Editing Mark Recchi (section)

==Playing career==
Recchi played his junior hockey for the [[Kamloops Blazers]] of the [[Western Hockey League]] (WHL). His number 8 was retired by the team shortly after he left for the NHL. He was drafted by the [[Pittsburgh Penguins]], first playing in the NHL in 1988, and was a key player on their [[Stanley Cup]]-winning team in [[1991 Stanley Cup Finals|1991]].

The following season, Recchi was traded to the [[Philadelphia Flyers]] as part of a deal that brought [[Rick Tocchet]] and [[Kjell Samuelsson]] to Pittsburgh. He played for Philadelphia from 1992 to 1995 as part of the "Crazy Eights" line with [[Eric Lindros]] and [[Brent Fedyk]], including a 53-goal, 70-assist and 123-point season in [[1992–93 NHL season|1992–93]], still the Flyers' single-season point-scoring record. In 1995, he was traded to the [[Montreal Canadiens]] in a deal for [[Éric Desjardins]], [[Gilbert Dionne]] and [[John LeClair]], but was reacquired by the Flyers late in the [[1998–99 NHL season|1998–99 season]] and was consistently among their top scorers.

During the [[1999–2000 NHL season|1999–2000 season]], Recchi was a finalist for the [[Ted Lindsay Award|Lester B. Pearson Award]] as the [[National Hockey League Players' Association]] (NHLPA) MVP, and he finished third in scoring, only five points behind winner [[Jaromír Jágr]] and runner-up [[Pavel Bure]]. Recchi also finished third in voting for the [[NHL All-Star team]] right wing position behind Jágr and Bure. In 2000 and 2004, the Flyers would make the Eastern Conference Finals, but they would bow out of each series in seven games.

In 2000, Recchi was named "Kamloops Male Athlete of the 20th Century", and had a street named "Mark Recchi Way" in his honour.

In August 2004, Recchi rejoined the Pittsburgh Penguins as a [[free agent]], signing a two-year contract with a two-way option for a third year.<ref name="TwoWay">{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06062/664112.stm|title=Recchi softens stance on possible trade|access-date=December 21, 2023|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|author=Molinari, Dave | date=March 3, 2006|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626070836/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06062/664112.stm|archivedate=June 26, 2007}}</ref> The first year was eventually nullified by the [[2004–05 NHL lockout|NHL lock-out]]; in the second year, with the Penguins languishing at the bottom of the NHL standings, Recchi waived his no-trade clause to be sent to the Stanley Cup-contending [[Carolina Hurricanes]] at the deadline for [[American Hockey League|minor-league]] forward [[Krys Kolanos]], left wing [[Niklas Nordgren]] and a [[2007 NHL Entry Draft|2007]] second-round pick. Recchi won his second Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes that season, then re-signed with the Penguins during the summer of 2006 off-season.

[[File:Mark Recchi.jpg|thumb|left|Recchi skating with the Penguins in January 2007]]
On January 20, 2007, he scored his seventh career [[hat-trick]] (against the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]]), and just under a week later, Recchi scored his 500th career goal on January 26, 2007, on the power play against the [[Dallas Stars]].

During the summer of 2007, Recchi re-signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins on a one-year, $2&nbsp;million contract,<ref name="Sign2007">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=211557&hubname=nhl |title=Penguins re-sign Roberts, Recchi |access-date=December 6, 2007 |publisher=The Sports Network |year=2007 |author=McKenzie, Bob |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006171502/http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=211557&hubname=nhl |archive-date=October 6, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but on December 4, he was placed on waivers and assigned to their [[American Hockey League]] (AHL) affiliate, the [[Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins]], on December 6.<ref name="WilkesBarre">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=345722&page=NewsPage&service=page|title=Pittsburgh Penguins assign veteran Recchi to AHL Wilkes-Barre|access-date=December 6, 2007|publisher=National Hockey League|year=2007}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> The Penguins then placed Recchi on re-entry waivers the next day, where Recchi was claimed by the [[Atlanta Thrashers]].<ref name="Atlanta Thrashers">{{Cite web | url = https://www.tsn.ca/ctvnews/sportsstory.asp?story_id=224712 | title = Thrashers get Recchi off re-entry waivers | publisher = The Sports Network | date = December 5, 2007 | access-date = December 5, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071209145040/http://www.tsn.ca/ctvnews/sportsstory.asp?story_id=224712 | archive-date = December 9, 2007 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> In his first game against his former team, he scored the game-winning goal in a shootout.

