Bryan Berard

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United StatesUnited States  Bryan Berard Ice hockey player
Date of birth March 5th 1977
place of birth Woonsocket , Rhode Island , USA
size 188 cm
Weight 100 kg
position defender
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1995 , 1st round, 1st position
Ottawa Senators
Career stations
1994-1995 Detroit Junior Red Wings
1995-1996 Detroit Whalers
1996-1999 New York Islanders
1999-2001 Toronto Maple Leafs
2001-2002 New York Rangers
2002-2003 Boston Bruins
2003-2004 Chicago Blackhawks
2005-2007 Columbus Blue Jackets
2007-2008 New York Islanders
2008-2009 Vityaz Chekhov

Bryan Wallace Berard (born March 5, 1977 in Woonsocket , Rhode Island ) is a former American ice hockey player who played 639 games for the New York Islanders , Toronto Maple Leafs , New York Rangers between 1994 and 2009 , Boston Bruins , Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League on the position of defender . Berard, who in the NHL Entry Draft in 1995 as total first selected, received during its ten seasons in the NHL in 1997, the Calder Memorial Trophy as well as in 2004, the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy .

Career

Bryan Berard was selected in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators as a so-called " First Overall Pick " , that is, as the first of the draft. He played another year in the Ontario Hockey League with the Detroit Junior Red Wings . During that time, the Ottawa Senators transferred the rights to Berard together with Martin Straka and Don Beaupre to the New York Islanders , who in return gave up Wade Redden and Damian Rhodes .

In the 1996/97 season , the defender completed his first season for the Islanders in the National Hockey League . He convinced with his performance and was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy for the best new professional. In 1998 he was a member of the US team at the Winter Olympics in Nagano .

During the 1998/99 season he moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs . On March 11, 2000, there was a serious incident in the game against the Ottawa Senators. Bryan Berard caught part of Marián Hossa's racket in the hustle and bustle of the game . Bleeding badly, he was hospitalized, where it was diagnosed that he might lose his right eye. Despite everything, Berard is said to have told his friends in the hospital that he would still play professional ice hockey again. In total, Bryan Berard underwent seven operations in the following twelve months, so that with the help of a special contact lens he achieved the minimum vision required by the NHL in order to be able to play ice hockey again.

In April 2001, Berard was recognized as a sports disabled person and paid an insurance premium of $ 6.5 million. But Berard did not want to accept that. He paid back the 6.5 million and started training. The Maple Leafs had looked after him a lot during that time. But Bryan Berard no longer had a contract and thus the free choice of which team he would go to. He decided against the Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers , because he wanted to distance himself from the incident and would have been under too much pressure with the championship candidate. Berard signed a trial contract in New York and convinced. The comeback in the NHL was perfect. He had to get used to the fact that he only had a limited field of vision and changed his style. If he was previously known for his puck control, he no longer tried to hold the puck for a particularly long time, but instead tried to play quickly to the other player. He also had to accept restrictions on the offensive. So he could sometimes not see advancing defenders in time, which then led to the loss of the puck. On January 12, 2002, Berard scored his first goal after his serious injury.

The following year he played with the Boston Bruins and the 2003/04 season he completed with the Chicago Blackhawks . It could improve from year to year. In Boston he reached 38 points in 80 games, while a year later in Chicago he achieved 47 points in 58 games. In the summer of 2004, due to his successful comeback, he was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy at the NHL Awards, which is given to the player who shows perseverance, dedication and fairness in and for ice hockey.

After the lockout and the failure of the 2004/05 NHL season , Berard played the following season with the Columbus Blue Jackets , where he made negative headlines. In early 2006, it was announced that he had tested positive for anabolic steroids . The NHL waived a ban because it was not a test they commissioned. But Berard was banned from international games by the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF for a period of two years .

He was also plagued by back problems during the season, which finally forced him to take a long-term break in January 2006. After a back operation in October 2006 and the subsequent rehabilitation phase, he was only able to celebrate his comeback with the Blue Jackets on January 31, 2007 after a year. Due to poor performance, he was put on the waiver list at the end of February , but no team signed him. Shortly afterwards he suffered another back injury and had to end the season prematurely.

The Columbus Blue Jackets did not renew his contract in the summer of 2007 and even after almost three months he did not find a new team. The New York Islanders finally invited him to the training camp at the end of August and he received a one-year contract on October 9, shortly after the start of the season. He completed 54 games for the Islanders in the 2007/08 season , scoring five goals and preparing 17 goals. His contract was not renewed after the end of the season and he received a trial contract with the Philadelphia Flyers . In November 2008 Berard received a contract with Vitjas Chekhov from the Continental Hockey League , where he spent the 2008/09 season.

Achievements and Awards

Career statistics

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1991/92 Mount St. Charles Academy High school 15th 3 15th 18th 4th - - - - -
1992/93 Mount St. Charles Academy High school 15th 8th 12 20th 18th - - - - -
1993/94 Mount St. Charles Academy High school 15th 11 26th 37 4th 4th 3 3 6th 6th
1994/95 Detroit Junior Red Wings OHL 58 20th 55 75 97 21st 4th 20th 24 38
1995 Detroit Junior Red Wings Memorial Cup 5 1 3 4th 6th
1995/96 Detroit Whalers OHL 56 31 58 89 116 17th 7th 18th 25th 41
1996/97 New York Islanders NHL 82 8th 40 48 86 - - - - -
1997/98 New York Islanders NHL 75 14th 32 46 59 - - - - -
1998/99 New York Islanders NHL 34 4th 11 15th 26th - - - - -
1998/99 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 38 5 14th 19th 22nd 17th 1 8th 9 8th
1999/00 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 64 3 27 30th 42 - - - - -
2000/01 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL not played due to eye injury
2001/02 New York Rangers NHL 82 2 21st 23 60 - - - - -
2002/03 Boston Bruins NHL 80 10 28 38 64 3 1 0 1 2
2003/04 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 58 13 34 47 53 - - - - -
2004/05 Chicago Blackhawks NHL not played because of lockout
2005/06 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 44 12 20th 32 32 - - - - -
2006/07 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 11 0 3 3 8th - - - - -
2007/08 New York Islanders NHL 54 5 17th 22nd 48 - - - - -
2008/09 Vityaz Chekhov KHL 25th 3 14th 17th 103 - - - - -
High school overall 45 22nd 53 75 26th 4th 3 3 6th 6th
OHL total 114 51 113 164 213 38 11 38 49 79
NHL overall 619 76 247 323 500 20th 2 8th 10 10

International

Represented the USA at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1995 United States June World Cup 5th place 7th 0 1 1 36
1996 United States June World Cup 5th place 6th 1 4th 5 20th
1997 United States WM 6th place 1 1 0 1 0
1998 United States Olympia 6th place 4th 0 0 0 0
Juniors overall 13 1 5 6th 56
Men overall 5 1 0 1 0

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Berard, Bryan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Berard, Bryan Wallace (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH March 5th 1977
PLACE OF BIRTH Woonsocket (Rhode Island) , Rhode Island