David Moss (ice hockey)

Playing career

David Moss kicked off his junior hockey career in 2000-01 with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the USHL, where he notched 20 goals and 38 points over 51 games. The Calgary Flames picked him in the seventh round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, 220th overall, and he chose to play college hockey at the University of Michigan. As a freshman in 2001-02, Moss took part in the Cold War outdoor game, which drew a then-record crowd of 74,544. After putting up 13 points that season, he improved to 32 points in 2002-03 and earned the Alton D. Simms Trophy as the Wolverines' most improved player. He also won the Howard Colby Award for sportsmanship twice, in 2002 and 2005. Across four seasons at Michigan, Moss totaled 93 points in 163 games.

The Flames sent Moss to their AHL affiliate, the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, for the 2005-06 season, where he led all team rookies with 21 goals and 48 points. He started the next season in Omaha but got called up to Calgary on December 19, 2006. In his NHL debut that night, he scored the game-winning goal in a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings. He then scored in his next two games, both against the Vancouver Canucks, making him the first Flames player to find the net in his first three NHL games. He finished that season with 18 points in 41 NHL games and 21 points in 28 AHL games.

Injury trouble hit Moss hard in 2007-08. Shoulder, head, and leg problems cost him 19 games, and he managed just 4 goals in 41 contests. Healthy again in 2008-09, he set career highs with 20 goals and 39 points in 81 games, including his first NHL hat trick on March 3, 2009, in a 6-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Another shoulder injury slowed him early in 2009-10, and he posted 17 points in 64 games. After that season, Moss made his debut for the U.S. National Team at the 2010 World Championship. He played six games, scoring one goal and two assists, and appeared in the opener against Germany at Veltins-Arena, which set a new world attendance record of 77,803.

Personal life

David Moss grew up in Livonia, Michigan, and played his high school hockey at Detroit Catholic Central. He went on to earn a sports management degree from the University of Michigan. His cousins Amanda, Blake, and Phil Kessel all play hockey as well. For every assist he records, Moss gives $100 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and he also acts as a spokesperson for the Reading... Give it a shot! program, which promotes literacy in Calgary schools. The Flames recognized his community work in 2009 with the Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award. Moss married Erinn Lobdell, a contestant from Survivor: Tocantins, on July 4, 2014, and the couple has four children.