Vernon Fiddler

Vernon "Vern" Fiddler (born May 9, 1980) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League for the Nashville Predators, Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils.

Vernon Fiddler
Fiddler in October 2014
Born (1980-05-09) May 9, 1980
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Centre/Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Nashville Predators
Phoenix Coyotes
Dallas Stars
New Jersey Devils
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2001–2017

Playing career
Fiddler in 2009

Undrafted, Fiddler played in the Western Hockey League with the Kelowna Rockets and the Medicine Hat Tigers before turning pro in 2001. As a free agent, Fiddler played the 2001–02 season with the Roanoke Express of the ECHL and the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League.

On May 6, 2002, Fiddler was signed by the Nashville Predators and was assigned to affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. He later made his NHL debut with the Predators in November 2002, and played 19 NHL games during the 2002–03 season.[1] In the 2003–04 season Fiddler helped the Admirals win the Calder Cup. Fiddler spent the next 2 years playing between the Predators and the Admirals before playing his first full NHL season in 2006–07.

On July 1, 2009, after playing 305 games for the Predators, Fiddler signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Coyotes. He recorded his first career NHL hat trick on November 12, 2010, against Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames.[2]

Fiddler signed with the Dallas Stars as a free agent to a three-year contract on July 1, 2011.[3]

On July 2, 2014, after testing free-agency, Fiddler re-signed with the Stars on a two-year contract.[4] During his tenure with the Stars, Fiddler immersed himself amongst the leadership group as an alternate captain.

On February 29, 2016, Fiddler played in his 800th regular season NHL game. Fiddler assisted on Dallas's first goal and later scored the tying goal with 1:31 left in the third period to send the game into overtime. Fiddler and the Stars would go on to lose 3-2 in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings.[5] Fiddler is one of two active undrafted players who have played in 800 career NHL games.[6] The other being Alexandre Burrows.

Fiddler scored his 100th career NHL goal on March 4, 2016, as a member of the Dallas Stars. The empty net goal came in a win against the New Jersey Devils.[7]

On July 1, 2016, after five seasons with the Stars, Fiddler signed a one-year $1.25 million free agent contract with the New Jersey Devils.[8] In the 2016–17 season, Fiddler struggled to find his offensive game as the Devils' fourth-line centre. Having contributed just 3 points in 39 games, he was traded by the Devils, back to the Predators in exchange for a 4th-round pick in the 2017 draft on February 4, 2017.[9][10]

At the age of 37, Fiddler announced his retirement from the NHL on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 in a Players Tribune article.[11] Fiddler ended his career having played playing a total of 877 games in the NHL with 104 goals and 157 assists, for a total of 261 points.[12]

Retirement

Now retired, Fiddler has moved to Texas with his wife Chrissy and their two children, Blake and Bella.[13] Fiddler is doing charity work with the Stars Foundation and is also helping out the Dallas Stars with any work they ask of him.[13] As well, Fiddler is helping coach his son's hockey team.[14] For the 2019-20 season, Fiddler is an Assistant Coach at the Kelowna Rockets a junior hockey team in the Western Hockey League based in British Columbia Canada.[15] The Kelowna Rockets will be hosting the 2019-20 Memorial Cup.

Community involvement

Throughout his NHL career, Fiddler has been involved with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as a way to honour his sister who died from leukemia.[16] Vernon and his wife, Chrissy, created a children's foundation called "Fidd's Kids." Fiddler created the foundation while playing for the Dallas Stars. Through a partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas, the foundation donates 12 tickets to each home game to local children.[17] In 2015, Fiddler was voted by his teammates as their nominee for the National Hockey League's King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The annual award goes to the player "who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community." [16]

In 2018, Vernon Fiddler was named the Man of the Year by the North Texas Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He and his team raised over $167,000 in a ten-week period for blood cancer research and patient services in memory of his sister, Erin Dionne Fiddler. His sister's name was linked to a national Leukemia & Lymphoma Society research grant.

