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Player of the Month

The European Hockey.Net European Player of the Month is awarded to the player with the most oustanding performance over the course of the month

Nominations are collected at the end of each month, then a vote by the site's admin team decides the winner.

January 2006 - Patrick Yetman

January's Player of the Month award heads to a rather surprising country. This time it wasn't a player from one of Europe's elite leagues who stood out most, but a forward from the Norwegian UPC Ligaen.

Furthermore, Storhamar Dragons IL forward Patrick Yetman, is the first Canadian to capture the award.

The 2005-06 season marks Yetman's debut season in the Norwegian league. It didn't take long for him to become a fan favorite. He left an immediate impression scoring tons of goals en route to a glorious season for the team in which it topped the table after 42 games having posted 34 wins and just 4 losses.

The Canadian forward appeared in all 42 games and scored 40 goals along with 23 assists for a massive 63 points. He also set a team record for consecutive games in which he scored with 14. He has formed a successful line with Geir Svendsberget and Mads Hansen who is likely moving to the Swedish Elitserien next season.

His January performance was highly impressive. In just ten games, Yetman had the opposition's goalie fishing pucks from the back of their nets 16 times. Added to that he added eight assists for 24 points. Enough to be credited with the European Hockey.Net Player of the Month Award.

Although Yetman is enjoying his spell in Norway at the moment he had never thought to end up in the city of Hamar when his career took off. The St.John's, New Foundland native cracked the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as an 18-year old with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

The Moncton Wildcats liked his raw talent and contracted him for the 99-00 season. It was a decision they did never regret. After a successful first year in which he nearly averaged a point per game, he became only the second player in the team's history to score 100 points in a full season (00-01).

His performance caught the eyes of the professional men's teams and already that season he had brief stints in the IHL and the ECHL.

Despite putting up decent numbers in the AHL with Hartford and Springfield, Yetman was often overlooked because of his size (1.78m) and weight (78kg) . It wasn't a matter of doubt that the pure offensive skills were there. In two season in just over 100 games he racked up no less than 75 points.

Stuck in the North-American system with hardly any chance to move up, Yetman decided to cross the pond and take on the adventures in Europe.

He landed himself a job in the German 2. Bundesliga with ESV Kaufbeuren. The larger ice rink and different culture did not stop him from doing what he can do best: rack up points.

Playing for a team struggling and trying to avoid relegation, Yetman did the team a great favor averaging over a point per game. His smallish frame was no longer considered a problem and the larger ice surface gave him more room to display his skills.

He finished the 03-04 season with 62 points from 49 games and followed it up with yet another successful campaign in which he topped the scoring list of the relegation round robin games in the post season. His 20 points from 10 games were unmatched and enough to keep his team in the second highest German league.

The happy marriage between Yetman and the Kaufbeuren Jokers organization came to an abrupt end after the 04-05 season though. A financial dispute left Kaufbeuren president Bernhard Pohl no other option than to shake hands and say goodbye to the Canadian. Pohl felt he could not commit his team's finances to the demands of Yetman without risking his organisation's future.

With an impressive resume, Yetman didn't have a hard time finding a new home but much to everyone's surprise it wasn't elsewhere in Germany but up north in Norway.

Hamar mostly known for its Vikingskipet speed skating stadion, have found a new hero now the skating season is nearly done and the Norwegian speed skaters performing disappointing at the most recent Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

Patrick Yetman already won the league's regular season top scorer's title. Now he's looking for more silverware. Storhamar Dragons eliminated Frisk-Asker Tigers in four straight games and will now face arch rivals Vålerenga in the semi finals in another best of seven series. If Storhamar manages to finish the playoffs on a high note it will mark the team's sixth national league title after previous victories in 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2004. "For us it's all about finishing what we've started. And that's what we'll do," Yetman told in a local newspaper

For next season, Yetman's options are still open. Team GM and former Norway national team player Petter Salsten has confirmed he has opened talks with the player's agent however realises his team has got financial limitations especially compared to the money being offered in the bigger leagues on the European main land. "It's definitely possible that I'll stay in Hamar. It's fun to play here", Yetman admits. "I'm thinking about my career. I want to play at as high a level as possible. And there are also other things to consider, like my contract, money, organization and the possibility to play for a winning team. The winning team part was the main reason why I came to Storhamar in the first place," says Yetman. A return to North America isn't ruled out either. With the new line changes the game has become cleaner and more suitable for smaller players like Yetman.

Unfortunately Yetman was unavailable for comments

Related links

Patrick Yetman's profile

Storhamar Dragons IL