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Michael St. Croix

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Michael St. Croix
Born (1993-04-10) April 10, 1993 (age 31)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 179 lb (81 kg; 12 st 11 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Right
Played for Hartford Wolf Pack
Greenville Road Warriors
Greenville Swamp Rabbits
NHL draft 106th overall, 2011
New York Rangers
Playing career 2013–2020

Michael St. Croix (born April 10, 1993) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played for the Winkler Royals of the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League. He formerly played for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in the ECHL as a prospect of the New York Rangers organization. He was drafted by the Rangers in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. As of 2011, he is the Oil Kings all-time leading scorer.[1] His father is former NHL goaltender Rick St. Croix and his brother is former professional hockey defenseman Chris St. Croix.[2][3][4]

Playing career

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Midget

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St. Croix represented Team Western at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge in both 2009 as a 15-year-old and 2010 World U-17 Hockey Challenge as a 16-year-old, reaching the semifinal in 2009.[5] In his final season in Midget AAA hockey, he led the Manitoba Midget AAA league in scoring with 103 points in 41 regular season games, and added 20 points in 9 playoff games.[6]

Junior

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Michael was drafted 4th overall by the Oil Kings in the 2008 bantam draft.[5][6][7] He played two games for the Oil Kings in the 2008-09 season, scoring one goal and one assist for two points.[8] In 2009-10, St. Croix played 66 games for young Oil Kings team that only won 16 games.[7][8] He scored 18 goals and 28 points for 46 total points, leading the Oil Kings in both goals and points.[7][8] In 2010-11, St. Croix and the Oil Kings were more successful. The Oil Kings made the playoffs and St. Croix scored 27 goals and 48 assists for 75 total points.[7][8] His 48 assists led the team and set a modern franchise record, his 75 points placed second on the team and his 27 goals were third on the team.[1][9][10] His 75 points also placed him 36th in the WHL and his 48 assists placed him 32nd.[11][12] St. Croix also played in four playoff games, scoring one goal.[8] As of 2011, he was the Oil Kings all-time leading scorer.[1]

During the 2011-12 season, St. Croix was named the WHL Player of the Week for the week of November 28 to December 4, 2011, for scoring 3 goals and 5 assists with a +5 plus-minus rating in 3 games.[13] He was beaten out by fellow New York Ranger draftee Christian Thomas for the honor of Canadian Hockey League player of the week for that week.[14] St. Croix was later named the WHL Player of the Month for December 2011, for scoring 10 goals and 16 assists in 12 games with a +11 plus-minus rating during the month.[15] St. Croix repeated as WHL Player of the Week for the week of January 16–22, 2012 for 6 goals and 4 assists in 3 games with a +7 plus-minus rating, including two hat tricks.[16][17] He ended the regular season with 45 goals and 60 assists for a total of 105 points.[18] The 105 points placed 8th overall in the WHL.[18] His 45 goals ranked 7th in the league and his 60 assists ranked 9th.[19][20] He also tied for 6th overall in the league with a +40 plus/minus rating.[21] He was named to the WHL Eastern Conference second all star team.[22] During the 2012 WHL playoffs, St. Croix finished tied for 6th in the league and 1st on the team with 19 points in 20 games, helping Edmonton win the WHL championship.[23][24] In the deciding 7th game of the championship series, St. Croix scored a goal and an assist.[24][25]

For the 2012-13 season, St. Croix finished 7th overall in WHL scoring with 37 goals and 55 assists for 92 total points.[26] His 55 assists tied him for 9th in the league.[27] He led the WHL with 20 power play goals.[28] He was named Player of the Week by both the WHL and the Canadian Hockey League for the week of February 25 through March 3, 2013, scoring two goals and seven assists in three games, with a +5 plus-minus rating.[29][30] For the season, he was named a WHL Eastern Conference First Team All-Star.[31] In the postseason, he ranked 3rd in the WHL with 26 points.[32] His 13 playoff goals ranked 2nd on the league and his 13 playoff assists ranked 9th.[33][34]

Professional

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St. Croix was the 106th pick in the 4th round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.[35][36][37] He had been ranked as the 46th best prospect in the draft by The Hockey News, ahead of Rangers' first round draft pick J.T. Miller.[3][35] The International Scouting Services ranked him as the 59th best prospect in the draft and Central Scouting ranked him as the 56th best North American skater.[7] Central Scouting had ranked him 36th in their midseason rankings.[9] Hockey Prospectus ranked him 26th overall.[38]

On September 14, 2012 he signed a 3-year, two-way entry-level contract with a cap hit of $665,000. He began the 2013–14 season with the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL and scored a goal and an assist in his professional debut with Greenville on October 18, 2013.[39] After scoring a goal and three assists in Greenville's first two games he was promoted to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL.[40] He split the season between Greenville and Hartford, scoring 17 goals and 31 assists in 52 games for Greenville, and going scoreless in 13 games for Hartford.[41]

St. Croix became a free agent when his initial contract expired after the 2015-16 season and the Rangers relinquished their rights to him.[42] St. Croix elected to attend the University of Manitoba and play hockey for the Manitoba Bisons for the 2017-18 season.[43]

Playing style

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St. Croix regards his vision as his best asset as a player, allowing him to set up plays, complete passes with little space, and to make fancy plays with the puck, and also views his playmaking and hockey sense as key assets.[5][7] He also positions himself well to take advantage of scoring opportunities.[7] He tries to emulate Patrice Bergeron as a player.[7]

