Mick Vukota
# Mick Vukota

Marinko "Mick" Vukota (born September 14, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right wing. He is perhaps best known for playing 10 seasons with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League, where he played the role of an enforcer.

## Playing career

Undrafted, Vukota signed with the New York Islanders, who were looking to add toughness to their roster, on March 2, 1987. Vukota worked his way up through their system and found himself skating on NHL ice by the end of the 1987–88 season, and scoring his first goal. He also registered 82 penalty minutes in 17 games. Over the next decade, Vukota forged a reputation as a tough scrapper and punishing forechecker who could occasionally score a goal. He was suspended several times by the league for on-ice incidents, and this added to his growing reputation. He went on to become the Islanders' career penalty minutes leader with 1,879, but his one-dimensional style resulted in a demotion to the Utah Grizzlies of the IHL in 1996–97. He split the 1997–98 season between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens in what was his last year in the NHL, surpassing 2,000 career penalty minutes, and then played two more seasons with the Grizzlies in the IHL before retiring.

Despite not being a major goal scorer, with only 17 career goals across 575 NHL matches, he did score a hat trick against the Washington Capitals, in a 5–3 Islanders win at the Capital Centre, on October 20, 1989.

## Career statistics

### Regular season and playoffs

| | | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1983–84 | Winnipeg Warriors | WHL | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1984–85 | Kelowna Wings | WHL | 66 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 247 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
| 1985–86 | Spokane Chiefs | WHL | 64 | 19 | 14 | 33 | 369 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 68 |
| 1986–87 | Spokane Chiefs | WHL | 61 | 25 | 28 | 53 | 337 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 1987–88 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 52 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 372 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1987–88 | New York Islanders | NHL | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 82 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 1988–89 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1988–89 | New York Islanders | NHL | 48 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 237 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1989–90 | New York Islanders | NHL | 76 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 290 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 1990–91 | Capital District Islanders | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1990–91 | New York Islanders | NHL | 60 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 238 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1991–92 | New York Islanders | NHL | 74 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 293 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1992–93 | New York Islanders | NHL | 74 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 216 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 1993–94 | New York Islanders | NHL | 72 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 237 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 1994–95 | New York Islanders | NHL | 39 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 109 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1995–96 | New York Islanders | NHL | 32 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 106 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1996–97 | Utah Grizzlies | IHL | 43 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 185 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 20 |
| 1996–97 | New York Islanders | NHL | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1997–98 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 42 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 116 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1997–98 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998–99 | Utah Grizzlies | IHL | 48 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 226 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999–00 | Utah Grizzlies | IHL | 71 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 249 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2011–12 | Cape Cod Bluefins | FHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| NHL totals | NHL totals | NHL totals | 573 | 17 | 29 | 46 | 2,071 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 |
