StaTuesday: The rarity of Cannone's NHL debut with the Wild
When Pat Cannone signed a two-way contract with Minnesota this past offseason he surely hoped he'd at some point be called up to the Wild.
However, after toiling in the minors for nearly six years and having turned 30, even Cannone probably had to think it was a long shot.
Yet, last week, there he was in a Minnesota uniform and playing in three games for the Wild.
How much against the odds was Cannone's long-awaited NHL debut? In the history of the league, Cannone is the 132nd non-goalie to make his debut in his 30s. However, 71 of those occurred before the first expansion in 1967-68. And that first expansion season saw 10 skaters debut at age 30 or older.
Since 1990-91, Cannone was just the 25th non-goalie to appear in his first NHL game at age 30-plus and since the Wild debuted in 2000-01 he's the 19th.
| Player | Age | Team | Season |
| Tomas Jelinek | 30 | Senators | 1992-93 |
| Gary Emmons | 30 | Sharks | 1993-94 |
| Ilja Byakin | 30 | Oilers | 1993-94 |
| Magnus Svensson | 31 | Panthers | 1994-95 |
| Pavel Torgaev | 30 | Flames | 1995-96 |
| Patrice Lefebvre | 31 | Capitals | 1998-99 |
| Lubomir Sekeras | 32 | Wild | 2000-01 |
| Jiri Dopita | 33 | Flyers | 2001-02 |
| Mel Angelstad | 31 | Capitals | 2003-04 |
| Eric Healey | 31 | Bruins | 2005-06 |
| Andy Roach | 32 | Blues | 2006-07 |
| Alex Brooks | 30 | Devils | 2006-07 |
| Patrck Fisher | 31 | Coyotes | 2006-07 |
| Peter Vandermeer | 32 | Coyotes | 2007-08 |
| Magnus Johansson* | 34 | Blackhawks | 2007-08 |
| Jaroslav Hlinka | 31 | Avalanche | 2007-08 |
| Per Ledin | 30 | Avalanche | 2008-09 |
| Greg Rallo | 30 | Panthers | 2011-12 |
| Bracken Kearns | 30 | Panthers | 2011-12 |
| Matt Anderson | 30 | Devils | 2012-13 |
| Mark Van Guilder | 30 | Predators | 2013-14 |
| Justin Johnson | 32 | Islanders | 2013-14 |
| Bobby Robins | 33 | Bruins | 2014-15 |
| Evgeny Medvedev | 33 | Flyers | 2015-16 |
| Pat Cannone | 30 | Wild | 2016-17 |
* - Johansson debuted with Chicago but also played for the Panthers in his lone NHL season.
For various reasons, many of those who debuted at an advanced age in the NHL were Europeans.
Of those non-goalies aged 30-plus who made their NHL debuts since 1990-91, Cannone is the 12th North American.
Cannone, who was born in Bayport, N.Y., can say he was one of the rare American-born players to debut after age 30. He is just the 12th such player in NHL history.
Cannone was sent down to Iowa after his three games and who knows if he'll ever return to Minnesota or the NHL. Unfortunately, history is not on his side as only a handful of U.S.-born players who started in the league in their 30s even reached double figures in games.
| Player | Pos | Age | Team | Season | Career games |
| Johnny Matz | F | 33 | Canadiens | 1924-25 | 30 |
| Vic Desjardins | C | 30 | Blackhawks | 1930-31 | 87 |
| Rudy Zunich | D | 33 | Red Wings | 1943-44 | 2 |
| Joe Bretto | D | 32 | Blackhawks | 1944-45 | 3 |
| Joe Schaefer | G | 35 | Rangers | 1959-60 | 2 |
| Eric Healey | LW | 31 | Bruins | 2005-06 | 2 |
| Andy Roach | D | 32 | Blues | 2005-06 | 5 |
| Alex Brooks | D | 30 | Devils | 2006-07 | 19 |
| Greg Rallo | C | 30 | Panthers | 2011-12 | 11 |
| Matt Anderson | RW | 30 | Devils | 2012-13 | 2 |
| Bobby Robins | C | 33 | Bruins | 2014-15 | 3 |
| Pat Cannone | C | 30 | Wild | 2016-17 | 3 |
(Note: The five Canadian-born non-goalies who debuted at age 30-plus since 1990-91 are Gary Emmons, Patrice Lefebvre, Mel Angelstad, Peter Vandermeer and Bracken Kearns. In addition, there were four goalies: Rick Knickle (1992-93), Mike Rosati (1998-99), Neil Little (2001-02) and Rob Zepp (2014-15))
Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players from the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