Career statistics

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2008–09 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 2 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
2009–10 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 66 18 28 46 30 — — — — —
2010–11 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 68 27 48 75 48 4 1 0 1 9
2011–12 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 72 45 60 105 49 20 7 12 19 6
2012–13 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 72 37 55 92 36 22 13 13 26 14
2013–14 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 13 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2013–14 Greenville Road Warriors ECHL 53 17 31 48 12 — — — — —
2014–15 Greenville Road Warriors ECHL 59 15 26 41 44 — — — — —
2015–16 Greenville Swamp Rabbits ECHL 66 11 29 40 34 — — — — —
AHL totals 13 0 0 0 2 — — — — —

Awards and honours

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  • 2010–11 Mazda WHL Play of the Year (top spot with an "incredible one-handed goal" against the Vancouver Giants)[1][44]
  • WHL Player of the Week, November 28, 2011 to December 4, 2011
  • WHL Player of the Month, December 2011
  • WHL Player of the Week, January 16, 2012 to January 22, 2012
  • WHL Eastern Conference Second Team All-Star, 2011–12
  • WHL Player of the Week, February 25, 2013 to March 3, 2013
  • Canadian Hockey League Player of the Week, February 25, 2013 to March 3, 2013
  • WHL Eastern Conference First Team All-Star, 2012–2013

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Five Oil Kings in Central Scouting Final Rankings". Edmonton Oil Kings. April 11, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  2. ^ Glew, K. "Backchecking: St. Croix was a Saint". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Campbell, T. (June 4, 2011). "Local NHL prospect St. Croix gets stoked". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  4. ^ Cameron, C. (October 14, 2010). "Hockey a family business for Oil Kings' player". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  5. ^ a b c Sager, N. (December 17, 2010). "Draft tracker: 5 questions with Michael St. Croix, Edmonton Oil Kings". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Van Diest, D. (August 21, 2009). "St. Croix ready to stay put". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Echevarria, A. "Prospect Watch: Michael St. Croix". The Hockey News. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Michael St. Croix". hockeydb. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Rangers make six picks at 2011 draft". newyorkrangers.com. June 25, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  10. ^ "2010-11 Edmonton Oil Kings". hockeydb. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  11. ^ "WHL 2010-11 Top Scorers". Western Hockey League. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  12. ^ "WHL 2010-11 Assists Leaders". Western Hockey League. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  13. ^ "Oil King's St. Croix WHL Player of the Week". Western Hockey League. December 5, 2011. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
  14. ^ "Generals' Christian Thomas Named CHL Player of the Week". Ontario Hockey League. December 6, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  15. ^ "St. Croix HUSKY WHL Player of the Month". Western Hockey League. January 4, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  16. ^ "Oil King's St. Croix WHL Player of the Week". Western Hockey League. January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  17. ^ "St. Croix WHL's Player of Week again". New York Rangers. January 23, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  18. ^ a b "Western Hockey League Top Scorers". Western Hockey League. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  19. ^ "Western Hockey League Leaders in Goals". Western Hockey League. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  20. ^ "Western Hockey League Leaders in Assists". Western Hockey League. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  21. ^ "Western Hockey League Leaders in Plus/Minus". Western Hockey League. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  22. ^ O'Leary, C. (March 22, 2012). "Oil Kings GM Green reaps rewards of patience". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  23. ^ "Top Scorers: 2012 WHL Playoffs". Western Hockey League. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  24. ^ a b "Oil Kings Win 2012 WHL Championship". Western Hockey League. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  25. ^ Sager, N. (May 13, 2012). "Edmonton Oil Kings' Michael St. Croix comes alive in WHL's Game 7: Sunday's 3 Stars". Yahoo!. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  26. ^ "2012-13 Western Hockey League Top Scorers". Western Hockey League. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  27. ^ "2012-13 Western Hockey League Assists Leaders". Western Hockey League. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  28. ^ "2012-13 Western Hockey League Power Play Goal Leaders". Western Hockey League. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  29. ^ "St. Croix Denny's WHL Player of the Week". Western Hockey League. March 4, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  30. ^ "St. Croix named CHL Player of the Week". Western Hockey League. March 5, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  31. ^ "WHL (East) First All-Star Team". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  32. ^ "Top Scorers: 2013 WHL Playoffs". Western Hockey League. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  33. ^ "Leaders: 2013 WHL Playoffs - Goals". Western Hockey League. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  34. ^ "Leaders: 2013 WHL Playoffs - Assists". Western Hockey League. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  35. ^ a b "Rangers 2011 Entry Draft Picks at a Glance". newyorkrangers.com. June 25, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  36. ^ Campbell, T. (June 26, 2011). "Trio of 'Tobans celebrate selections". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  37. ^ Brooks, L. "Rangers' Drury may take buyout". New York Post. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
  38. ^ Pronman, C. (June 25, 2011). "NHL Draft Wrap-Up Atlantic Division". Hockey Prospectus. Prospectus Entertainment Ventures, LLC. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  39. ^ Zilch. A. (October 18, 2013). "Now That's a Good Start". howlings.net. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  40. ^ "Wolf Pack Announce Roster Moves". Hartford Wolf Pack. October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  41. ^ "Michael St. Croix". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  42. ^ "Swamp Rabbits move to keep seven for 2016-17 season". Greenville Online. July 1, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  43. ^ "Bison men's hockey team recruits Michael St. Croix, Zach Franko, Lucas Skrumeda and Calvin Spencer for the upcoming 2017-18 season". University of Manitoba Athletics. June 9, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  44. ^ "Broncos trio make WHL Plays of the Year". April 1, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
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