Mark Cundari

Mark Anthony Cundari (born April 23, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently playing for EC VSV in the Austrian Hockey League (IceHL). As a junior, Cundari was a member of two Memorial Cup championship teams with the Windsor Spitfires before turning professional in 2010. An undrafted player, he spent the majority of three seasons in the St. Louis Blues organization before being traded to the Calgary Flames in 2013.

Mark Cundari
Born (1990-04-23) April 23, 1990
Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 203 lb (92 kg; 14 st 7 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
IceHL team
Former teams		 EC VSV
Calgary Flames
Augsburger Panther
Eisbären Berlin
Krefeld Pinguine
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2010–present

Playing career

Cundari played four seasons of major junior hockey with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) between 2006 and 2010. He appeared in 248 games in that time and scored 30 goals, 133 points and had 553 penalty minutes.[1] A defenceman, Cundari was eligible for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft but went unselected due to his small stature.[2] The St. Louis Blues invited him to their development camp over the summer and after he participated in their training camp prior to the 2008–09 season, signed Cundari to a contract before returning him to the Spitfires.[3] Cundari and the Spitfires won consecutive OHL championships in 2008–09 and 2009–10 and in both years won the Memorial Cup as Canadian Hockey League champions.[4]

Following his graduation from junior hockey, Cundari turned professional within the Blues organization as he joined the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen.[5] He scored 30 points in 69 games in the 2010–11 AHL season, then 15 in 49 games in 2011–12.[1] In his third season with Peoria, Cundari was named to play in the AHL All-Star game, where he recorded an assist and, with a tripping call, became the first player in eight years to be penalized during the contest.[6] Cundari was traded to the Calgary Flames in an April 1, 2013, deal by the Blues, along with goaltender Reto Berra and a first round draft pick (which the Flames later used to draft Emile Poirier of the Gatineau Olympiques) in exchange for defenceman Jay Bouwmeester.[7] Cundari, who was recovering from a wrist injury at the time, was assigned to the Abbotsford Heat, Calgary's AHL affiliate.[8]

The Flames recalled Cundari late in the 2012–13 season.[9] He made his NHL debut on April 21, 2013, and scored his first goal against Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Bäckström.[10] He appeared in four games with Calgary and added two assists to go along with 28 points in the AHL combined between Peoria and Abbotsford.[1] Cundari failed to impress the Flames coaching staff during training camp prior to the 2013–14 season and was demoted to Abbotsford to begin the season. He fell further out of favour by midseason, and was subsequently loaned to the Chicago Wolves, AHL affiliate of the Blues.[11] However, after recording 13 points in his first 22 games with the Wolves while playing in all defensive situations, Cundari was recalled by Calgary for the final games of the NHL season.[11]

On July 2, 2015, Cundari left the Flames organization as a free agent to sign a one-year, two-way contract with the San Jose Sharks.[12] In the 2015–16 season, Cundari was unable to build upon his previous season in his first season within the Sharks organization. He contributed with 8 points in 34 games with the San Jose Barracuda before he was loaned by the Sharks to the Lake Erie Monsters, an affiliate to the Columbus Blue Jackets, for the remainder of the year on March 7, 2016.[13] Cundari appeared in 7 regular season games with the Monsters, before suffering an injury that ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

As an impending free agent, Cundari left the NHL to sign his first contract abroad in agreeing to a one-year deal with German DEL club, Augsburger Panther on June 9, 2016.[14] After two seasons with the Panthers, Cundari left at the completion of his contract opting to continue with the DEL on a one-year pact with Eisbären Berlin on June 13, 2018.[15]

Cundari single season in Berlin during the 2018–19 campaign was cut short through injury, limited to just 14 games for 7 points. As a free agent in the off-season, Cundari continued his tenure in the DEL, securing a one-year contract with Krefeld Pinguine on May 21, 2019.[16]

Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Canada
Spengler Cup
2015 Davos

Career statistics
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2005–06 Vaughan Vipers OPJHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2006–07 Windsor Spitfires OHL 62 6 16 22 130 — — — — —
2007–08 Windsor Spitfires OHL 63 6 17 23 141 3 0 0 0 10
2008–09 Windsor Spitfires OHL 60 10 22 32 143 20 1 8 9 38
2009–10 Windsor Spitfires OHL 63 8 46 54 139 19 3 15 18 42
2010–11 Peoria Rivermen AHL 69 10 20 30 106 3 0 1 1 4
2011–12 Peoria Rivermen AHL 48 3 12 15 62 — — — — —
2012–13 Peoria Rivermen AHL 56 7 18 25 80 — — — — —
2012–13 Abbotsford Heat AHL 2 0 3 3 13 — — — — —
2012–13 Calgary Flames NHL 4 1 2 3 2 — — — — —
2013–14 Abbotsford Heat AHL 32 4 6 10 45 — — — — —
2013–14 Chicago Wolves AHL 24 5 8 13 28 9 1 2 3 10
2013–14 Calgary Flames NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2014–15 Adirondack Flames AHL 50 7 22 29 64 — — — — —
2015–16 San Jose Barracuda AHL 34 3 5 8 29 — — — — —
2015–16 Lake Erie Monsters AHL 7 3 3 6 8 — — — — —
2016–17 Augsburger Panther DEL 48 10 21 31 60 5 0 2 2 4
2017–18 Augsburger Panther DEL 50 10 22 32 58 — — — — —
2018–19 Eisbären Berlin DEL 14 3 4 7 10 — — — — —
2019–20 Krefeld Pinguine DEL 23 1 7 8 45 — — — — —
2019–20 EC VSV EBEL 15 3 3 6 11 3 0 0 0 31
NHL totals 8 1 2 3 2 — — — — —

Awards and honours
Awards Year
CHL
Memorial Cup Champion 2009, 2010 [17][18]

References
  1. "Mark Cundari player card". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  2. "Blues invite Cundari to development camp". CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc. June 24, 2008. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  3. "Blues sign Cundari". CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc. September 24, 2008. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  4. "Flames recall Mark Cundari from Abbotsford". Calgary Flames Hockey Club. April 19, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  5. Eminan, Dave (October 27, 2010). "Rivermen defenseman Oystrick called to Blues". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  6. "Rivermen's Cundari makes his mark as West wins AHL All-Star Game, 7-6". Peoria Journal Star. January 28, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  7. "Flames trade Jay Bouwmeester to Blues". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. April 1, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  8. Hall, Vicki (April 19, 2013). "Young Cundari vows to bring edge to the blueline in the big league". Calgary Herald. p. E4.
  9. "Flames recall seven players from Abbotsford". Calgary Flames Hockey Club. April 21, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  10. "MacDonald saves 34 as Flames play spoiler against Wild". The Sports Network. April 21, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  11. Cruickshank, Scott (April 5, 2014). "Cundari grateful for his chances". Calgary Herald. p. D4.
  12. "Sharks sign defenseman Mark Cundari". San Jose Sharks. July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  13. "Cundari loaned to Lake Erie". American Hockey League. March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  14. "Panthers undertake Mark Cundari" (in German). Augsburger Panther. June 9, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  15. "Polar Bears sign Mark Cundari" (in German). Eisbären Berlin. June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  16. "Mark Cundari moves from Berlin to Krefeld" (in German). Krefeld Pinguine. May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  17. Ontario Hockey League (May 29, 2009). "Spitfires capture Memorial Cup". oursportscentral.com. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  18. "Segue to the NHL". Boston.com. June 23, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
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