Pro Hockey Notes (NHL)

Former Clarkson Hobey Baker Award finalist Todd White, now with the Atlanta Thrashers, was featured recently in an article on NHL.com about former college athletes.

White, who graduated from Clarkson in 1997, was a double major in accounting and finance. He said in the article a long NHL career was not in his original thoughts.

"It all started when I was teaching hockey school as a 16-year-old kid in Ontario," White told NHL.com "The assistant coach for Clarkson was there. He told me, 'You should come to a game sometime and see it.' It was my first year playing Tier 2 junior hockey. I fell in love with the place. As soon as they started recruiting me it was a done deal. It was an hour and a half from my house (in Kanata, Ont.). Clarkson was top of the league; in '91 they went to the Frozen Four. There's always a great tradition there."

White was part of a successful run at Clarkson, as the program won the 1995 and 1997 ECAC regular-season titles and reached the semifinal weekend in Lake Placid all four years. Clarkson was ranked No. 2, nationally, at the end of White's senior season.

"My first year we struggled a bit, but got progressively better and better," White told NHL.com. "Learned how to play defense. Then Jim Roque and Ron Rolston transferred from Lake (Superior) State. They brought that winning atmosphere. We never won it all, but definitely improved and were the No. 1 (East) seed my last year — one game away from that final four. I came in my junior year and was able to be the go-to guy on the offensive side. Jim Roque really knew the defensive part of the game. That gave a new system we incorporated. I embraced that; a lot of the scoring chances came off playing well defensively."

Weller Promoted

It's not the week for AHL updates, but Shawn Weller was recently promoted from the Anaheim Ducks ECHL team in Bakersfield.

The Ducks have no AHL affiliate, so Weller has been assigned to the Calgary Flames' Abbotsford Heat team.

Weller had 18 goals and 28 assists in 42 games for Bakersfield.

The Stats

Todd White (Atlanta) 5-16 21

Chris Clark (Wash/Col) 6-12 18

Todd Marchant (Anaheim) 7-10 17

Randy Jones (Los Angeles) 5-9 14

Kent Huskins (San Jose) 2-12 14

Willie Mitchell (Vancouver) 4-8 12

Craig Conroy (Calgary) 2-10 12

Erik Cole (Carolina) 6-2 8