Native heritage

Vernon Fiddler is of Métis descent and, at the time of his retirement, was one of 9 NHL players with Native roots.[18] Fiddler is also one of 70 total Indigenous athletes to ever play in the NHL and is the 13th of Metis descent to play in the NHL.[19][20][21] Fiddler is a member of the Métis Museum along with current and former NHL players Arron Asham, Rene Bourque, Brad Chartrand, Ronald Delorme, Magnus Flett, Roderick Flett, Dwight King, Vic Mercredi, Richard Pilon, Wade Redden, Sheldon Souray, and Francis St. Marseille.[19]

Family

Vernon is the son of Bob Fiddler. He is married to Chrissy Fiddler and the couple has two children, son Blake, born July 2007 in Nashville,[10] and daughter Bella.[5]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1997–98 Kelowna Rockets WHL 65 10 11 21 31 7 0 1 1 4
1998–99 Kelowna Rockets WHL 68 22 21 43 82 6 2 0 2 8
1999–00 Kelowna Rockets WHL 64 20 28 48 60 5 1 3 4 4
2000–01 Kelowna Rockets WHL 3 0 2 2 0 — — — — —
2000–01 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 67 33 38 71 100 — — — — —
2000–01 Arkansas RiverBlades ECHL 3 0 1 1 2 5 3 0 3 5
2001–02 Roanoke Express ECHL 44 27 28 55 71 — — — — —
2001–02 Norfolk Admirals AHL 38 8 5 13 28 4 1 3 4 2
2002–03 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 54 8 16 24 70 6 1 2 3 14
2002–03 Nashville Predators NHL 19 4 2 6 14 — — — — —
2003–04 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 47 9 15 24 72 22 5 3 8 36
2003–04 Nashville Predators NHL 17 0 0 0 23 — — — — —
2004–05 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 73 20 22 42 70 7 0 0 0 18
2005–06 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 11 1 6 7 20 — — — — —
2005–06 Nashville Predators NHL 40 8 4 12 42 2 0 1 1 0
2006–07 Nashville Predators NHL 72 11 15 26 40 5 1 1 2 4
2007–08 Nashville Predators NHL 79 11 21 32 47 6 0 0 0 0
2008–09 Nashville Predators NHL 78 11 6 17 24 — — — — —
2009–10 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 76 8 22 30 46 6 1 1 2 14
2010–11 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 71 6 16 22 46 4 0 0 0 0
2011–12 Dallas Stars NHL 82 8 13 21 60 — — — — —
2012–13 Dallas Stars NHL 46 4 13 17 48 — — — — —
2013–14 Dallas Stars NHL 76 6 17 23 37 6 1 2 3 24
2014–15 Dallas Stars NHL 80 13 16 29 34 — — — — —
2015–16 Dallas Stars NHL 82 12 10 22 31 13 1 2 3 8
2016–17 New Jersey Devils NHL 39 1 2 3 29 — — — — —
2016–17 Nashville Predators NHL 20 1 0 1 37 9 1 1 2 25
NHL totals 877 104 157 261 558 51 5 8 13 75

Awards and honours
Award Year
AHL
Calder Cup (Milwaukee Admirals) 2004

References
  1. "Cole scores pair as Stars beat Predators". Yahoo! Sports. 2013-01-02. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
  2. Press, The Canadian. "Vernon Fiddler has first NHL hat trick, Coyotes beat Flames 5-4 | The Hockey News". The Hockey News. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  3. "NHL Free Agent Tracker". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  4. "Stars sign Vernon Fiddler; also sign Brendan Ranford to entry-level deal". Dallas News. 2014-07-02. Archived from the original on 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
  5. "Interview with a Grinder: Vernon Fiddler". The Hockey Writers. 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  6. "Stars center Vernon Fiddler passing career milestones with same determination that landed him in the NHL | SportsDay". SportsDay. 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  7. "Vern Fiddler Providing Subtle Excellence For Stars". Defending Big D. 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  8. "Fiddler signs one-year deal with the Devils". New Jersey Devils. 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  9. "Vernon Fiddler traded to Predators by Devils". National Hockey League. 2017-02-04. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
  10. Prewitt, Alex (May 17, 2017). "Vernon Fiddler's return to Nashville brings a shot at the Cup with the Predators". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  11. "Canadian Born, Texas Taught | By Vernon Fiddler". The Players' Tribune. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  12. "Vernon Fiddler". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  13. "Retiring Vernon Fiddler found the perfect balance between a boy's game and a war on ice". SportsDay. 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  14. "Q+A: In first fall since retirement, Fiddler enjoying time away". NHL.com. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  15. "Kelowna Rockets host 2019-20 Memorial Cup". Kelowna Rockets. 12 October 2019.
  16. "Stars announce Vernon Fiddler is team's nominee for King Clancy Trophy | SportsDay". SportsDay. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  17. "Vernon Fiddler of Devils reunites with biggest fan". NHL.com. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  18. "Talented group of aboriginal stars to play in NHL this year - MyToba.ca News". MyToba.ca News. 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  19. Barkwell, Lawrence. "Metis Hockey Players". metismuseum.ca. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  20. "Edmonton man collects cards of all 70 indigenous players to skate in NHL". Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  21. "NHL". Native Hockey. 2015-10-27. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
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