University from 1986-90 before a successful 11-year playing career in the NHL. NY Islanders' head coach Jack Caupano remains the highest-scoring defenseman for the University of Maine.

Phildelphia Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol, who has reached the playoffs in his first season, played and coach at North Dakota. Hakstol attended UND from 1989-92 and made seven Frozen Four appearances in 11 seasons as head coach with a 289-141-43 record.

Here is the full breakdown of players by college, NHL team and years played based on College Hockey Inc databases.

*Editor's Note: Rosters and figures are current at time of publication.

Player College Yrs NHL
Jay Beagle Alaska-Anchorage 2 Washington Capitals
Colton Parakyo Alaska-Fairbanks 3 St. Louis Blues
Matt Read Bemidji 4 Philadelphia Flyers
Patrick Eaves Boston College 3 Dallas Stars
Michael Matheson Boston College 3 Florida Panthers
Rob Scuderi Boston College 4 Los Angeles Kings
Chris Kreider Boston College 3 N.Y. Rangers
Kevin Hayes Boston College 4 N.Y. Rangers
Brian Dumoulin Boston College 3 Pittsburgh Penguins
Brian Boyle Boston College 4 Tampa Bay Lightning
Brooks Orpik Boston College 3 Washington Capitals
Charlie Coyle Boston Univ. 2 Minnesota Wild
Colin Wilson Boston Univ. 2 Nashville Predators
Brian Strait Boston Univ. 3 N.Y. Islanders
Nick Bonino Boston Univ. 3 Pittsburgh Penguins
Matt Nieto Boston Univ. 3 San Jose Sharks
Kevin Shattenkirk Boston Univ. 3 St. Louis Blues
Kevin Bieksa Bowling Green State 4 Anaheim Ducks
Ryan Garbutt Brown 4 Anaheim Ducks
Nate Prosser Colorado College 4 Minnesota Wild
Jaden Schwartz Colorado College 2 St. Louis Blues
Willie Mitchell Clarkson 2 Florida Panthers
Chris Wagner Colgate 2 Anaheim Ducks
David Jones Dartmouth 3 Minnesota Wild
Tanner Glass Dartmouth 4 N.Y. Rangers
Ben Lovejoy Dartmouth 4 Pittsburgh Penguins
Nick Shore Denver 3 Los Angeles Kings
Jason Zucker Denver 2 Minnesota Wild
Beau Bennett Denver 2 Pittsburgh Penguins
Paul Stastny Denver 2 St. Louis Blues
Matt Carle Denver 2 Tampa Bay Lightning
Chris Kunitz Ferris St. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins
Dominic Moore Harvard 4 N.Y. Rangers
Alex Killorn Harvard 4 Tampa Bay Lightning
Scott Darling Maine 2 Chicago Blackhawks
Jimmy Howard Maine 3 Detroit Red Wings
Gustav Nyquist Maine 3 Detroit Red Wings
Teddy Purcell Maine 1 Florida Panthers
Ben Bishop Maine 3 Tampa Bay Lightning
Reilly Smith Miami (Ohio) 3 Florida Panthers
Alec Martinez Miami (Ohio) 3 Los Angeles Kings
Dan Boyle Miami (Ohio) 4 N.Y. Rangers
Jeff Zatkoff Miami (Ohio) 3 Pittsburgh Penguins
Tommy Wingels Miami (Ohio) 3 San Jose Sharks
Andrew Cogliano Michigan 2 Anaheim Ducks
Dylan Larkin Michigan 1 Detroit Red Wings
Luke Glendening Michigan 4 Detroit Red Wings
Al Montoya Michigan 3 Florida Panthers
Steve Kampfer Michigan 4 Florida Panthers
Eric Nystrom Michigan 4 Nashville Predators
Carl Hagelin Michigan 4 Pittsburgh Penguins
Kevin Porter Michigan 4 Pittsburgh Penguins
Shawn Horcoff Michigan State 4 Anaheim Ducks
