Vinny Saponari (born February 15, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey right winger who is currently under contract with Eispiraten Crimmitschau of the DEL2.
Playing career Saponari was drafted 94th overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2008 NHL entry draft from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.Atlanta Thrashers Draft History After his draft selection, Saponari began playing for Boston UniversityVinny Saponari - Men's Ice Hockey - Boston University Athletics but was dismissed in 2010 along with his brother Victor.BU Players Dismissed, Suspended Following this, he spent a season in the United States Hockey League for the Dubuque Fighting Saints before returning to college hockey with two seasons at Northeastern University.
Saponari signed with the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League at the tail-end of the 2012–13 season, playing in seven regular season games and scoring a goal and an assist. He signed with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL for the 2013–14 season in what would be his only consistent season in the league, playing fifty-eight games and scoring thirty-three points. Afterwards, he played predominantly in the ECHL over the next two seasons and only made brief appearances in the AHL for the Hartford Wolf Pack, Portland Pirates and the Lake Erie Monsters before returning to the Admirals for a brief spell there as well.
On September 10, 2016, Saponari left North America and signed for Frisk Asker of Norway's GET-ligaen.SISTE BRIKKEN ER PÅ PLASS! (in Norwegian) On May 15, 2017, he moved to the Czech Republic and signed for HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga, (in Czech) but only played fifteen games for the team before returning to Frisk Asker on December 3, 2017, for the remainder of the season.SUPPORTERFAVORITTEN ENDELIG KLAR (in Norwegian) On July 22, 2018, Saponari signed with the Krefeld Pinguine of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.VINNY SAPONARI ENTSCHEIDET SICH FÜR DIE PINGUINE (in German)
In the midst of his third season with Krefeld Pinguine in 2020–21, Saponari registered just 2 assists through 8 regular season contests before opting to mutually terminate his contract on February 1, 2021.
On June 1, 2021, Saponari returned to the DEL, signing an initial one-year deal with Augsburger Panther.
In his second year with Augsburg in the 2022–23 season, Saponari posted 3 goals and 15 points through 39 regular season games, however was unable to help prevent the Panthers finish in a relegation position. He left the club at the conclusion of his contract on March 17, 2023.
On June 13, 2023, Saponari opted to continue his career in Germany, joining second tier club, ETC Crimmitschau of the DEL2.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM2005–06Culver Military AcademyUSHS 42 16 37 53 24 — — — — —2006–07U.S. National Development TeamNAHL 35 9 10 19 43 — — — — —2007–08U.S. National Development TeamNAHL 15 1 7 8 0 — — — — —2008–09Boston UniversityHE 44 8 9 17 39 — — — — —2009–10Boston UniversityHE 38 12 18 30 32 — — — — —2010–11Dubuque Fighting SaintsUSHL 56 18 46 64 35 11 5 4 9 62011–12Northeastern UniversityHE 34 7 16 23 14 — — — — —2012–13Northeastern UniversityHE 34 7 22 29 24 — — — — —2012–13St. John's IceCapsAHL 7 1 1 2 0 — — — — —2013–14Cincinnati CyclonesECHL 14 1 10 11 4 — — — — —2013–14Milwaukee AdmiralsAHL 58 15 18 33 14 2 0 0 0 02014–15Greenville Road WarriorsECHL 68 18 51 69 16 — — — — —2014–15Hartford Wolf PackAHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — —2015–16Portland PiratesAHL 6 1 3 4 6 — — — — —2015–16Lake Erie MonstersAHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —2015–16Greenville Swamp RabbitsECHL 40 6 11 17 12 — — — — —2015–16Milwaukee AdmiralsAHL 11 0 3 3 0 — — — — —2016–17Frisk AskerGET 43 15 36 51 14 17 7 14 21 362017–18HC Sparta PrahaELH 15 1 6 7 6 — — — — —2017–18Frisk AskerGET 17 5 11 16 6 10 3 6 9 62018–19Krefeld PinguineDEL 43 9 9 18 10 — — — — —2019–20Krefeld PinguineDEL 50 8 23 31 12 — — — — —2020–21Krefeld PinguineDEL 8 0 2 2 2 — — — — —2020–21Kassel HuskiesDEL2 20 4 19 23 4 11 5 8 13 22021–22Augsburger PantherDEL 46 12 12 24 16 — — — — —2022–23Augsburger PantherDEL 39 3 12 15 14 — — — — —DEL totals 186 32 58 90 54 — — — — —
International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2007 United States U18 7 2 2 4 0 2008 United States U18 7 0 3 3 33Junior totals 14 2 5 7 33
References
External links