By Joey Seymour

SAN DIEGO—With the major league baseball playoffs in full swing and the National Football League dominating sports news, there is actually another major sport that just kicked off its season, the National Hockey League. Whereas the fellas on the ice don’t get as much attention as those on the gridiron, this hockey season might be worth paying attention to, especially to follow  five incredible Jewish players: Michael Cammalleri, Jeff Halpern, Eric Nystrom, Mathieu Schneider, and Marty Turco.

Back when I was a group sales person for the Los Angeles Kings, I organized what would become one of my most successful events, the Kings’ first ever Jewish Community night. At the time a young center named Michael Cammalleri was playing for the Kings. Cammalleri was born in Richmond Hill, Ontario, on June 8, 1982 to a Jewish mother, Ruth and an Italian father, Leo.

He excelled early at the sport of hockey and went to the University of Michigan, a power house for developing NHL talent. During the 2001 NHL Draft, Cammalleri was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings. Michael was a member of the Kings organization for six seasons, playing for the subpar L.A. team, which had been over shadowed by the success of their neighbors to the south, the Anaheim Ducks.

However, when the NHL brought a regular season game to Europe for the first time on September 29, 2007, Cammalleri scored the first goal during of that historic game, in London. In 2008 he was traded to the Calgary Flames where on November 27 of that year, he scored his first professional hat trick. On July 1, 2009, Michael Cammalleri became a member of the Montréal Canadiens.

In the fall of 1999, center Jeff Halpern began his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. He was the first Capital to hail from the D.C. area as he was born in Potomac, Maryland on May 3, 1976 to Mel and Gloria Halpern. After graduating from Princeton University, Halpern found instant success with the Capitals, later being named team captain in 2005. Halpern is one of only three players from Maryland to have ever skated in the NHL.

In 2001 he was named to the Washington D.C. Jewish Hall of Fame. Tragedy struck on February 11, 2005 when Jeff’s mother, Gloria, along with his aunt and uncle were killed in a horrific automobile accident. After the accident, Jeff moved from the D.C. area, becoming a member of the Dallas Stars in 2006. In 2008, Jeff signed with his current team, the Tampa Bay Lighting. In his first season with the lighting he was only one of two players to play all 83 games and had a hot streak scoring 10 goals and 18 points during a 19 game stretch. He was the captain for the U.S. team during the 2008 World Championships in Canada.

Calgary Flames Left Winger, Eric Nystrom is an up and coming star with a deeply rooted hockey lineage. His father, Bob Nystrom, will always be remembered for his Stanley Cup winning goal during the 1980 championships, when the New York Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers. Bob Nystrom is known as “Mr. Islander” and is the team’s most treasured player. Son Eric, born on February 14, 1983, quickly showed that he could follow

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in his father’s skates. During the 2000-01 season, Nystrom played alongside Michael Cammalleri at the University of Michigan. He was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 2005 and in 2008, once again played with Cammalleri, competing in 76 games. If the Flames, who are off to a hot start in 2009, make it to the Stanley Cup finals this season, young Nystrom may have a chance to score a winning goal of his own.
          
The 1993 Montréal Canadiens were champions of the NHL and Mathieu Schneider (defense) was one of the stars who lead his team against the much favored L.A. Kings captained by “The Great One,” Wayne Gretzky.  Currently, Schneider plays for the Vancouver Canucks, but he has had quite an adventure in the NHL. Mathieu Schneider was born on June 12, 1969 in New York City. He has played for nine teams and on October 21, 2005, skated in his 1,000th game, an incredible achievement. In an unfortunate twist of fate, Mathieu, who was a free agent, became a member of the Anaheim Ducks for the 2007-08 season, having come from Detroit.The previous season, the Ducks won their first Stanley Cup and lost their title to the Detroit Red Wings in 2008. Had Schneider stayed with Detroit or signed with the Ducks a season earlier, he would have won his second Stanley Cup.

Now in the twilight of his playing days, Mathieu Schneider has had a career full of impressive statistics, two NHL All-Star appearances and a Stanley Cup to be proud of, but I think the 40-year old might have a bit of the Favre magic this season with the Canucks, as they attempt to make a Stanley cup bid.

Given the moniker, “the smartest goalie in the NHL,” Marty Turco is the Dallas Stars incredibly popular Goaltender and has been since the 2001-02 season (the Stars drafted Marty in 1994, but he finished college at the University of Michigan prior to making his NHL debut). Turco was  born on August 13, 1975 in Sault St. Marie, Ontario.

Fairly quiet about his heritage, Turco does most of his representing on the ice. He is the Stars All-Time leading Goaltender in every statistical category, wins, shut outs, games played, minutes by a goaltender, consecutive games played, and assists by a goalie. There is no doubt that Marty Turco is one of the most dominating Goalies in the league today, yet the Stars continue to come up short in the playoffs. In 2003, the Stars lost to the then called Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Disappointment once again befell Dallas in 2004 and 2006 when they were knocked out of the playoffs by the Colorado Avalanche. In 2007 the Stars, which included Jeff Halpern, were playoff victims to the Vancouver Canucks and 2008 to the Detroit Red Wings. They did not make the playoffs in 2009. The Stars are constant regular season favorites, led by their All-Star captain and crowd favorite, Marty Turco, but until he hoists the Stanley Cup, the statistics will not mean too much.

With Cammalleri, Halpern, Nystrom, Schneider, and Turco playing for five different teams in the NHL, there is a decent chance one of them could win it all this spring, so when you are watching the MLB playoffs or the NFL, spare a few minutes to catch up with these guys. Beyond being only a handful of Jewish players in the NHL, they are each remarkable athletes who can hopefully lead their team(s) to success this year.