Before I begin the meat of this post, I would like to apologize as I missed mentioning Wayne Simmonds finishing the hat trick in yesterday’s NHL All-Star Game. The All-Star MVP had the game winning goal for the Metropolitan Division with an assist from Taylor Hall (which makes me feel even dumber for not mentioning it). This is not the first time I have made a mistake here and will not be the last time, but I sure felt stupid for missing it.
Anyway, on to a neat little news bit as former Devil Tom Kostopoulos currently of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins scored his 500th AHL point with a goal at the Binghamton Senators on Saturday. He became the 91st player in American Hockey League history to enter that club (500 points in the regular season) and the second oldest – he turned 38 on January 24.
Kostopoulos played 15 games for the New Jersey Devils in his last stint in the NHL in 2012-13 after he was claimed off of waivers from Pittsburgh on March 6, 2013. He then signed with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the following September.
His NHL career has seen him play 630 games for Pittsburgh, Carolina, Calgary, Los Angeles, Montreal and the Devils spread out over about 12 seasons. He has 61 NHL goals and 96 assists for 157 total points in the big leagues. In the Stanley Cup playoffs, he has played 16 games, has 3 goals, 2 assists for 5 points in 16 games played all in 2007-08 and 2008-09 for the Canadiens. One of those playoff goals was an overtime winner 48 seconds in against the Flyers on April 24, 2008 as the Habs won 4-3.
In the AHL, the Baby Pens captain has a total of 197 goals, 303 assists for his 500 points in 662 games played. This season he has 15 goals and 18 helpers for 33 points in 45 games.
Congratulations to a hard working pro and former Devil whose dedication paid off. I will have coverage here tonight of the AHL All-Star Game, which is being played in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania this evening.