1993-94 University of Minnesota Duluth Chris Marinucci Jersey

Born on this date in 1971, Chris Marinucci attended the University of Minnesota Duluth beginning with the 1990-91 season. He started slowly, as most college players do getting used to the size and speed of the college game, with 16 points in 36 games in his first season and 19 in his second.

1992-93 was his breakout season in college, seeing his goal total leap from 6 in each of his first two seasons to 35 as a junior, combined with 42 assists for 77 points, an increase of 58 from the year prior, ranking him second in the WCHA and 8th nationally and helping the Bulldogs win the WCHA regular season title.

1993-94 saw another 30 goals plus 31 assists for 61 points for Marinucci who led the Bulldogs in scoring that season. He was named both the WCHA Most Valuable Player and the 1994 Hobey Baker Award winner, given to the top player in college hockey each season. Throughout his college career, Marinucci played in 149 consecutive games.

Marinucci would turn pro the following season, spent primarily with the Denver Grizzlies of the IHL, scoring 69 points in 74 games. Following the regular season he would add 7 points in 14 games as Denver would sweep the Kansas City Blades for the Turner Cup, awarded to the champions of the IHL each season. Marinucci would also make his NHL debut with the New York Islanders, seeing action in 12 games which included scoring his first and only NHL goal.

He would only see action in eight games due to injuries in 1995-96 with the relocated Utah Grizzlies, forced to move from Denver with the arrival of the Colorado Avalanche. He would see plenty of action with a full season of games in 1996-97, split between one game with the Los Angeles Kings, 21 games with the Grizzlies plus 62 games with the Phoenix Roadrunners, also of the IHL. He would score 52 points in his 62 games in Phoenix. Marinucci would also skate for the United States at the 1997 World Championships, scoring a goal in 8 games.

The next three seasons were spent playing for the Chicago Wolves on the IHL where he would put up fine numbers. 1997-98 was good for 75 points in 78 games and the Wolves would defeat the Detroit Vipers 4 games to 3 to capture his second Turner Cup.

1998-99 followed with career highs with 41 goals and 81 points in 82 games. In addition Marinucci was named the IHL Man of the Year. Another 31 goals and 64 points followed in 1999-00 along with another Turner Cup by defeating the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-2 in the finals before Marinucci would begin racking up the frequent flyer miles.

His first stop on his world tour was Kokudo of the Japan League. Marinucci would score 29 goals and 59 points in 40 games as the Rabbits would capture the championship.

2001-02 saw a move to the Berlin Polar Bears of the German DEL with 36 points in 53 games while 2002-03 was split between the Idaho Steelheads of the WCHL and IF Björklöven of the second division in Sweden.

His career would wind down in 2003-04 with more games in Idaho as well as with the Storhamar Dragons of the Norwegian Elite League, which included 17 regular season games and 13 playoff games en route to yet another championship for Marinucci and a nice way to conclude one's career.

While his number of NHL games were limited, he did play in 405 games in the IHL, scoring 157 goals and 365 points and a trio of Turner Cup Championships as well as titles in Japan and Norway.

Today's featured jersey is a 1993-94 University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs Chris Marinucci jersey. This beautiful jersey holds the record for the longest project from start to finish in the history of the Third String Goalie Collection, as we originally purchased the shoulder patches for this jersey back in 1987.

Only recently were we able to complete the project after 22 years now that this jersey has been made available by VintageMinnesotaHockey.com topped off perfectly by our pair of skating Bulldog patches purchased at a game in Duluth all those many years ago with the hopes of some day being able to have this classic looking jersey reproduced.

Will the wonders of YouTube never cease? Of all the unexpected things we've ever found this one probably tops them all - an interview with a newly arrived Marinucci prior to his first game with IF Björklöven in Sweden.

We are literally dumbstruck.

So, how did the big game against those bastards from Skellefteå turn out? Seems like the good guys won, but if you watch this video you will get see a hot babe and some sausages. Promise.

Speaking of Björk loving, when was the last time you saw anyone play a table full of wine glasses? Now that is seriously unplugged.

2001-02 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Alternate Jordan Leopold Jersey

Born on this date in 1980, Jordan Leopold, a product of the US National Team Development Program (NDTP), competed for four seasons at the University of Minnesota. He would score 23 followed by 24 points during his first two seasons on the blueline for the Gophers before really hitting his stride with 49 points as a junior backed up with 48 points as a senior. He would captain the team during the 2001-02 season, which would see the Gophers capture the NCAA Championship on essentially home ice at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, a mere eight miles from their home arena in Minneapolis, in front of over 18,000 screaming maroon and gold clad fans. He would also be named the winner of the 2002 Hobey Baker Award, the fourth Gopher to win the award after Neal Broten, Robb Stauber and Brian Bonin.

Leopold would be drafted #44 overall by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim but would be traded to the Calgary Flames before ever suiting up for the Ducks. After three seasons in Calgary, where he would score a career high 33 points in 2003-04, Leopold would be traded to the Colorado Avalanche only to have his season ruined by an unbelievable run of injuries, which included hernia surgery, a groin injury and a fractured wrist - all in the same snake-bit season which saw him skate in just 15 games.

In 2004-05, Leopold would manage to get into 43 games while dealing with another litany of injuries which included a hip ailment, a lacerated leg, pneumonia and a concussion. Finally healthy in 2005-06, he would play in all 64 of the Avalanche's games up until the NHL Trading Deadline, when he would be dealt back to the Calgary Flames and appear in the Flames final 19 games to become the only player that season to play 83 games in a league with an 82 game season.

