Trent Daavettila

 ( 1984 Births ) 

Bootland played Daavettila for two shifts in his first game with the Wings and more in his second game. Daavettila responded with his first professional hockey goal and went on to score 9 goals and 9 assists in 20 games for the Wings that season. During the off-season, the New York Rangers of the NHL invited Daavettila to participate in a development camp for their recent draftees and other prospects. "It was the hardest I've ever had to push myself as far as conditioning and the longevity of it", said Daavettila. Also during the off-season, the Kalamazoo Wings left the IHL to become members of the ECHL, and Daavettila was one of the first players the team signed to play in their new league. "It was a weird feeling knowing you had a ... plan for next year, somebody actually wants you", he said.

Daavettila scored 8 goals among 14 points in the Wings' first 14 games of the 2009–10 ECHL season, helping the team to achieve the best record of the league's 25 teams at that point. His performance prompted the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL) to sign Daavettila to a professional tryout contract when the team was beset by injuries early in the season. Daavettila played eleven games for the Phantoms, as center of the third and fourth lines, and collected two assists before being sent back to Kalamazoo. Shortly thereafter, he was signed to another professional tryout by the Grand Rapids Griffins, for whom he played in two games and scored his first AHL goal by deflecting a shot by Andy Delmore. Daavettila was later called up again and played in two more games for Adirondack. Meanwhile, while with Kalamazoo, he scored 19 goals and added 30 assists in 51 games to finish fourth on the team in scoring. In the playoffs, Daavettila continued his point-per-game scoring rate, but the Wings lost their first-round series to the Reading Royals. In July, he was one of the first players signed by the Wings for the following season. Daavettila began the 2010–11 season at the Grand Rapids Griffins training camp, but again did not make the team. Back with the Wings, he centered a line with Brady Leisenring and Andrew Fournier and had a 12-game point-scoring streak early in the season. In early January, Daavettila was loaned to the Griffins, where he played in one game before being returned. He was named ECHL Player of the Week for the week ending on February 13 after scoring five goals and two assists in four games, including his first professional hat trick on February 12 against the Greenville Road Warriors. He was on a seven-game point streak at the end of the month and was named ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for having the best plus-minus in February and ECHL Player of the Month for scoring 8 goals and 14 assists in his team's 14 games. Now on a line with Fournier and Darryl Lloyd, Daavettila extended his point streak to eleven games and helped Kalamazoo gain a place in the playoffs in March. He finished the season with 80 points to tie with Kory Karlander as Kalamazoo's lead scorers; the pair tied for fourth in league scoring. Daavettila was also named an ECHL second-team all-star and shared the ECHL Reebok Plus Performer Award with Brendan Connolly of the Greenville Road Warriors. In the playoffs, Daavettila scored 6 goals and 22 assists in 18 games, leading the league in playoff scoring, and helped the Wings defeat the Florida Everblades, Reading Royals and Wheeling Nailers on their way to the Kelly Cup Finals. In that series, Kalamazoo lost to the Alaska Aces 4–1.

After completing his fourth season with the Wings in 2011–12, Daavettila signed his first European contract as a free agent, agreeing to a one-year deal with Frederikshavn White Hawks of the Denmark AL-Bank Ligaen on June 13, 2012. However a little over a month later, for personal reasons, Daavettila sought a release from his contract and was granted on July 30, 2012. On September 13, Daavettila agreed to remain in the ECHL, defecting from the Wings to fellow competitor the Colorado Eagles on a one-year deal.

Through four seasons with the Colorado Eagles, Daavettila continued to perform amongthe ECHL's top offensive producers, recording 282 points in 260 regular season games. Despite placing second in league scoring with 80 points through the 2015–16 season, Daavettila opted to end his professional career and return to his hometown Howell, Michigan to raise his family.

• Jay Storm (2025). 9780692952559, Jay Storm. ISBN 9780692952559