Mike Knuble Michael Rudolph Knuble ( ; born July 4 , 1972 ) is a Canadian American professional ice hockey right winger playing for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Playing career . Born in Toronto , Canada , Knuble was raised in Kentwood , Michigan by his Latvian - born parents , Aivars and Mara Knuble . Because he was born in Canada , Mike has dual Canadian / American citizenship . Father Aivars Knuble died of a heart attack at the age of 45 in 1987 , when Mike was 15 years old . He has a younger brother named Steve who currently lives in Huntsville , Alabama . Knuble was drafted in the 4th round , 76th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft . He played the next four years at the University of Michigan and was given Second Team CCHA All - Star honors in 1994 and 1995 and NCAA West All - American Team honors in 1995 . Following his collegiate career , he made his professional debut in the 1995 Calder Cup playoffs with the Adirondack Red Wings . He spent the entire 1995 – 96 season and most of the 1996 – 97 season with Adironack before making his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings on March 26 , 1997 . He played a total of 9 regular season games in 1996 – 97 and none in the playoffs . Detroit won the Stanley Cup that season , but Knuble ' s name wasn ' t engraved on the Cup since he had not played enough games . However , Detroit repeated as Cup Champions in 1997 – 98 , his first full season in the NHL , and though he only played three playoff games , he met the necessary requirements to have his name engraved on the Cup . Knuble was included on both Stanley Cup winning team pictures in 1997 and 1998 . Prior to the 1998 – 99 season , Detroit traded Knuble to the New York Rangers for a 2000 2nd round draft choice ( Tomas Kopecky ) . Knuble played in all 82 games with the Rangers that season , recording 15 goals and 20 assists . With a month to go in the 1999 – 2000 season , the Rangers traded him to the Boston Bruins for Rob DiMaio . After posting 20 points in 82 games in 2000 – 01 and 14 points in 54 games in 2001 – 02 , Knuble found himself playing left wing on a line with Joe Thornton and Glen Murray beginning in 2002 – 03 . He scored 30 goals and 29 assists in 75 games , good for third on the Bruins . After another solid season in 2003 – 04 , 21 goals and 25 assists in 82 games , Knuble signed with the Philadelphia Flyers in the off - season . He played for Linköpings HC of the Elitserien during the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , scoring 26 goals and assisting on 13 others in 49 games . When the lockout came to an end , Knuble was slotted to play right wing on a line with Simon Gagne and Peter Forsberg , a line which was later nicknamed the Deuces Wild Line . He responded with his best season as a pro in 2005 – 06 , recording career highs in goals ( 34 ) , assists ( 31 ) , and points ( 65 ) . On pace to duplicate his numbers despite his team ' s poor season in 2006 – 07 , Knuble ' s season was nearly cut short after a collision with Rangers forward Brendan Shanahan . After missing a month of action he returned to the ice and finished with 24 goals and 30 assists in 64 games and brought his plus / minus to + 2 , Knuble being one of two Flyers ( Gagne being the other ) to finish with a plus rating . Knuble recorded his first career hat trick on February 2 , 2008 , scoring all the goals in a 3 - 0 Flyers win over the Anaheim Ducks . Knuble netted his first career playoff overtime goal on April 17 , 2008 , scoring the winner during the second overtime of the Flyers 4 - 3 victory over the Washington Capitals . He has traveled to schools in New Jersey and Philadelphia teaching kids about hockey in his free time . On July 1 , 2009 , he signed a 2 year deal worth $ 2 . 8 million a season with the Washington Capitals . On November 13 , 2009 , in a game against the Minnesota Wild , Knuble broke a finger in the first period and did not finish the game . He returned on December 11 after missing 4 weeks of action . Knuble scored Washington ' s first goal in the second period of the 2011 NHL Winter Classic against Pittsburgh goaltender Marc - Andre Fleury . On April 11 , 2011 , Knuble was signed to a one - year contract extension ( through the end of the 2011 - 2012 season ) with the Capitals , worth $ 2 million . Personal life . Knuble is married to wife Megan . They have three children ( two sons and one daughter ) together .