Duncan Keith Michigan State 2 Chicago Blackhawks
Justin Abdelkader Michigan State 3 Detroit Red Wings
Drew Miller Michigan State 3 Detroit Red Wings
Alex Goligoski Minnesota 3 Dallas Stars
Nick Bjugstad Minnesota 3 Florida Panthers
Thomas Vanek Minnesota 2 Minnesota Wild
Jordan Schroeder Minnesota 2 Minnesota Wild
Erik Haula Minnesota 3 Minnesota Wild
Nick Leddy Minnesota 1 N.Y. Islanders
Kyle Okposo Minnesota 2 N.Y. Islanders
Brady Skjei Minnesota 3 N.Y. Rangers
Phil Kessel Minnesota 1 Pittsburgh Penguins
Paul Martin Minnesota 3 San Jose Sharks
Nate Schmidt Minnesota 3 Washington Capitals
Justin Fontaine Minnesota Duluth 4 Minnesota Wild
J.T. Brown Minnesota Duluth 2 Tampa Bay Lightning
Jason Garrison Minnesota Duluth 3 Tampa Bay Lightning
Matt Niskanen Minnesota Duluth 2 Washington Capitals
Ryan Carter Minnesota State 2 Minnesota Wild
David Backes Minnesota State 3 St. Louis Blues
Andrej Sustr Nebraska Omaha 3 Tampa Bay Lightning
Jonathan Toews North Dakota 2 Chicago Blackhawks
Rocco Grimaldi North Dakota 3 Florida Panthers
Matt Greene North Dakota 3 Los Angeles Kings
Zach Parise North Dakota 2 Minnesota Wild
Chris Porter North Dakota 4 Minnesota Wild
Brock Nelson North Dakota 2 N.Y. Islanders
Chris VandeVelde North Dakota 4 Phildelphia Flyers
Taylor Chorney North Dakota 3 Washington Capitals
TJ Oshie North Dakota 3 Washington Capitals
Stephen Johns Notre Dame 4 Dallas Stars
RIley Sheahan Notre Dame 3 Detroit Red Wings
Anders Lee Notre Dame 3 N.Y. Islanders
Ian Cole Notre Dame 3 Pittsburgh Penguins
Bryan Rust Notre Dame 4 Pittsburgh Penguins
Erik Condra Notre Dame 4 Tampa Bay Lightning
Mike Santorelli Northern Michigan 3 Anaheim Ducks
Josh Manson Northeastern 3 Anaheim Ducks
Jamie Oleksiak Northeastern 1 Dallas Stars
Anthony Bitetto Northeastern 2 Nashville Predators
Ryan Kesler Ohio State 1 Anaheim Ducks
Zac Dalpe Ohio State 2 Minnesota Wild
RJ Umberger Ohio State 3 Philadelphia Flyers
Matt Taormina Providence 4 Tampa Bay Lightning
Brandon Pirri RPI 1 Anaheim Ducks
Matt Cullen St. Cloud State 2 Pittsburgh Penguins
Jonathan Quick UMass 2 Los Angeles Kings
Conor Sheary UMass 4 Pittsburgh Penguins
Justin Braun UMass 4 San Jose Sharks
Christian Folin UMass-Lowell 2 Minnesota Wild
Carter Hutton UMass-Lowell 4 Nashville Predators
Scott Wilson UMass-Lowell 3 Pittsburgh Penguins
Trevor van Riemsdyk UNH 3 Chicago Blackhawks
Daniel Winnik UNH 3 Washington Capitals
Shayne Gostisbehere Union 3 Philadelphia Flyers
Patrick Sharp Vermont 2 Dallas Stars
Viktor Stalberg Vermont 3 N.Y. Rangers
Danny DeKeyser Western Michigan 3 Detroit Red Wings
Matt Tennyson Western Michigan 3 San Jose Sharks
Brendan Smith Wisconsin 3 Detroit Red Wings
Jamie McBain Wisconsin 3 Los Angeles Kings
Ryan Suter Wisconsin 1 Minnesota Wild
Craig Smith Wisconsin 2 Nashville Predators
Derek Stepan Wisconsin 2 N.Y. Rangers
Ryan McDonagh Wisconsin 3 N.Y. Rangers
Justin Schultz Wisconsin 3 Pittsburgh Penguins
Joe Pavelski Wisconsin 2 San Jose Sharks
Brian Elliott Wisconsin 4 St. Louis Blues

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