Derek Plante Explained

Position:Center
Shoots:Left
Height Ft:5
Height In:11
Weight Lb:181
Played For:Buffalo Sabres
Dallas Stars
Chicago Blackhawks
Philadelphia Flyers
Birth Date:17 January 1971
Birth Place:Cloquet, Minnesota, U.S.
Ntl Team:USA
Draft:161st overall
Draft Year:1989
Draft Team:Buffalo Sabres
Career Start:1993
Career End:2008
Module:
Embed:yes
Alma Mater:University of Minnesota Duluth
Player Years1:1989–1993
Player Team1:Minnesota Duluth
Player Positions:Center
Coach Years1:2010–2015
Coach Team1:Minnesota Duluth (asso.)
Coach Years2:2015–2020
Coach Team2:Chicago Blackhawks (dev.)
Coach Years3:2020–2022
Coach Team3:Minnesota Duluth (asso.)
Coach Years4:2022–Present
Coach Team4:Chicago Blackhawks (asst.)

Derek John Plante (born January 17, 1971) is an American ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. Plante played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers. He was a member of the 1999 Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars. He was an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota-Duluth from 2010-2015 before returning to the program as associate head coach in 2020. Plante left UMD in 2022 to become an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Playing career

Drafted out of high school by the Buffalo Sabres in 1989, Plante attended the University of Minnesota Duluth and by his senior year was an All-Star leading the WCHA in goals, assists, and total scoring.[1] Plante skipped minor league hockey and jumped right to the NHL in 1994, replacing an injured Pat LaFontaine and scoring 21 goals. By turning pro so quickly, Plante missed out on an opportunity to represent the United States in the 1994 Winter Olympics.[2]

In the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season, Plante managed only 3 goals and 19 assists, but rebounded nicely in 1995–96 on a rebuilding, but hard-working Sabres squad, netting 23 goals and adding 30 assists. In 1997, Plante became the Sabres' top scoring center. he netted a career high 27 goals and led the surprising Sabres squad to a Northeast Division championship and playoff berth. Plante scored the game winning, series-clinching game 7 overtime goal against the upstart Ottawa Senators. Plante knocked down an opponent pass at center, quickly positioned himself, and fired a slapshot that managed to escape the glove of netminder Ron Tugnutt and trickle into the goal. Mobbed by his ecstatic teammates, Plante suffered a cut lip in the ensuing celebration. Plante played well in the next series vs. Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers, but the overmatched team fell in 5.

Plante's numbers slipped in 1997–98, scoring only 13 goals and 34 points, however the Sabres advanced deeper into the playoffs than many expected, losing to the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Halfway through the 1999 season Plante was traded to the Dallas Stars. The Stars went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals and met Plante's old team, the Sabres. Plante had played in the first two series of the playoffs, scoring a critical goal in the second round, but was a healthy scratch for every game of the finals, which the Stars won 4 games to 2. Even though he didn't play in the finals, Plante got in on the time-honored tradition of taking personal stewardship of the Cup, which he spent in his home town of Cloquet, Minnesota. The Dallas Stars had Plante's name engraved on the Stanley Cup even though he did not play in the required number of games.

The following year Plante found himself in the Chicago Blackhawks organization. For the first time in his career, Plante played on a minor league team, the Chicago Wolves.

In 2000–01 Plante starred for the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms, and by the end of the year was called up to join the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers kept Derek on their playoff roster to face the Sabres. Plante scored a goal against his former teammate Dominik Hašek earlier in the season, but the Sabres prevailed, and Plante hasn't been back in the NHL since.

Plante later went on to play in European leagues, most notably with the Munich Barons. From 2005 to 2007, he played in the Asian Hockey League as a member of the Nippon Paper Cranes, winning the championship in 2007. During 2007–2008, he played for the SC Langenthal.

