Noah Welch

Noah Welch

Welch with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2011.
Born (1982-08-26) August 26, 1982
Brighton, MA, USA
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 212 lb (96 kg; 15 st 2 lb)
Position Defense
Shoots Left
SHL team
Former teams		 Malmö Redhawks
Pittsburgh Penguins
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Atlanta Thrashers
HV71
Växjö Lakers
Modo Hockey
NHL Draft 54th overall, 2001
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 2005–present

Noah Paul Welch (born August 26, 1982) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who currently plays for the Malmö Redhawks of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

Playing career

Welch was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, chosen 54th overall in the 2nd round. Noah was the captain of the Harvard University Hockey team, graduating in 2005. Before his college career at Harvard he played high school hockey at St. Sebastian's School in Needham, Massachusetts.

Welch made his NHL debut in the latter stages of the 2005–2006 season for the Penguins in a victory over the NY Islanders picking up his first NHL point with an assist. In his next game against the Montreal Canadiens, having replaced the suspended Eric Cairns, he suffered a nightmare start, scoring in his own net, but made amends by scoring his first NHL goal in the third period against the team he always cheered against as a child and Boston Bruins fan. In total he scored four points (one goal, three assists) in five games. He was named to the AHL 2007 All-Star game, representing the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

On February 27, 2007, Welch was traded by the Penguins to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Gary Roberts.[1] After two seasons with the Panthers, Welch was traded along with a third round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Steve Eminger.[2] A short time after that, he instead signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Thrashers.[3]

For season 2011–12, Welch signed a one-year contract with the Swedish team HV71 in the Swedish elite league Elitserien (SEL).[4] He scored 10 points in 51 games. In May 2012 he signed a one-year contract with the SEL team Växjö Lakers[5] and eventually stayed three years in Växjö, helping the club capture the 2015 SEL championship, while being presented with the Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy as MVP of the SHL playoffs.[6]

He left the Lakers after winning the title and then spent one season with Modo Hockey, before signing with fellow SHL side Malmö Redhawks for the 2016–17 campaign.[7]

Personal life

Welch decided to donate his brain to concussion research at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Boston University School of Medicine after his death.[8] He has a degree in government from Harvard.[9] In the summer of 2011, Welch married teammate Paul Postma's sister Alissa Postma.

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2001–02 Harvard University ECAC 27 5 6 11 56 — — — — —
2002–03 Harvard University ECAC 34 6 22 28 70 — — — — —
2003–04 Harvard University ECAC 34 6 13 19 58 — — — — —
2004–05 Harvard University ECAC 34 6 12 18 86 — — — — —
2005–06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 77 9 20 29 99 11 1 0 1 18
2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 5 1 3 4 2 — — — — —
2006–07 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 27 5 16 21 24 — — — — —
2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 22 1 1 2 22 — — — — —
2006–07 Florida Panthers NHL 2 1 0 1 2 — — — — —
2006–07 Rochester Americans AHL 11 2 4 6 21 6 0 2 2 12
2007–08 Florida Panthers NHL 4 0 0 0 7 — — — — —
2008–09 Florida Panthers NHL 23 1 1 2 11 — — — — —
2008–09 Rochester Americans AHL 7 0 3 3 10 — — — — —
2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 17 0 0 0 14 — — — — —
2009–10 Chicago Wolves AHL 37 1 4 5 33 14 0 2 2 10
2010–11 Chicago Wolves AHL 50 2 11 13 65 — — — — —
2010–11 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2011–12 HV71 SEL 51 4 6 10 85 6 1 1 2 0
2012–13 Växjö Lakers SEL 43 8 9 17 56 — — — — —
2013–14 Växjö Lakers SHL 43 2 17 19 82 12 2 2 4 10
2014–15 Växjö Lakers SHL 52 5 23 28 100 17 2 4 6 53
2015–16 Modo Hockey SHL 32 3 13 16 56 — — — — —
NHL totals 75 4 5 9 58 — — — — —

Awards and honors

Award Year
College
All-ECAC Hockey Rookie Team 2001–02
All-ECAC Hockey Second Team 2002–03
AHCA East Second-Team All-American 2002–03
ECAC All-Conference Honorable Mention 2004
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 2004–05
AHCA East First-Team All-American 2004–05
Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy 2014–15

References

  1. ↑ "Panthers trade Roberts to Penguins". The Sports Network. 2007-02-27. Archived from the original on March 14, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
  2. ↑ "Jay Bouwmeester stays; Panthers acquire Steve Eminger from Tampa Bay". palmbeachpost.com. 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
  3. ↑ "Thrashers sign Anthony Stewart and Noah Welch". Atlanta Thrashers. 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  4. ↑ Wengel, Daniel (2011-07-01). "Storväxt amerikansk back klar för HV71". HV71.se (in Swedish). HV71. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  5. ↑ Gustavsson, Jonas (2012-05-03). "Noah Welch har skrivit på" (in Swedish). Växjö Lakers. Retrieved 2012-05-03.
  6. ↑ "Guldhjältens fina hyllning till Stefan Liv". jp.se. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  7. ↑ "Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy-vinnare klar för Malmö Redhawks". Malmö Redhawks. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  8. ↑ "Welch to donate brain for concussion study". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  9. ↑ "Molinari On The Penguins: Building the Penguins ... brains not included". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2008-10-26.
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