Jonathan Cheechoo
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| Position | Right Wing |
| Shoots | Right |
| Nickname | Cheech,cheech sticks |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) |
| NHL Team | San Jose Sharks |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | July 15, 1980, Moose Factory, ON, CAN |
| NHL Draft | 29th overall, 1998 San Jose Sharks |
| Pro Career | 2002 – present |
Jonathan Earl Cheechoo (born July 15, 1980 in Moose Factory, Ontario) is a professional ice hockey right winger who currently plays for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League. Cheechoo is the first member of the Moose Cree First Nation to play in the NHL. He is left handed. His nickname is The Cheechoo Train.
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[edit] Playing career
[edit] Junior career
Drafted by the Belleville Bulls of the OHL in the 1997 OHL priority selection, Cheechoo had a reasonably strong rookie year in 1997-1998 with 76 points (31 goals + 45 assists) in 64 games, good for third place on his team. In the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, San Jose sent the 2nd overall pick (David Legwand) to Nashville for the third overall pick (Brad Stuart) and the 29th overall pick, which they used to draft Cheechoo. Most had predicted that Cheechoo would be a later-round pick, and San Jose was criticized for picking a lackluster forward who "skated slower forwards than most players skated backwards" instead of the highly-touted Legwand. Presumably, since Cheechoo started playing hockey at a late age, his skating skills took longer to develop.
Cheechoo joined the Bulls for the 1998-1999 season and finished with 82 points (35 + 47) in 63 games. Taking off in the playoffs, Cheechoo scored 30 points (15 + 15) in 21 games. Although he was now eligible for AHL assignment, San Jose chose to leave him unsigned. San Jose was patient with Cheechoo, knowing he still had room to improve in the OHL. In the following season, Cheechoo had his best year, tallying a team-high 91 points (45 + 46) in 66 games. Cheechoo added 17 points (5 + 12) in sixteen games during the playoffs. His high goal total hinted at his sniping capabilities, and his statistical improvement mirrored his development. Notably, Cheechoo never played a full season while in juniors because of minor injuries he gained from his crash-and-bang style of play. During San Jose's offseason (2000) training camp, Cheechoo had a particularly poor showing, giving support to the belief that he would never be an NHLer.[citation needed] For development, Cheechoo joined San Jose's affiliate, the Kentucky Thoroughblades, in the 2000-2001 season before deciding to give the NHL another go and obtained hockey agent Thayne Cambell.
[edit] Pro career
Cheechoo had a strong rookie season in the AHL with 66 points in 75 games. After going scoreless in the playoffs (in which he was a healthy scratch for two games), Cheechoo rebounded with 46 points (21 + 25) in 53 games (he missed games due to a leg injury).
In 2002-2003, after scoring seven points (3 + 4) in nine games with the Cleveland Barons (the relocated Kentucky Thoroughblades franchise), Cheechoo was recalled to San Jose to help revitalize the struggling team. Playing mostly on the third and fourth lines, Cheechoo had a modest 16 points (9 + 7) in 66 games. During the 2003 offseason, Cheechoo put himself on a power-skating regime and reduced his body fat to single digits, doing everything from weight work to sprinting exercises to increase his skating strength[1].
His hard work paid off, as Cheechoo had 47 points in 81 games in 2003-2004. Playing alongside Mike Ricci and Scott Thornton, Cheechoo had two mentors who taught Cheechoo how to be defensively responsible. Also, Cheechoo became one of San Jose's best grinders; his new upper-body strength allowed him to win many battles along the boards. In the 2004 playoffs, Cheechoo had 10 points in 17 games. San Jose was eliminated by Calgary. During the NHL lockout, Cheechoo played with HV71 of the Swedish Elitserien and had 5 goals in 20 games.
In the 2005-06 season, Cheechoo took off, netting a franchise record 56 goals and 93 points. Much of Cheechoo's success could be attributed to the Sharks acquisition of superstar Joe Thornton. Before the trade, Cheechoo had 15 points (7 goals, 8 assists) in 24 games. In the 57 games after the trade, Cheechoo had 78 points (49 goals, 29 assists). This was because Joe Thornton's large number of assists to Cheechoo, causing a huge number of goals.
Cheechoo is the first Shark to win the Rocket Richard Trophy, awarded to the player in the NHL with the most goals in a season.
In 2006, Cheechoo signed a 5-year contract extension worth US$15 million. The deal will pay him US$2.5 million the first two years, US$3 million the third year, and US$3.5 million the last two years.
[edit] Records
- San Jose Sharks' franchise record for goals in a season (56)
- San Jose Sharks' franchise record for power play goals in a season (24)
- San Jose Sharks' franchise record for hat tricks in a season (5)
[edit] Awards
- 2005-06: Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy (NHL)
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1997-98 | Belleville Bulls | OHL | 64 | 31 | 45 | 76 | 62 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 | ||
| 1998-99 | Belleville Bulls | OHL | 63 | 35 | 47 | 82 | 74 | 21 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 27 | ||
| 1999-00 | Belleville Bulls | OHL | 66 | 45 | 46 | 91 | 102 | 16 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 16 | ||
| 2000-01 | Kentucky Thoroughblades | AHL | 75 | 32 | 34 | 66 | 63 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2001-02 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 53 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 54 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 66 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 39 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 16 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 81 | 28 | 19 | 47 | 33 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 | ||
| 2004-05 | HV71 | SEL | 20 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2005-06 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 82 | 56 | 37 | 93 | 58 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 8 | ||
| NHL Totals | 229 | 93 | 63 | 156 | 130 | 28 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 18 | ||||
[edit] Trivia
- According to Cheechoo in an interview with Adam Carolla, his playing with the Sharks was apparently pre-destined when he wrote an essay in grade 4 about how he wanted to play for San Jose in the future. Cheechoo received a C+ on the essay. [2]
- He is an Oakland Athletics fan. He threw out the first pitch in the May 3rd 2006 game where Oakland hosted the Cleveland Indians.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Jarome Iginla Ilya Kovalchuk Rick Nash |
Winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy 2006 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1980 births | Belleville Bulls alumni | Canadian ice hockey players | Cleveland Barons (2001-2006) players | Cree people | HV71 players | Kentucky Thoroughblades players | Living people | National Hockey League 50-goal seasons | National Hockey League All-Stars | Ontario sportspeople | Rocket Richard Trophy winners | San Jose Sharks draft picks | San Jose Sharks players