Coaching career

He was hired on June 9, 2010 as a Minnesota Duluth assistant men's hockey coach. In June 2015, he announced he was resigning from his assistant coaching position with UMD. On July 17, 2020 it was announced that he would return to Minnesota Duluth, as associate men’s hockey coach.[3]

On July 29, 2022, Plante was named as an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks on the staff of Luke Richardson.[4]

Personal life

Plante has three sons Zam, Max, and Victor. Zam and Max both play college ice hockey at Minnesota Duluth. Zam was drafted in the fifth round, 150th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2022 NHL entry draft. Max was drafted in the second round, 47th overall, by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2024 NHL entry draft.[5]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP PIMGP G A Pts PIM
1987–88Cloquet High SchoolHS-MN23 16 25 41
1988–89Cloquet High SchoolHS-MN24 30 33 63
1989–90University of Minnesota DuluthWCHA28 10 11 21 12
1990–91University of Minnesota DuluthWCHA36 23 20 43 6
1991–92University of Minnesota DuluthWHCA37 27 36 63 28
1992–93University of Minnesota DuluthWCHA37 36 56 92 30
1993–94Buffalo SabresNHL77 21 35 56 247 1 0 1 0
1994–95Buffalo SabresNHL47 3 19 22 12
1995–96Buffalo SabresNHL76 23 33 56 28
1996–97Buffalo SabresNHL82 27 26 53 2412 4 6 10 4
1997–98Buffalo SabresNHL72 13 21 34 2611 0 3 3 10
1998–99Buffalo SabresNHL41 4 11 15 12
1998–99Dallas StarsNHL10 2 3 5 66 1 0 1 4
1999–2000Dallas StarsNHL16 1 1 2 2
1999–2000Michigan K-WingsIHL13 0 4 4 2
1999–2000Chicago WolvesIHL4 2 1 3 28 3 1 4 6
1999–2000Chicago BlackhawksNHL17 1 1 2 2
2000–01Philadelphia FlyersNHL12 1 2 3 45 0 1 1 0
2000–01Philadelphia PhantomsAHL57 18 35 53 19
2001–02München BaronsDEL60 20 38 58 229 3 7 10 10
2002–03ZSC LionsNLA44 22 24 46 3410 1 2 3 4
2003–04Adler MannheimDEL39 6 16 22 406 0 0 0 2
2004–05Adler MannheimDEL44 6 7 13 227 0 0 0 0
2005–06Nippon Paper CranesALH35 28 47 75 648 7 8 15 4
2006–07Nippon Paper CranesALH24 20 27 47 427 6 7 13 12
2007–08SC LangenthalNLB38 24 20 44 304 3 0 3 6
NHL totals450 96 152 248 14041 6 10 16 18

International

YearTeamEvent GPGAPtsPIM
1991United StatesWJC71234
1992United StatesWC60110
1993United StatesWC61012
1996United StatesWC81124
2000United StatesWC71124
2001United StatesWC90222
2002United StatesWC72132
Senior totals43561114

Awards and honors

AwardYear
All-WCHA Second Team1991–92
All-WCHA First Team1992–93
AHCA West First-Team All-American1992–93
WCHA All-Tournament Team1993[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Derek Plante - Men's Hockey Coach.
  2. News: HOCKEY; Good Thing Gets Away From Isles - New York Times. query.nytimes.com. 2008-07-23. Kellner. Jenny. March 11, 1998.
  3. Web site: Umd Men's Hockey Assistant Coach Plante Resigns for Personal Reasons. 23 June 2015 .
  4. Web site: Derek Plante leaving Bulldogs staff to become Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach . 29 July 2022 .
  5. Web site: Hermantown’s Max Plante Set to Become Latest Plante Family Member to Be Drafted into NHL . fox21online.com . Neil . Vierzba . June 28, 2024 . July 1, 2024.
  6. News: WCHA Tourney History. WCHA. 2014-06-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20140702170427/http://www.wcha.com/men/tourney/history.php. 2014-07-02. dead.