Neil Wilkinson (ice hockey)
Neil Wilkinson ( born August 15, 1967 in Selkirk, Manitoba ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. During his career he played for the Minnesota North Stars, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League.
Career
Wilkinson first played in the 1986/87 season at Michigan State University in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. For the following season, he joined the Western Hockey League, where he worked for the Medicine Hat Tigers ran aground and took part with these at the end of the football year on Memorial Cup.
For the 1988/89 season the defender joined the professional field and ran for the Kalamazoo Wings, the farm team of the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League, who had selected him in the NHL Entry Draft in 1986 in the second round to 30th place in the International Hockey League on. In the season 1989/90 Wilkinson came first in the NHL to use, but continued to play some games in the IHL, as well as in the season 1990/91 when he penetrated with the North Stars to the finals for the Stanley Cup. In summer 1991, the players in Minnesota's NHL Dispersal Draft between the North Stars were split and the newly established San Jose Sharks, which Wilkinson joined the Sharks. After two unsuccessful years for San Jose, although the Canadians in the 1991/92 season had his best NHL year with 19 points in 60 games, he was transferred for goalkeeper Jimmy Waite to the Chicago Blackhawks, the the him after only eleven months to Winnipeg Jets charges. After one and a half years in Canada was a further change to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he mostly came to the end of the season 1998/99 as a substitute to a few uses.
The Penguins were his last stop in the NHL. Up to end of his career in 2004, he played in the North American minor leagues, the Central Hockey League, World Hockey Association 2 and ECHL.