Introduction
Dan Spang (born August 1, 1983) is an American-Italian professional ice hockey defenseman. He is currently playing for Nottingham Panthers in the UK's EIHL. Spang was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the 2nd round (52nd overall) of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career
Spang won a Massachusetts state championship in 2000 at Winchester High School. He was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the second round, 52nd overall, of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.
During his collegiate career, he was a co-winner of Boston University’s Most Improved Player Award following the 2003–04 season. Spang led Boston University defensemen in goals (nine), assists (22) and points (31) in 40 games as a senior. Won a Hockey East regular season and tournament championship at Boston University in 2005–06 he was an Alternate Captain for the Worcester Sharks as a rookie in 2006–07 and remained with the club for the following 2007-08 season.
The 2008-09 season saw him play for AHL franchises Quad City Flames, Syracuse Crunch as well as for ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers.
On July 21, 2009, he signed a contract for Nürnberg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, where he spent the entire 2009-10 season. He then signed with the Dallas Stars organization to play for them in the 2010–11 season. However, he was assigned to the affiliates Texas Stars of the AHL.
Although Spang signed with the Växjö Lakers Hockey of the Swedish Elitserien (SEL) on May 4, 2011, he extended his contract with the Dallas Stars organization on June 16, 2011.
Between 2012 and 2015, Spang played for three different teams of the Finnish elite league Liiga, HPK, SaiPa and Kärpät. In between, during the 2012–13 season, he had a stint with Swedish SHL side HV71.
Spang opened the 2015–16 season in the KHL on the roster of Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. After eleven games played, he moved on to Czech club HC Kometa Brno. In December, he was signed by HC Lugano of Switzerland on loan to strengthen the club's roster at the Spengler-Cup. In late January 2016, he signed with the Hamburg Freezers of the German top-tier league, DEL, for the remainder of the 2015–16 campaign.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2002–03 | Boston University | HE | 27 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Boston University | HE | 38 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Boston University | HE | 41 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Boston University | HE | 40 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Worcester Sharks | AHL | 48 | 4 | 21 | 25 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Worcester Sharks | AHL | 77 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Quad City Flames | AHL | 30 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Las Vegas Wranglers | ECHL | 17 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 2 | ||
| 2008–09 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 24 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers | DEL | 48 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 45 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Texas Stars | AHL | 77 | 10 | 27 | 37 | 32 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ||
| AHL totals | 264 | 26 | 88 | 114 | 115 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| All-Hockey East First Team | 2005–06 | |
| AHCA East First-Team All-American | 2005–06 | |
| Hockey East All-Tournament Team | 2006 |