Damian Surma is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 left winger

Winger (ice hockey)

Winger, in the game of hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play on the ice is along the outer playing area. They typically work by flanking the centre forward. Originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink...

 who currently plays with the Dayton Gems

Dayton Gems

The Dayton Gems were a minor league ice hockey team based in Dayton, Ohio, and members of the International Hockey League from 1964 to 1977, and 1979–1980.In the fall of 1964 the lobby of their new arena, Hara Arena, had a natural gas explosion...

 of the Central Hockey League

Central Hockey League

The Central Hockey League is a mid-level professional hockey league, owned by Global Entertainment Corporation. Its current champions are the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, which defeated the Colorado Eagles four games to three in the 2011 playoffs....

 (CHL).

European career

From 2006 to 2007 played in Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 Serie A

Serie A (hockey)

Serie A is the name of the top tier of professional ice hockey in Italy, which first began play in 1924. They are conducted under the authority of the Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio...

 league for HC Valpellice Bulldogs and Associazione Sportiva Asiago Hockey. After spells in the ECHL

ECHL

The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...

 and the UHL

United Hockey League

The United Hockey League was a low-level professional ice hockey league , with teams in the United States...

, moved to Italy in 2006, signing for Asiago, he scored 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points, ranking him third amongst the team.

NHL career

Surma was drafted 174th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...

 in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft

1999 NHL Entry Draft

The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts. According to Sports Illustrated and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in talent in years, headed by Patrik Stefan and the Sedin twins. However, the...

 and played two games for the Hurricanes. He scored a goal in his first game and registered an assist in the second.

Suspension

While playing for the HC Valpellice Bulldogs, Surma was suspended for 10 months from the Italian ice hockey federation for firing a puck at a referee after the referee had handed out a penalty against him. This was the longest suspension ever handed out in Italy.

Minor League Career

In addition to playing in the NHL, Surma has spent time with a number of other organizations in the IHL, ECHL, UHL, AHL, OHL and the NAHL. He also played in Italy from 2006-2009.

Surma has played a big role in the IceMen's offense this season. In 43 games this season, the 5-foot-9 center has 37 points on 22 goals and 15 assists.
Surma's best season came in the 1999-00 season when he recorded 78 points in 66 games with the Plymouth Whalers. He scored 34 goals and recorded 44 assists that season while spending 114 minutes in the penalty box. All of those totals are career highs.

External links