Scott Hartnell

Prior to entering the NHL, Hartnell played two seasons of Canadian Junior-A hockey for the Lloydminster Blazers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL).[1] He then spent two seasons playing for the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League (WHL). In the 1999–2000 season, Hartnell, as captain, led the team with 82 points and was named team MVP.[1] He was also chosen to play for Bobby Orr in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Top Prospects Game.[1]

Hartnell was the sixth overall pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators. Considered a gritty power forward at 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall, the left winger was the youngest player in franchise history to play for the Predators, as well as the youngest player in the NHL in the 2000–01 season.[2] Hartnell's first NHL game was played in Japan against the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of a two-game set planned by the NHL to raise international interest in the League.[3] Hartnell has stated that this game marks his favourite NHL moment.

Hartnell as a Predator

Through six seasons with the Predators, Hartnell played in 453 games, accumulating 93 goals and 118 assists. During the 2003–04 season, Hartnell had three game-winning goals, two of which came in overtime. In his first career playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings in 2004, he tied the team high with three points (one goal and two assists).

During the 2004–05 NHL lock-out, Hartnell helped Vålerenga win the Norwegian Championship, scoring 12 goals in 11 playoff games.[1]

In the 2005–06 season, Hartnell accumulated a career-high 25 goals and 23 assists for a total of 48 points. Additionally, Hartnell scored his first career hat-trick on February 4, 2006, in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The first two goals of the trifecta were scored against Adam Munro, with the final goal coming against Craig Anderson. The following season, Hartnell continued to produce similar offensive numbers, also setting franchise records for career penalty minutes (461)[4] and for the fastest two goals by an individual (23 seconds).[5] All of this was despite a broken foot, which resulted in Hartnell missing all of March.[6]

On June 18, 2007, Hartnell, along with Kimmo Timonen, were traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a first-round pick previously acquired from Nashville for Peter Forsberg. Hartnell almost immediately signed a six-year contract worth $25.2 million.[7]

In his first season with the Flyers, Hartnell was one of a series of five Flyers suspended for questionable on-ice hits.[8] Specifically, Hartnell was suspended for two games as a result of a hit on Andrew Alberts of the Boston Bruins.[9] Additionally, Hartnell's offensive production slowed initially. While he registered his first point as a Flyer in the home opener,[10] his first goal (an empty netter) did not come until the 16th game of the season.[11] However, his scoring began to increase around mid-season.[8] On January 8, 2007, in a game against the Atlanta Thrashers, Hartnell scored his 100th career goal.[12] Two days later, Hartnell was credited with his first career natural hat-trick. He scored three goals in a row in a 6–2 victory over the New York Rangers, all against Henrik Lundqvist; The first and third were scored at even strength, while the second came on the power play.[13] He managed yet another hat-trick on January 19, 2008, including the game's winner, and an assist against Rick DiPietro of the New York Islanders.[14]

The 2008–09 season was successful for Hartnell. Playing mostly on the left wing of centre Jeff Carter, he posted a career-high in all offensive categories, scoring 30 goals and 30 assists for 60 points in 82 games. However, Hartnell also led the NHL in minor penalties that season, with 54. The season also saw him score two hat-tricks within nine days of each other; the first came against the Carolina Hurricanes on December 11, 2008,[15] with the second coming against the Washington Capitals on December 20.[16]

Hartnell with the Philadelphia Flyers.

After a disappointing 2009–10 regular season that saw Hartnell's numbers dip to 44 points (14 goals and 30 assists), Hartnell came alive in the playoffs when placed on a line with Daniel Brière and Ville Leino. This line helped lead the Flyers to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1997. Hartnell played in all 23 games for the Flyers and scored eight goals (including two in game six of the finals) and nine assists, good enough for sixth on the Eastern Conference-winning Flyers with 17 points.

Hartnell continued to produce on a line with Brière and Leino through the 2010–11 season with 24 goals and 25 assists in 82 games. However, the Flyers struggled in the second half of the season and found an early playoff exit. Hartnell himself struggled at the beginning of the following season, with only two points in his first seven games, but would heat up after being placed on a line with Jaromír Jágr and Claude Giroux. On December 13, 2011, Hartnell scored his 200th career goal against Washington Capitals goaltender Tomáš Vokoun, which also was Hartnell's sixth goal in six games.[17]

Hartnell finished the 2011–12 season with a career-high 37 goals. In a late regular season game against Pittsburgh, Hartnell mocked a Penguins fan dressed as Hulk Hogan sitting directly behind the Flyers bench. This caused the Flyers organization to create a special T-shirt with Hartnell's "Hogan" gesture on it, which was given to every fan in attendance for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the same Penguins.[18]

The 2012–13 season proved to be one of the worst seasons Hartnell had experienced in his professional career. After a year in which he scored career highs in goals (37), points (67) and plus-minus rating (+19) and tied a then-career high in assists (30), Hartnell produced just eight goals and three assists for 11 points on the season. He was held scoreless in 25 out of the 32 games he played during the season, while also missing 16 games due to an injury. In addition to his poor scoring, his play caused him to be taken off of his normal line at times, which was centred by Flyers captain Claude Giroux. Moreover, to cap off a disappointing individual season, the Flyers missed out on the year's playoffs.

On June 23, 2014, Hartnell was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for R. J. Umberger and a fourth-round draft pick.[19] In the 2014–15 season, on November 14, 2014 Hartnell made his return with Columbus to Philadelphia. He enjoyed a productive season with 28 goals and 32 assists in his first year with the Blue Jackets.

After his third season with the Blue Jackets in 2016–17, and having collected 146 points in 234 games with the club, the Blue Jackets in need of additional cap space and aimed towards improving their depth opted to buy out Hartnell from the remaining two years of his contract on June 29, 2017.[20]

On July 1, 2017, Hartnell returned to the Predators, signing a one-year, $1 million contract.[21] In his return, Hartnell recorded 13 goals and 24 points in 62 games.

On October 1, 2018, Hartnell announced his retirement from professional hockey after seventeen seasons.[22]

In early 2012, Hartnell founded the #HartnellDown Foundation as a way to provide support to charities that support hockey, children and communities around the United States and Canada. It started as a Twitter following to keep track of the number of times Hartnell would fall down during the NHL season. When Hartnell himself joined Twitter, rather than taking offence, he embraced the catchphrase and began to sell merchandise that had it printed on it with the proceeds going to Hartnell's favourite hockey-related charities. At the 2012 NHL All-Star Game, Hartnell donated $1,000 to charity for every "#hartnelldown" mention that was tweeted during the competition.