For the 2009-10 season, Leopold has signed to play with the Florida Panthers.

As part of the changing of the guard with Team USA, Leopold has now appeared for the United States in the 1999 and 2000 World Junior Championships, the World Championships four times (2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008) and the Olympics in 2006.

The jersey I am featuring today is a Nike 2001-02 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers alternate Jordan Leopold jersey as worn by the Golden Gophers during their National Championship season and Leopold's Hobey Baker winning season of 2001-02.

Here is a video of the 2002 National Championship Minnesota Gophers, followed by Leopold's memories of playing pond hockey as a youth.

Based on these next to highlights, Jordan Leopold apparently owns the Red Wings Chris Osgood.

2004-05 Colorado College Tigers Marty Sertich Jersey

July by the Numbers stays out west once again for today's jersey #22.

In 2005, Colorado College's Marty Sertich was named the winner of the annual Hobey Baker Award, a season in which he had a collegiate career highs in goals (27), assists (37) and points (64) and was the leading scorer in all of NCAA hockey, edging out teammate Brett Sterling by a single point while leading the Tigers to the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time in eight seasons. He was also named a First-team All-American, WCHA Player of the Year and USA Hockey's College Player of the Year.

Marty Sertich poses with his Hobey Baker Award

He joined 2003 winner and former St. Louis Blues player Peter Senja as the only other Hobey Baker winner from Colorado College.

The following season Sertich was once more named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award while serving as team captain.

Brothers Mike and Marty Sertich played together for the Tigers

Following the conclusion of his college career, in which he never missed a game, Sertich signed a contract with the Dallas Stars and spent two years in Des Moines playing for the Iowa Stars of the AHL, scoring 27 goals and 25 assists for 52 points in 2007-08 and leading the Stars in goals and power play goals. During the offseason in 2008, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche and spent the season in Cleveland with the Lake Erie Monsters, also of the AHL as he continues to work toward making his NHL debut.

Beginning in 1938, the Colorado College Tigers hockey program has made the NCAA Tournament 18 times, taking the national championship in 1950 and 1957 and finishing as runner up in 1952, 1955 and 1996. Former Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Bob Johnson coached the Tigers from 1963 to 1966. They have won the WCHA league title nine times since the formation of the conference in 1959. Arguably, the best known Colorado College player in the NHL is former Vancouver Canuck and New York Ranger Doug Lidster, who played 897 NHL games over 16 seasons.

Today's featured jersey is a 2004-05 Colorado College Tigers Marty Sertich jersey as worn during his Hobey Baker winning season. This jersey has it all going for it. The sharp logo, classic center stripe, three color numbers, vertically arched name, classic interlocking letters of the shoulder logos and a tie-neck collar. 

The modern, graphic Tiger head logo has always been a favorite with us, and, in combination with the retro feeling of the center "Canadiens" stripe around the body of the jersey really makes for an attractive combination. We're surprised more teams don't use the central stripe as a design element.

Here is a small collection of Sertich and Colorado College videos that highlight the history of the program.

2000-01 University of Minnesota Duluth Junior Lessard Jersey

It's time for our first foray into the world of college hockey here at Third String Goalie, as today's featured jersey is a 2000-01 University of Minnesota Duluth Junior Lessard jersey from his freshman year.

Duluth changed jersey styles for the 2001-02 season, adding New York Rangers style stripes to the shoulders and a large "UMD" arching over a reduced in size bulldog head logo, but we preferred this much cleaner style with the larger bulldog head as Lessard wore in his first season of college hockey.

In 2003-04, Lessard would lead the NCAA in goals with 32 and points with 63, earning the prestigious Hobey Baker Award, as the United States top collegiate hockey player, the fourth player for UMD to earn the award, joining Tom Kurvers (1983), Bill Watson (1984) and Chris Marinucci (1994).

Lessard, born on this date in 1980, signed with the Dallas Stars as a free agent and played 8 games with them over 3 seasons, spending most of his time with their American Hockey League affiliate the Iowa Stars. He was subsequently traded to the Tampa Bay Lighting, getting 19 more NHL games in Tampa in 2007-08 before signing a free agent contract with the Atlanta Thrashers organization. He was assigned to the AHL Chicago Wolves, only to be traded to the New York Islanders and spending the remainder of the 2008-09 season with their AHL team in Bridgeport, CT.

This jersey is was produced by Koronis Sports Apparel and features a large, very nicely executed Bulldog head logo as well as the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) logo on the chest. We also really like this color combination of maroon and gold and wonder why more professional teams don't use it to set themselves apart from all the red and blue teams.

Dasherboard: Tonight the Hurricanes try to stay alive at home vs. the Penguins at 6:30 CST on Vs. We fully expect the Hurricanes, backed by their "Caniacs" fans, to give the Penguins a tough battle to keep their season going.

Cam Ward has never lost a playoff series in his career and certainly hopes to keep that statistic intact. It's going to be a long shot for that to happen to be sure, but more than Ward, the Hurricanes hopes lie with Eric Staal, who led the team in the regular season with 40 goals, but has not scored a goal in six games now. Staal, with just 1 assist this series, and Ray Whitney, the team's regular season points leader, with only 2 assists in this round, must find their scoring touch in a true do-or-die situation to prevent the Penguins from returning to the finals for a second year in a row.

If having their leading scorers shut down wasn't bad enough for Carolina, the Penguins' Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are on fire, with a combined 8 goals and 6 assists in this series three previous games. Even if Staal and Whitney start scoring more, it won't do them any good unless they can find some way to slow those two down some way.