| Vinny Saponari | |
| Birth Date: | February 15, 1990 |
| Birth Place: | Powder Springs, Georgia, U.S. |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 0 |
| Weight Lb: | 203 |
| Position: | Right wing |
| Shoots: | Right |
| Team: | Eispiraten Crimmitschau |
| League: | DEL2 |
| Former Teams: | St. John's IceCaps Milwaukee Admirals Hartford Wolf Pack Portland Pirates Lake Erie Monsters Frisk Asker HC Sparta Praha Krefeld Pinguine Augsburger Panther |
| Draft: | 94th overall |
| Draft Year: | 2008 |
| Draft Team: | Atlanta Thrashers |
| Career Start: | 2013 |
Vinny Saponari (born February 15, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey right winger who is currently under contract with Eispiraten Crimmitschau of the DEL2.
Saponari was drafted 94th overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.[1] After his draft selection, Saponari began playing for Boston University[2] but was dismissed in 2010 along with his brother Victor.[3] Following this, he spent a season in the United States Hockey League for the Dubuque Fighting Saints before returning to college hockey with two seasons at Northeastern University.
Saponari signed with the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League at the tail-end of the 2012–13 season, playing in seven regular season games and scoring a goal and an assist. He signed with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL for the 2013–14 season in what would be his only consistent season in the league, playing fifty-eight games and scoring thirty-three points. Afterwards, he played predominantly in the ECHL over the next two seasons and only made brief appearances in the AHL for the Hartford Wolf Pack, Portland Pirates and the Lake Erie Monsters before returning to the Admirals for a brief spell there as well.
On September 10, 2016, Saponari left North America and signed for Frisk Asker of Norway's GET-ligaen.[4] On May 15, 2017, he moved to the Czech Republic and signed for HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga,[5] [6] but only played fifteen games for the team before returning to Frisk Asker on December 3, 2017, for the remainder of the season.[7] On July 22, 2018, Saponari signed with the Krefeld Pinguine of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.[8]
In the midst of his third season with Krefeld Pinguine in 2020–21, Saponari registered just 2 assists through 8 regular season contests before opting to mutually terminate his contract on February 1, 2021.[9]
On June 1, 2021, Saponari returned to the DEL, signing an initial one-year deal with Augsburger Panther.[10]
In his second year with Augsburg in the 2022–23 season, Saponari posted 3 goals and 15 points through 39 regular season games, however was unable to help prevent the Panthers finish in a relegation position. He left the club at the conclusion of his contract on March 17, 2023.[11]
On June 13, 2023, Saponari opted to continue his career in Germany, joining second tier club, ETC Crimmitschau of the DEL2.[12]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2005–06 | Culver Military Academy | USHS | 42 | 16 | 37 | 53 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | U.S. National Development Team | NAHL | 35 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | U.S. National Development Team | NAHL | 15 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Boston University | HE | 44 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Boston University | HE | 38 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Dubuque Fighting Saints | USHL | 56 | 18 | 46 | 64 | 35 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 6 | ||
| 2011–12 | Northeastern University | HE | 34 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Northeastern University | HE | 34 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | St. John's IceCaps | AHL | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Cincinnati Cyclones | ECHL | 14 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 58 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Greenville Road Warriors | ECHL | 68 | 18 | 51 | 69 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Lake Erie Monsters | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | ECHL | 40 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Frisk Asker | GET | 43 | 15 | 36 | 51 | 14 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 36 | ||
| 2017–18 | HC Sparta Praha | ELH | 15 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Frisk Asker | GET | 17 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 6 | ||
| 2018–19 | Krefeld Pinguine | DEL | 43 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Krefeld Pinguine | DEL | 50 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Krefeld Pinguine | DEL | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Kassel Huskies | DEL2 | 20 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 2 | ||
| 2021–22 | Augsburger Panther | DEL | 46 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Augsburger Panther | DEL | 39 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| DEL totals | 186 | 32 | 58 | 90 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | United States | U18 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2008 | United States | U18 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 33 | ||
| Junior totals | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 33 | ||||