Jonathon Blum

He was selected 23rd overall by the Nashville Predators, becoming the first California-born-and-raised player to be drafted in the first round.

Jonathon Gregory Blum (born January 30, 1989) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman, currently playing with EHC Red Bull München of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Blum was born in Long Beach, California and grew up in Rancho Santa Margarita, California.

Blum and the Wave recorded second-place finishes in national Midget AAA and Bantam AAA championships culminating in an international Bantam tournament championship in Kamloops, British Columbia, in 2004.

Discovered by scouts at one such tournament, Blum was drafted by the Vancouver Giants of the WHL in the seventh round of the junior draft.

In the midst of his pending major junior career, his family was beset with tragedy.

A few months prior to his first training camp in Vancouver and still a freshman at Trabuco Hills High School, his family's house caught fire from a gas leak on April 2, 2004, killing his twin sister, Ashley.

Blum has two remaining half-siblings, an older brother and sister.

Shortly after, his mother was diagnosed with a form of juvenile cancer, which almost caused Blum to opt not to leave for Vancouver to be close to family instead, but he went at her urging to continue on his hockey path.

Drafted 134th overall in the 2004 WHL Bantam Draft, Blum played his first season with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL in 2005–06, recording 24 points as a rookie.

During his major junior career with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League (WHL), Blum helped the club to a President's Cup as WHL champions in 2006 and a Memorial Cup as Canadian Hockey League (CHL) champions in 2007.

He won silver at the 2006 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, and has competed in the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Championships, finishing without a medal both times.

She underwent heart surgery and chemotherapy to overcome the cancer by May 2006.

He added 8 points in the post-season, helping the Giants to a President's Cup as WHL champions and a berth in the 2006 Memorial Cup in Moncton, where they finished third.

The following season, in 2006–07, Blum improved to 51 points as the Giants prepared to defend their WHL title as 2007 Memorial Cup hosts.

With a league-high +37 plus-minus, he earned the WHL Plus-Minus Award.

Blum also participated in the CHL Top Prospects Game along with teammates Tyson Sexsmith, Michal Repik and Spencer Machacek.

The Giants met the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL finals, where they were defeated in seven games.

Then, facing the Tigers in the Memorial Cup final Blum and the Giants captured the franchise's first Canadian Hockey League (CHL) title by a 3–1 score.

He was selected by the Predators 23rd overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

That off-season, going into the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Blum was ranked 17th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.

After being sent back to junior from the Predators' training camp in September 2007, Blum was signed to an entry-level contract with Nashville on December 17, 2007.

Earlier that month, on December 2, he set a Giants' franchise record with four assists in a 6–1 win over Portland Winter Hawks.

One of the Giants' alternate captains along with forward Garet Hunt, he finished the season with career-highs of 18 goals and 63 points, finishing second among league defensemen (behind Ty Wishart's 67 points in 72 games).

With the departure of team captain Spencer Machacek to the professional ranks the following season, Blum was chosen in his place for the 2008–09 season.

He began the season with 14 points in his first 10 games and was named WHL Player of the Month for September/October.

On November 19, 2008, he recorded his first career WHL hat trick in a 4–1 win against the Chilliwack Bruins.

He received the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the WHL's top defenseman and the CHL Defenceman of the Year Award in 2009.

In his final season with the Giants, he established himself as the franchise's all-time assists leader.

Turning professional in 2009, he spent parts of three seasons with the Predators' minor league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL), before joining the Predators.

Internationally, Blum has represented Team USA on four occasions.

His offensive production also set a single-season franchise-record among Giants defensemen for goals (surpassed by Kevin Connauton in 2009–10) and points (surpassed by Brent Regner in 2008–09).

At the end of the season, he was named to the WHL West Second All-Star Team, along with teammate Tyson Sexsmith.

Later that season, on February 7, 2009, during a 4–2 victory over the Portland Winter Hawks, Blum became the Giants' all-time assists leader with his 148th assist to pass Adam Courchaine's 147-assists mark.

Nearly a week later, however, he was sidelined with a shoulder injury after receiving a couple of hits from Kelowna Rockets forward Jamie Benn in a 3–2 overtime loss.

He also competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics, once again failing to medal.

Blum was born in Long Beach, California, to parents John and Dana.

An avid surfer growing up in Rancho Santa Margarita, approximately 40 miles southeast of Long Beach, Blum was initially playing roller hockey recreationally at the age of four before discovering ice hockey a couple of years later.

He played minor hockey with the California Wave, a team led by Jeff Turcotte, younger brother of former NHL player Alfie Turcotte.

Due to the lack of elite minor hockey competition in California, the team travelled to Canada and the Northeast United States to play in top-level tournaments.