( Photo Credit: Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios / Getty Images )
By: Mark Allred | Follow Me On Twitter @BlackAndGold277
Happy 38th Birthday To Former Boston Bruins Forward Kris Vernarsky!
Vernarsky was born on April 5th, 1982, in Detriot, Michigan and was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the National Hockey League Entry Draft. The 6′-3″ 201-pound center was a product of the United States National Development Program before heading to the Ontario Hockey League to play for the Plymouth Whalers. In Kris’s time with the now-defunct Whalers club, he appeared in 169 career games and posted 52-93-145 numbers.
Although drafted by the Maple Leafs, Vernarsky never put on the historical Blue and White jersey and on May 13th, 2002, his rights were traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for 6′-2″ 214-pound defenseman Ric Jackman who played in only two games for the Bruins in the 2001-02 season. Kris only appeared in 17 career NHL games all the Bruins registering one goal in that timeframe. Vernarsky would spend the majority of his time with the Boston organization with their top minor-pro affiliate the Providence Bruins. With the American Hockey League team from Rhode Island, the forward who was in his early 20’s at the time posted 20-25-45 in 125 games with Providence. During the 2004-05 campaign, he appeared in only five games and the Providence club would reassign him to the East Coast Hockey Leagues Florida Everblades ending his time with the Bruins organization.
Vernarsky would continue to play minor-pro hockey in the lower International Hockey League and the United Hockey League before giving the higher ECHL another go. In the 2010-11 season as a 28-year-old, he played in 51 games for the Wheeling Nailers posting 8-13-21 numbers in his final season of hockey before retiring.
Check out the new Black N’ Gold Hockey Podcast episode 173 that we recorded below on 4-4-20! You can find our show on many worldwide platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Stitcher.
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