On July 7, 2008, Recchi signed a one-year deal as a free agent with the [[Tampa Bay Lightning]]. After scoring 45 points in 62 games with the Lightning in the [[2008–09 NHL season|2008–09 season]], and with the Lightning out of playoff contention, on March 4, 2009, Recchi was traded at the trade deadline (along with a second-round pick in [[2010 NHL Entry Draft|2010]]) to the [[Boston Bruins]] in exchange for [[Mārtiņš Karsums]] and [[Matt Lashoff]]. Recchi scored his first two goals for the Bruins three days later on March 7, as the first and third Bruins goals in a 5–3 home ice defeat of the visiting [[Chicago Blackhawks]].

[[File:Mark Recchi and Tom Gilbert.jpg|thumb|Recchi with the Bruins in October 2009]]
On July 2, 2009, Recchi re-signed with the Bruins on a one-year contract. At the time, Recchi had stated that the [[2009–10 NHL season|2009–10 season]] would be his final year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=433429|title=Recchi re-signs with Bruins, announces final year | publisher = National Hockey League | date = July 2, 2009 | access-date = July 2, 2009}}</ref> With the retirement of [[Joe Sakic]] in the summer of 2009, Recchi became the leader in points and assists among active players. Recchi would serve as an alternate captain during the season while [[Marc Savard]] was injured and out of the line-up, playing 81 of 82 games in the 2009–10 season.

During the [[2010 Stanley Cup playoffs|2010 playoffs]], Recchi became the third-oldest player to score a playoff goal, behind [[Chris Chelios]] and [[Gordie Howe]], and also became the oldest player to have a multi-goal game in the playoffs when he scored two goals in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of the second round.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=525702 | title = Recchi becomes third oldest playoff goal scorer | publisher = National Hockey League | date =April 15, 2010 | access-date = April 15, 2010}}</ref> After suffering defeat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Flyers, instead of retiring, Recchi re-signed with the Bruins for a one more year.

In the [[2010–11 NHL season|2010–11 season]] on November 24, 2010, Recchi scored twice against the [[Florida Panthers]] to earn his 1,500th career point.

In Game 2 of the [[2011 Stanley Cup Finals]], Recchi became the oldest ever player to score a goal in a Stanley Cup Finals, doing so at age 43.<ref>{{cite web
| url        = http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/05/mark-recchis-game-2-goal-made-him-the-oldest-goal-scorer-in-stanley-cup-finals-history/
| title      = Mark Recchi's Game 2 goal made him the oldest goal scorer in Stanley Cup finals history
| work       = nbcsports.com
| date       = June 5, 2011
| access-date = April 12, 2014
}}</ref>  In Game 3 of the Finals, he scored the final two goals of his career. On June 15, 2011, Recchi became a three-time winner of the Stanley Cup and joined  [[Jack Marshall (ice hockey)|Jack Marshall]], [[Frank Foyston]], [[Jack Walker (ice hockey)|Jack Walker]], [[Mike Keane]], [[Claude Lemieux]], [[Hap Holmes]], [[Al Arbour]], [[Gord Pettinger]], [[Larry Hillman]], and [[Joe Nieuwendyk]] in winning at least three Stanley Cups with three different teams, as the Bruins defeated the [[Vancouver Canucks]] in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Recchi also led the team in scoring during the Finals series.

Having previously announced he would "sail off into the sunset" if Boston were victorious in the [[2011 Stanley Cup Finals]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=James|title=Source: Mark Recchi plans to retire|url=https://www.espn.com/boston/nhl/news/story?id=6664993&campaign=rss&source=NHLHeadlines|work=ESPN Boston|access-date=June 16, 2011|date=June 15, 2011}}</ref> he announced his retirement in an interview with [[Ron MacLean]] of ''[[Hockey Night in Canada]]'' during the post-game Stanley Cup celebration.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pepin|first=Matt|title=Report: Mark Recchi announces retirement|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/bruins-blog/2011/06/15/report_mark_rec|work=Boston Globe|access-date=December 21, 2023}}</ref> Recchi was the last player active in professional hockey who had played in the NHL in the 1980s, finishing his career fourth all-time in games played and 12th all-time in points.