Thomas Larkin (ice hockey) explained

Thomas Larkin
Birth Date:1990 12, df=yes
Birth Place:London, England, UK
Height Ft:6
Height In:5
Weight Lb:220
Position:Defence
Shoots:Right
League:DEL
Team:Schwenninger Wild Wings
Former Teams:Springfield Falcons
Medveščak Zagreb
Adler Mannheim
Ntl Team:Italy
Draft:137th overall
Draft Year:2009
Draft Team:Columbus Blue Jackets
Career Start:2011

Thomas Larkin (born 31 December 1990)[1] is a British-born Italian ice hockey defenceman. He is currently playing with Schwenninger Wild Wings of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[2] Larkin was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 5th round (137th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the first Italian-trained player ever selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Larkin attended Phillips Exeter Academy and then spent four years at Colgate University, where he played for the Raiders ice hockey team, and served as the team's co-captain during his senior season. Internationally, Larkin has represented Italy at the world championships.

Playing career

In Larkin's final season at Phillips Exeter Academy he set a school record for most goals and assists by a defenceman in one season (14 and 38, respectively). He also had the school record for most career points by a defenceman (82).[3] Prior to the 2009 NHL Entry Draft Larkin was ranked 87th overall amongst North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. This was an improvement of 59 spots from his place three months prior.[4] He was selected in the fifth round, 137th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets, becoming the first Italian-trained player ever chosen in the NHL Entry Draft.[4]

Larkin had an impressive freshman season at Colgate University, playing in 33 games and registering 19 points with 32 minutes in penalties, but his production fell to just 11 points in 41 games played during his sophomore 2010–11 season.[5] Upon completion of his collegiate career, on 5 July 2013, Larkin was signed to a two-year entry-level contract by the Columbus Blue Jackets.[6]

At the conclusion of his entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets, Larkin was not tendered a new offer and was released to free agency. On 22 August 2015, Larkin signed his first professional European contract, agreeing to a one-year contract with Croatian KHL participants Medveščak Zagreb.[7] He eventually played for the Zagreb team until 16 February 2017 and then was picked up by Adler Mannheim of the German DEL.[8]

On 7 November 2017, Larkin hit Daniel Paille during a match between Swedish club Brynas and Adler Mannheim, resulting in Paille leaving with a severe concussion.[9] Two days after the incident, Larkin apologized on Twitter, writing:

"It wasn’t my intention to cause an injury. I wanted to put pressure on the puck carrier behind the net. I would like to apologize to Daniel Paille and I hope he is back playing soon."[10]

A year later on 29 November 2018, Swedish prosecutor Joakim Johansson indicated that Larkin would be charged with assault for blindsiding Paille.[11] Larkin was later acquitted of both the criminal charges and the civil case. Paille was ordered to pay Larkin's legal costs as well as those of Adler Mannheim, which totalled just over $400,000 USD. [12]

In the 2018-19 campaign, Larkin captured the German championship with Mannheim, scoring the game winner in overtime of game five in the finals against Munich.[13]

Larkin played seven seasons with Adler Mannheim before leaving as a free agent to sign a one-year contract with Schwenninger Wild Wings of the DEL on 16 April, 2023.[14]

International play

Larkin competed at the 2011 IIHF World Championship Division I, 2012 IIHF World Championship and 2014 IIHF World Championship as a member of the Italy national ice hockey team.

