Whatever happened to Matt Whitehead?
Whitehead was a forward from Newmarket, Ontario who was born on November 26, 1984. He stood at a minuscule 5'7" and weighed a light 160 pounds, while shooting left-handed.
Whitehead was a promising amateur player in Canada but went undrafted out of college due to his small stature. Getting ready to play juniors, he signed with his hometown Newmarket Hurricanes, where he played three seasons. He tired of Ontario after three years in juniors and - having no professional contract offers and being spurned by Division I universities due to his small size - he accepted an offer to play hockey from Lakers head coach Ed Gosek at Oswego.
His career got off to a good start at Oswego, where he was nicknamed "Midget" by Gosek, and played in 18 games as a freshman and scored six points. He started all 26 games in his sophomore season and tallied 16 points. His junior year was an improvement as he played in every game again and tallied 22 points. He was scratched for two games in his senior year, although he still managed to tally 19 points.
Whitehead went undrafted after graduating, but signed a contract with the independent Pensacola Ice Flyers of the SPHL, where he tallied 36 points in 36 games. He returned to Pensacola the next season and tallied 62 points in 56 games. The 2011-2012 season has been an eventful one for Whitehead, as he began with the Fayetteville FireAntz of the SPHL, tallying one assist in six games. After that he accepted a contract offer from the independent Bloomington Blaze of the CHL, tallying 17 points in 15 games. He got his first taste of the NHL after that, signing a contract with the Vancouver Canucks and being assigned to the ECHL Kalamazoo Wings, where he tallied two points in five games before being released. He returned to the SPHL after that, signing with the independent Mississippi RiverKings, where he has since scored seven points in eight games.
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