Trent Daavettila Trent Daavettila ( born September 3 , 1984 ) is an American professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL . After beginning his college hockey career with Finlandia University , he transferred to Michigan Technological University , but failed to gain a place on their team . He remained at Michigan Tech and played for an upper - level men ' s amateur team while earning a civil engineering degree . Daavettila tried out for numerous minor league hockey teams after graduating from college , but was not accepted by any . Months later , however , he was signed to a professional tryout contract by the Kalamazoo Wings . Daavettila remained with the team , and two seasons later he tied for the team scoring lead and was named a second - team all - star by the ECHL . Through the 2010 – 11 season , he has also played in 16 American Hockey League games . Early life . Daavettila was born on September 3 , 1984 . He grew up in Howell , Michigan , as the second oldest in a family of eleven children . His first exposure to ice hockey was in his backyard , where his family had constructed a rink . Through crowded pick - up game s , Daavettila learned to stickhandle . " You ' d always want to stickhandle your way down . It was never cool to score from far out " , he said . Playing career . Daavettila graduated from Howell High School in 2002 and enrolled at Finlandia University in Hancock , Michigan . He played in ten games for Finlandia ' s varsity hockey team , a member of the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association , and scored three goals and ten assists before moving on . Daavettila transferred to Michigan Technological University , just across Portage Lake from Finlandia , and attempted to join the Division I Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team as a walk - on , but failed to do so . He continued to study civil engineering at Michigan Tech while playing for the Portage Lake Pioneers , a high - level men ' s amateur team playing in the Great Lakes Hockey League . During his five years with the Pioneers , Daavettila scored at a rate of more than a point per game and in 2005 he won a national championship with them . Daavettila graduated from Michigan Tech in 2008 and tried out for the Flint Generals of the International Hockey League ( IHL ) . He appeared in two games for the Generals at the end of the season ( for only about three shifts ) , and did not register a point . Daavettila had not originally planned to pursue a professional hockey career , but said " When I got one skate with Flint , it kind of sparked my interest and I decided to give it a try " . During the off - season , Daavettila worked for a structural engineering firm in Saginaw , Michigan . He used vacation time at the start of the next hockey season later in 2008 to try out for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League ( AHL ) and the Muskegon Lumberjacks ( IHL ) , though he was rejected by both teams . Tryouts with two more IHL teams , the Kalamazoo Wings and the Bloomington PrairieThunder , did not result in a contract either . Daavettila assumed his hockey career was over and went back to his engineering job , but he continued to skate a couple times a week . He had left an impression on Kalamazoo coach Nick Bootland , however , who called Daavettila back in March 2009 after his team was depleted by injuries . " You could see he had a skill set , " said Bootland . " But I thought the way he held on to the puck , he was going to get himself killed . . . . You kept thinking he was going to make a mistake . Then he ' d pop a guy for a breakaway . " Bootland played Daavettila for two shifts in his first game with the Wings and more in his second game . Daavettila responded with his first professional hockey goal and went on to score 9 goals and 9 assists in 20 games for the Wings that season . During the off - season , the New York Rangers of the NHL invited Daavettila to participate in a development camp for their recent draftees and other prospects . " It was the hardest I ' ve ever had to push myself as far as conditioning and the longevity of it " , said Daavettila . Also during the off - season , the Kalamazoo Wings left the IHL to become members of the ECHL , and Daavettila was one of the first players the team signed to play in their new league . " It was a weird feeling knowing you had a . . . plan for next year , somebody actually wants you " , he said . Daavettila scored 8 goals among 14 points in the Wings ' first 14 games of the 2009 – 10 ECHL season , helping the team to achieve the best record of the league ' s 25 teams at that point . His performance prompted the Adirondack Phantoms ( AHL ) to sign Daavettila to a professional tryout contract when the team was beset by injuries early in the season . Daavettila played eleven games for the Phantoms , as center of the third and fourth lines , and collected two assists before being sent back to Kalamazoo . Shortly thereafter , he was signed to another professional tryout by the Grand Rapids Griffins , for whom he played in two games and scored his first AHL goal by deflecting a shot by Andy Delmore . Daavettila was later called up again and played in two more games for Adirondack . Meanwhile , while with Kalamazoo , he scored 19 goals and added 30 assists in 51 games to finish fourth on the team in scoring . In the playoffs , Daavettila continued his point - per - game scoring rate , but the Wings lost their first - round series to the Reading Royals . In July , he was one of the first players signed by the Wings for the following season . Daavettila began the 2010 – 11 season at the Grand Rapids Griffins training camp , but again did not make the team . Back with the Wings , he centered a line with Brady Leisenring and Andrew Fournier and had a 12 - game point - scoring streak early in the season . In early January , Daavettila was loaned to the Griffins , where he played in one game before being returned . He was named ECHL Player of the Week for the week ending on February 13 after scoring five goals and two assists in four games , including his first professional hat trick on February 12 against the Greenville Road Warriors . He was on a seven - game point streak at the end of the month and was named ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for having the best plus - minus in February and ECHL Player of the Month for scoring 8 goals and 14 assists in his team ' s 14 games . Now on a line with Fournier and Darryl Lloyd , Daavettila extended his point streak to eleven games and helped Kalamazoo gain a place in the playoffs in March . He finished the season with 80 points to tie with Kory Karlander as Kalamazoo ' s lead scorers ; the pair tied for fourth in league scoring . Daavettila was also named an ECHL second - team all - star and shared the ECHL Reebok Plus Performer Award with Brendan Connolly of the Greenville Road Warriors . In the playoffs , Daavettila scored 6 goals and 22 assists in 18 games , leading the league in playoff scoring , and helped the Wings defeat the Florida Everblades , Reading Royals and Wheeling Nailers on their way to the Kelly Cup Finals . In that series , Kalamazoo lost to the Alaska Aces 4 – 1 . Personal life . Daavettila married his wife Wendy on August 7 , 2010 . During the 2009 and 2010 off - seasons , he worked for Tetra Tech in Howell , Michigan . Career statistics . " Statistics as of the end of the 2010 – 11 season . "