Personal life

Larkin was born in London but grew up in Cocquio-Trevisago, Italy.[15] His father is from Boston, Massachusetts while his mother is from Milan, Italy.[4] When Larkin was four his family moved to Italy; it was there, at age 7, that he first began to play hockey, joining his older brother at the HC Varese's rink.[4] Larkin speaks five languages (English, Italian, French, Spanish and German).[3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Team League GP GP G A Pts PIM
2006–07Phillips Exeter AcademyHS-Prep28 1 7 8 5
2006–07HC VareseITA U193 5 1 6 10
2007–08Phillips Exeter AcademyHS-Prep29 6 15 21 18
2007–08HC VareseITA U191 0 0 0 01 0 0 0 2
2008–09Phillips Exeter AcademyHS-Prep35 14 38 52 30
2008–09Boston Little Bruins18U AAA18 1 1 2 10
2009–10Colgate UniversityECAC33 3 16 19 32
2010–11Colgate University ECAC41 5 6 11 41
2011–12Colgate University ECAC37 4 10 14 48
2012–13Colgate University ECAC36 3 11 14 55
2012–13Springfield FalconsAHL7 1 0 1 2
2013–14Evansville IceMenECHL33 3 17 20 60
2013–14Springfield FalconsAHL19 0 2 2 481 0 0 0 0
2014–15Springfield FalconsAHL62 5 12 17 89
2015–16KHL Medveščak ZagrebKHL34 2 3 5 56
2016–17KHL Medveščak ZagrebKHL58 2 3 5 78
2016–17Adler MannheimDEL5 0 1 1 47 0 1 1 10
2017–18Adler MannheimDEL51 5 13 18 2810 2 0 2 10
2018–19Adler MannheimDEL33 6 11 17 3014 1 2 3 22
2019–20Adler MannheimDEL29 1 8 9 36
2020–21Adler MannheimDEL35 4 17 21 246 1 0 1 4
2021–22Adler MannheimDEL50 6 10 16 399 0 0 0 4
2022–23Adler MannheimDEL49 2 11 13 2612 1 0 1 14
2023–24Schwenninger Wild WingsDEL41 4 15 19 267 1 4 5 20
AHL totals88 6 14 20 1391 0 0 0 0
KHL totals92 4 6 10 134
DEL totals293 28 86 114 21365 6 7 13 84

International

YearTeamEventResultGPGAPtsPIM
2007ItalyWJC18 D117th41236
2008ItalyWJC18 D116th530320
2011ItalyWC D118th41010
2012ItalyWC15th70114
2014ItalyWC15th70114
2016ItalyOGQDNQ 60110
2016ItalyWC D1A17th511210
2017ItalyWC16th70004
2018ItalyWC D1A18th52022
2021ItalyOGQDNQ 30000
2023ItalyWC D1A19th55162
Junior totals942626
Senior totals49951426

Awards and honors

AwardYear
College
All-ECAC Third Team2011–12
DEL
Champion (Adler Mannheim)2019[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Thomas Larkin Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com . 2023-08-05 . www.hockeydb.com.
  2. Web site: Thomas Larkin (Schwenninger) - Career Stats - Flashscore.com . 2023-08-05 . www.flashscore.com . en.
  3. Web site: Thomas Larkin Prospect Card. NHL.com. 2009. NHL.com. 2013-10-04.
  4. Web site: Against the current. Merk. Martin. 2009-06-29. IIHF.com. 2013-10-04. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131004222221/http://www.iihf.com/nc/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/article/against-the-current.html. 4 October 2013. dmy-all.
  5. Web site: Columbus Blue Jackets Depth Analysis, Fall 2011 . Hockey's Future . 2011-07-06 . 2011-07-06.
  6. Web site: Blue Jackets sign defenseman Thomas Larkin . . 2013-07-05 . 2013-07-05.
  7. Web site: . 2015-08-22 . 2015-08-22 . Croatian . A great victory for the pre-season .
  8. Web site: ADLER Mannheim. https://web.archive.org/web/20170217062833/http://adler-mannheim.de/topstories.php?d%5Bnr%5D=5250. dead. 2017-02-17. adler-mannheim.de. de. 2017-02-16.
  9. News: Sweden charges British-born Italian player for hit on ice. thenewstribune. 2018-11-29. en.
  10. News: Thomas Larkin on Twitter. Twitter. 2018-11-29. en.
  11. News: Sweden charges British-born Italian player for hit on ice. 2018-11-29. AP NEWS. 2018-11-29.
  12. Web site: Judge makes ruling in criminal and civil case against Thomas Larkin for hit on Daniel Paille four years ago . 2024-02-09 . Markerzone.com . en.
  13. Web site: München wehrt sich nach Kräften, aber Larkin schießt Mannheim in der Overtime erstmals seit 2015 wieder zum Titel. www.eishockeynews.de. de. 2019-04-27.
  14. Web site: Wild Wings strengthen with Thomas Larkin . . 16 April 2023 . 16 April 2023 . German .
  15. Web site: Falsons sign Larkin to ATO. Springfield Falcons. 2013-03-14. FalconsAHL.com. 2013-03-28.
  16. Web site: Adler Mannheim wins DEL . . 2019-04-27 . 2019-04-27.