Blake Chester Pietila (born February 20, 1993) is an American former professional ice hockey left winger who played with the New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League (NHL). Pietila was drafted by the Devils in the 5th round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
Family
His grandfather was born and raised in Finland. Blake's brother also play hockey.[1]
Playing career
As a youth, Pietila played in the 2006 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Detroit Compuware minor ice hockey team.[2]
Pietila, of Finnish descent through his grandfather,[3] played collegiate hockey with Michigan Tech of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. After his four-year college career was completed after his senior season in 2014–15, Pietila, who was the captain, was signed to a two-year entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils on May 27, 2015.[4]
In his debut professional season in 2015–16, Pietila was initially reassigned to AHL affiliate, the Albany Devils. He later made his NHL debut for the Devils on March 24, 2016, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He recorded his first NHL goal on March 31, 2016, against the Florida Panthers with only 5.1 seconds remaining in a 3-2 loss.[5]
On July 26, 2017, the Devils re-signed Pietila to a two-year, two-way contract worth $1.335 million and $667,000 annually.[6]
On July 2, 2019, Pietila left the Devils organization after four seasons as a free agent to sign a one-year, two-way contract with the Anaheim Ducks for the 2019–20 season.[7] He played the duration of his contract with the Ducks assigned to AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, recording 12 goals and 24 points through 49 regular season games before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a free agent from the Ducks leading into the pandemic delayed 2020–21 season, Pietila belatedly signed a professional tryout contract with the Hershey Bears of the AHL, affiliate to the Washington Capitals, on February 8, 2021.[8]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2009–10 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 28 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 24 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 39 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 35 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 39 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 40 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Albany Devils | AHL | 58 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 41 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2015–16 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Albany Devils | AHL | 49 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 38 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Binghamton Devils | AHL | 60 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Binghamton Devils | AHL | 50 | 20 | 26 | 46 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 49 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 38 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | United States | U17 | 
|
6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2011 | United States | U18 |
|
6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2013 | United States | WJC |
|
7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 19 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| College | ||
| All-WCHA Third Team | 2014–15 | [9] |
References
- ^ "Blake, niitä Michiganin Pietilöitä". Jatkoaika.com - Kaikki jääkiekosta (in Finnish). 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
- ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
- ^ Blake, niitä Michiganin Pietilöitä (in Finnish) Jatkoaika.com
- ^ "Devils sign prospects Ryan Kujawinski and Blake Pietila". New Jersey Devils. 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
- ^ Chere, Rich (April 1, 2016). "Blake Pietila wishes first NHL goal was more important to Devils". NJ.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ "Devils sign forward Blake Pietila to a two-year, two-way contract". New Jersey Devils. July 26, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
- ^ "Ducks sign Poturalski and Pietila to one-year contracts". Anaheim Ducks. July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ "Bears sign Pietila to PTO". Hershey Bears. February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
- ^ "All-WCHA Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
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