Former Colorado College Star Mark Cullen Overcomes Adversity to Star for Team USA
May 9, 2006
It has been said that many things in life happen in three's. Former Colorado College hockey player Mark Cullen (Moorhead, Minn.) may have a hard time debating that statement. The fact that he plays a sport consisting of three periods on a sheet of ice divided into three zones - a sport in which one goes home with a hat trick after they score three goals in one game, certainly serves as one reminder.
Injuries, brothers, and this past year all serve as another.
On April 25, Cullen was one of 15 players named to the 2006 U.S. Men's National Team and will compete with Team USA at the 2006 IIHF World Championship in Riga, Latvia, beginning May 5. It is the first time that he has been named to participate with Team USA.
"I'm just really excited," said Cullen. "I've never played for any USA program and it has always been something I've wanted to do. I think I can fit in well in that style of game and I think that will be good for me being a smaller player. I think the international play is going to suit me well."
Having spent the previous three season's with the Houston Aeros of the AHL, Cullen started the 2005-06 season off with the Norfolk Admirals, his first season with the AHL affiliate club of the Chicago Blackhawks.
"Down in Norfolk they gave me opportunities I've never really had before at the American League level, as far as playing time and situations I was put into," said Cullen. "It just went great down there right from the start."
So great in fact that Cullen scored a career-high 29 goals and had a career-high 39 assists in 54 games with the Admirals. He was also named the American League's recipient of the 2005-06 Fred T. Hunt Award as the AHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey. But not to stop there, Cullen was also awarded the Beach Engraving Admirals Most Valuable Player Award as voted on by his teammates and coaching staff. It was one AHL season, but the result was three significant accomplishments.
In his fourth year as a professional, he would make the illustrious leap from the AHL to the NHL. On Nov. 10, 2005 Cullen made his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks.
"Needless to say I was real excited," said Cullen. "It was emotions I really hadn't felt before. I had been in the minor leagues and it was kind of like a dream come true, it was awesome."
He certainly wasted no time welcoming himself to the big show. Overcoming first-game jitters, Cullen scored his first NHL goal in a Blackhawk sweater with a win at St. Louis.
"It was more than I expected. I knew I was going to be really nervous going in, I just wanted to fit in pretty much and not do anything too bad," said a laughing Cullen. "It was a great experience. My dad was there and my fiancée was there, it was really nice to see them after the game."
Cullen played in 29 games with the Blackhawks. He totaled 16 points on the season scoring seven goals with nine assists. "The NHL lifestyle is completely different than the AHL," said Cullen. Airplanes instead of busses, bigger players, harder hits and a faster pace are just some of the differences Cullen noticed between the AHL and the NHL.
But three separate incidents threatened Cullen from ever being able to reach this point. During his junior year at Colorado College in 2001, he suffered a fractured vertebra after receiving a hit from behind. In his rookie season with the Houston Aeros in 2003, Cullen would have to sit and watch while his teammates won the Calder Cup after he broke his ankle during the conference finals. And perhaps the most frightening of all, he was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, or skin caner, right before the 2003-04 season.
Each case carried the ability to garner far worse consequences. After the fractured vertebrae, Cullen missed eight weeks of hockey and about 10 games at the collegiate level. The cancer caused him to miss a few weeks of the season, but Cullen does not feel it affected his overall career in anyway.
"I really don't think they have set me back at all," said Cullen. "My neck hurt my season, but I don't think it really hurt my game much. With the cancer, I didn't end up missing too much time. I don't think it has really affected my hockey in a negative way at all."
Broken bones in hockey are not all that uncommon. But to a healthy 25-year-old that rarely was in the sun for extended periods of time, skin cancer was no broken bone.
"That was obviously the toughest thing I had to overcome," Cullen said. "When the doctors told me, right away I was completely shocked. Then I had to learn all about it and from then on it just got scarier and scarier. The cancer got in my lymph nodes. It was a scary time. It was a couple months of uncertainty, but we made it through and there was a lot of support from my family and friends, and now I'm fine."
The cancer is gone but the family support is here to stay, after all, there are three Cullen's in professional hockey. At this point, you aren't that surprised, are you?
Growing up in Minnesota, Cullen and his brothers were in skates at a young age, complete with a backyard ice rink and all, courtesy of their father. "As soon as I could walk, my dad got me some skates and I got into hockey about age four," said Cullen.
Hockey has continued to be a family affair. Older brother Matt plays for the Carolina Hurricanes and younger brother Joe plays for the AHL Binghamton Senators. Matt has participated with the USA program and was able to share some insight with his younger brother.
"He called and he was really excited for me and just thinks I'll have a great time over there," said Cullen. "He was trying to tell me about some of the guys and the staff and everything. It was nice."
Cullen is now competing with Team USA at the IIHF World Championship in Latvia. Overcoming a trio of setbacks, he will have experienced hockey at the minor league level, major league level and international league level in one single season. Three differing teams, one single passion. It's something all too familiar for Mark Cullen.
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