Daniel Girardi

Daniel "Dan" Girardi (born April 29, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Undrafted, Girardi has played his entire NHL career in the New York Rangers organization.

Girardi as a Ranger.

Minor/Junior

Girardi grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown of Welland, Ontario, with the Welland Tigers of the OMHA's Niagara District and South Central AAA Leagues. He was a member of the OMHA Minor Atom AAA Championship team in 1995 and an OMHA Finalist team in Minor Peewee in 1997.

During his junior career, he was a member of the London Knights team that won the 2005 OHL Championship and the 2005 Memorial Cup.

Professional

Although eligible in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Girardi surprisingly went undrafted, as no NHL team felt he was a skilled enough player to play professionally, in spite of having a relatively good year in the Ontario Hockey League with 39 points in 68 games. Not to be discouraged, Girardi persevered and contacted several NHL teams for a tryout. The New York Rangers took a second look at Girardi and invited him to their training camp in the 2005-2006 season. He eventually signed a free agent, two-way American Hockey League (AHL) contract with the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers' AHL affiliate, and began the 2005–06 season with the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL. Eventually, Girardi was called up to the AHL's Wolfpack and while there, was signed to an NHL deal by the Rangers. Girardi was called up by the New York Rangers on January 27, 2007, after an injury to Rangers defenceman Darius Kasparaitis. Since that call-up, Girardi has dressed for every regular season and post-season game that the Rangers have played, except for two games in the 2010–11 season when he was sidelined with a rib injury in late January 2011; this ended a consecutive games-played streak at 330.

On February 16, 2008, Girardi signed a two-year, $3.1 million contract extension with the Rangers.

On July 9, 2010, Girardi re-signed with the Rangers, signing a four-year, $13.3 million deal. During the 2010–11 season, Girardi led the NHL in blocked shots, with 236.

For the 2011–12 season, Girardi was named an interim alternate captain for the Rangers while Marc Staal was recovering from post-concussion syndrome. In Staal's absence, Girardi led all NHL skaters in average ice-time, averaging nearly 28 minutes per game. His play earned him a spot in the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. Girardi scored his first playoff goal on April 26, 2012, against the Ottawa Senators during Game 7 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

During the 2012–13 lockout-shortened season, Girardi was named an interim alternate captain for the Rangers a second time while Marc Staal was recovering from an injury sustained on March 3 when he was hit with a puck in the eye.

During the 2013–14 season, on February 28, Girardi signed a six-year, $33 million extension with the Rangers. He was named an alternate captain for the Rangers for the remainder of the season when captain Ryan Callahan was traded at the NHL trade deadline to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Girardi's solid defensive play in the playoffs was a key part in the Rangers' run to the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings.

Girardi became a permanent alternate captain during the 2014-15 season, and spent most of the season on the Rangers' top defensive pairing with captain Ryan McDonagh. Girardi's solid defensive play that season led to the Rangers winning the President's trophy, as well as a run to the Eastern Conference Final, where the Rangers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a hard-fought, 7-game series.

Girardi started the 2015-16 season strong, contributing to a 14-2-2 start to the 2015-16 season for the Rangers. Midway through the season, however, the Rangers slumped, going 4-7-2 in the month of December, with many critics blaming Girardi for the slump. Even though the Rangers seemed to play better by February, Girardi suffered a knee injury late in the season, and the team started to fall apart, losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1, despite many expecting the Rangers to make another deep playoff run.

In June 2016, it was reported that the Rangers may buy-out the remainder of Dan Girardi's contract, but Rangers GM Jeff Gorton denied the report.

Girardi's childhood idol was Mark Messier. During the season, Girardi resides in Westchester County, New York.

Girardi and his wife Pam have two children – a son, Landon, and a daughter, Shaye.