Robbie Earl | |||
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Born |
Chicago, IL, USA |
June 2, 1985 ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
Weight | 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb) | ||
Position | Left Wing | ||
Shoots | Left | ||
NLA team Former teams |
EHC Biel Toronto Maple Leafs Minnesota Wild EC Red Bull Salzburg Rapperswil-Jona Lakers EV Zug Färjestad BK |
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National team | United States | ||
NHL Draft | 187th overall, 2004 Toronto Maple Leafs |
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Playing career | 2006–present |
Robert Wayne Earl (born June 2, 1985) is an American professional ice hockey forward, currently playing for EHC Biel in the National League A (NLA). Earl was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Los Angeles, California.
He played two years as a forward with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 and Under-17 Programs. He ranked third on the under-18 team in 2002–03 with 33 points and 20 goals in 53 games, finishing fourth at the 2003 IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Yaroslavl, Russia. He was the game-winning goal scorer in the championship game of the 2002 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Stonewell, Manitoba and was fourth in scoring for the NTDP Under-17 Team with 22 goals and 16 assists in 58 games during 2001–02. He played for future Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves at the NTDP.
In Earl's first season with the Badgers, he scored 27 points playing in a career high 42 games. As a Freshman he led the Badgers in points that season. He also managed to be nominated to the All-Rookie Team, tallying six power-play goals and three game-winning goals that year. His career first hat trick came in overtime against then league-leading North Dakota. During his freshman season, Earl was awarded with Insidecollegehockey.com’s National Player of the Week award and the WCHA Rookie of the Week award. He was the Toronto Maple Leafs’ fourth choice, 187th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
The next year, he improved his point total, enough to make the roster for the Second-Team All-WCHA. The successful year led him to a team-best 20 goals, eighth total ranked eighth in the WCHA. Earl also tied the team lead with five-game-winning goals, sharing second in the WCHA where his second career hat trick came against the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on November 19. He also won the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week in that same time span, the first for the University of Wisconsin–Madison since the 2000–01 season. Earl ranked third in the plus/minus department, with a rating of +17. Additionally, he started the year with a seven-game scoring streak then broke the record the same year, with eight, from January 14 to February 12.