Haydar to be Inducted to the AHL Hall of Fame
October 10, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release
Milwaukee, WI - The American Hockey League announced today that Admirals Alum Darren Haydar will be inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame on January 27, 2020. Haydar, who will have his number retired by the Admirals on February 21, will be inducted with Robbie Ftorek, Denis Hamel, and Fred Thurier.
He is the first player since the team joined the AHL in 2001 to receive the honor.
Originally drafted by the Predators in the 9th round of the 1999 NHL Draft, Haydar broke onto the professional scene in 2002, earning AHL Rookie of the Year honors as he led the team and was tied for 6th place in the league with 75 points (29g-46a). He paced the Ads in scoring in three of his four seasons in Milwaukee, and his 92 points in 2005-06 was the last time that an Admirals player has topped the 90-point plateau.
He guided the Ads to a sweep of Wilkes-Barre in the 2004 Calder Cup Finals, the lone professional championship in team history, and helped Milwaukee to a return trip to the Finals two years later. Over 13 years after playing his last game for the Admirals, Haydar is still the team's all-time leading AHL scorer (276 points) and is the only player to top the century mark in career goals (110) since the club joined their new league in 2001.
As good of a player as he was during the regular season he was even better in the playoffs. He led the AHL in post-season scoring in 2004 with 26 points and 11 goals and would have been the league's playoff MVP that season if not for Wade Flaherty's 16 wins in net. Amazingly he bested those numbers when the Ads lost in the finals in 2006, once again leading the league in points with 35 and goals with 20. He posted at least a point in 19 of the Ads 21 games, including an eye-popping 12 multi-points efforts.
After leaving the Admirals the University of New Hampshire alum, played another ten seasons split between the AHL, NHL and four European Leagues. He finished his AHL career as the all-time leader in playoff points (143) and goals 63). He retired from hockey after the 2015-16 season and currently lives in his hometown on Milton, Ontario with his wife Sara and sons Liam (5), Quinn (4), and Owen (19 months).
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