Bryan Berard

Infobox Ice Hockey Player
position = Defense
shoots = Left
height_ft = 5
height_ft = 6
height_in = 2
weight_lb = 220
team = Free Agent
league = NHL
nationality = United States
birth_date = birth date and age|1977|03|05
birth_place = Woonsocket, RI, USA
draft = 1st overall
draft_year = 1995
draft_team = Ottawa Senators


career_start = 1996
former_teams = Columbus Blue Jackets
Chicago Blackhawks
Boston Bruins
New York Rangers
Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Islanders|

Bryan Wallace Berard (born March 5, 1977, Woonsocket, Rhode Island) is an American professional ice hockey player, currently an unrestricted free agent. He is most noted for a debilitating eye injury he received early in his career. He also attended Mount Saint Charles Academy.

Playing career

He was drafted first overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He would not play a game for the Senators, after informing the club he would not report. The Senators traded him along with Martin Straka to the New York Islanders for Wade Redden and Damian Rhodes. He was a successful player on the Islanders and was rewarded for his efforts in 1997 by winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the top rookie player in the NHL. He also played for the United States in the 1998 Winter Olympics. After four years on Long Island, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Berard played the last two seasons in Columbus. Besides his Calder Trophy season with the Islanders, Berard’s best season was 2003–04 in which he was 13–34–47 in only 58 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. In 565 career NHL games with the Islanders, Toronto, Rangers, Boston, Chicago, and Columbus, Berard has 71 goals and 230 assists for a total of 301 points.

Eye injury

On March 11, 2000, while Berard was playing for the Leafs in a game against the Senators in Ottawa, the stick of Marian Hossa clipped Berard in the right eye, severely injuring it. In the hospital room after the incident, after being told he might lose his eye, Berard reportedly told his friends that he would play hockey again. Despite being optimistic about his future in hockey, he ended up receiving a $6.5–million settlement from his insurance company, what many considered to be a career-ending settlement.cite web |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCM/is_3_30/ai_80678765
publisher=Hockey Digest |title=Vision quest: a devastating eye injury was supposed to have ended Bryan Berard's career, but thanks to unflagging dedication—and a special contact lens—the 1997 rookie of the year is back on the ice |accessdate=2006-05-13 ]

During the next season, he underwent seven eye operations, improving his vision in the eye to 20/600. He started working out again in April 2001 and started skating again months thereafter. He was later fitted with a contact lens that allowed him to meet the league's minimum vision requirement of 20/400.

When it became apparent that he might play again, the Leafs stated they were interested in his services, but Berard opted to play for a team that was currently rebuilding and was a bit closer to his home of Woonsocket. Upon signing a tryout contract with the New York Rangers, Berard returned his insurance settlement and risked a comeback to the NHL. He played well enough that his tryout contract turned into a $2-million contract for the 2002-03 season.

He then enjoyed successful one-year stints with both the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks before signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets before the 2005–06 season. As a result of his perseverance, Berard was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his dedication to hockey in 2004.

teroid testing

In early 2006, it was revealed that he had tested positive for an anabolic steroids, known as 19-norandrosterone, in a drug test he had taken in November 2005. He was the first NHL player to ever test positive for steroids.cite web |url=http://proicehockey.about.com/b/a/237101.htm
publisher=About.com |title=An NHL Milestone: Bryan Berard Flunks His Drug Test |accessdate=2006-05-13 ] The NHL did not hand down any form of suspension to Berard as they did not administer the test, but he was banned from international play for two years effective January 3, 2006. [cite web |url=http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=cp-nhl_berard_doping&prov=cp&type=lgns
publisher=Yahoo! |title=NHL: Dick Pound is still wrong despite Berard positive drug test |accessdate=2006-05-13 ] Berard said after the incident, "I made a mistake that resulted in a suspension and, while unintentional, I take full responsibility. I became aware of this problem after the fact, and for that I am disappointed in myself."

2007–08 season

Bryan Berard accepted an invitation to attend training camp for the 2007-08 season with the New York Islanders. He performed well enough that Berard signed a one-year contract with the Islanders at the conclusion of training camp.Cite web|url=http://islanders.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=339558&page=NewsPage&service=page|title=BERARD SIGNED TO ONE-YEAR DEAL|accessdate=2007-11-28|year=2007]

In his first game back with the Islanders, Berard scored the game-winning goal against his former team, the rival New York Rangers in a 2–1 Islander victory.

Awards

* NHL All-Rookie Team, 1997
* Calder Memorial Trophy, 1997
* Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, 2004

Career statistics

ee also

*List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
*List of AHL seasons
*List of NHL seasons
*List of NHL players
*List of OHL seasons

References

External links

*hockeydb|14112