Mathieu Darche
Canadian ice hockey player
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Mathieu Darche (born November 26, 1976) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player who is the general manager for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for several American Hockey League (AHL) and NHL clubs from 2000 to 2012. Mathieu is the younger brother of football player J. P. Darche.
| Mathieu Darche | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Darche with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2007 | |||
| Born |
November 26, 1976 Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 217 lb (98 kg; 15 st 7 lb) | ||
| Position | Left wing | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Columbus Blue Jackets Nashville Predators San Jose Sharks Tampa Bay Lightning Montreal Canadiens | ||
| NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2000–2012 | ||
Hockey career
Amateur
Darche played hockey at Choate Rosemary Hall and graduated in 1996. He has a commerce degree in marketing and international business from McGill University.[1] While attending university, Darche played four seasons of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) hockey, where in his last year, he was named the CIS Outstanding student-athlete and was awarded the Dr. Randy Gregg Award.[2]
Professional
After McGill, Darche became the first-ever signing by the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets in 2000.
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Darche spent a full season with the Hershey Bears of the AHL.
He played for the Füchse Duisburg of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in 2005–06 and also split four seasons between the NHL and AHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, and their affiliates. In 2006–07, he played a few games with the San Jose Sharks of the NHL but spent most of the season playing for the team's AHL affiliate, the Worcester Sharks. In 2007–08, Darche played with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After starting the 2009–10 season playing for its AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs he was recalled and played his first game as a Canadien on January 20, 2010, versus the St. Louis Blues and scored his first goal for the team on January 22 versus the New Jersey Devils, which was a game-winning goal.[3] After attending the New Jersey Devils training camp in January 2013, he was asked to stay with the team but ultimately chose to retire.[4]
Managerial
Darche served as Vice-President of Sales and Marketing in Canada for Delmar International Inc. [5] before becoming the Director of Hockey Operations for the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 6, 2019. He would win two Stanley Cups in the role in 2020 and 2021.[6]
Darche was hired as the general manager of the New York Islanders on May 23, 2025.[7]
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | McGill University | CIAU | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | McGill University | CIAU | 26 | 21 | 13 | 34 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | McGill University | CIAU | 23 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | McGill University | CIAU | 26 | 27 | 35 | 62 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 66 | 16 | 24 | 40 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2000–01 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 63 | 22 | 23 | 45 | 26 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2002–03 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 76 | 32 | 32 | 64 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 76 | 28 | 31 | 59 | 41 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 8 | ||
| 2003–04 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 79 | 29 | 25 | 54 | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Füchse Duisburg | DEL | 52 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 88 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Worcester Sharks | AHL | 76 | 35 | 45 | 80 | 72 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 73 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 4 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 80 | 31 | 35 | 66 | 37 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2009–10 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 32 | 16 | 9 | 25 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 29 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2010–11 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 59 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 61 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| AHL totals | 552 | 212 | 231 | 443 | 290 | 47 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 20 | ||||
| NHL totals | 250 | 30 | 42 | 72 | 58 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||||