Brad Tapper

Brad Tapper (born April 28, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta Thrashers over parts of three seasons. After retiring from playing, he remained active in hockey as a coach. He is currently an assistant coach with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL). Prior to that, Tapper spent a year as the head coach of the Adirondack Thunder in the ECHL, and previously was an assistant coach with the Rochester Americans (AHL), Chicago Wolves (AHL), Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL), and Florida Everblades (ECHL).

Brad Tapper
Coach Brad Tapper surveys the crowd at the Florida Everblades Kelly Cup celebration
Born (1978-04-28) April 28, 1978
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Right Wing
Played for Atlanta Thrashers (NHL)
Chicago Wolves (AHL)
Binghamton Senators (AHL)
Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL)
Orlando Solar Bears (IHL)
Nurnberg Ice Tigers (DEL)
Hannover Scorpions (DEL)
Iserlohn Roosters (DEL)
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 20002009

Playing career

As a youth, Tapper played in the 1992 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Red Wings minor ice hockey team.[1]

Tapper started his career by playing for the RPI Engineers of the ECAC. Through his three years on the team, he managed to work his way up from third on the team in scoring in the 1997–98 season to eventually led the team in points, goals, power-play goals (10), and game-winning goals (7) during the 1999–2000 season. He also shared the team lead with three short-handed goals and ranked third in assists. He also finished that season ranked 15th in NCAA Division I in scoring, and fourth in goals. He also led the nation with seven game-winning goals, and shared 11th with 10 power-play goals.

Following that season, he was signed by the Atlanta Thrashers as a free agent on April 11, 2000. He split his first season between the Thrashers, and their IHL affiliate, the Orlando Solar Bears. He played in two games during Orlando's final run for the Turner Cup. Following the collapse of the IHL, he continued to split his seasons between the Thrashers and their new AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, helping the Wolves to their first Calder Cup victory in 2001 while setting professional career highs with the Thrashers in the 2002–03 season.

However, on January 6, 2004, the Atlanta Thrashers recalled and traded Tapper to the Ottawa Senators for Daniel Corso. The Senators sent him to their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, and at the end of the season decided not to re-sign him. On July 22, 2004, Tapper signed with the Nurnberg Ice Tigers of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga and played one season for them and also one season for the Hannover Scorpions.

He was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers on June 26, 2006 to a one-year contract. After playing five games for their AHL affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms, Tapper returned to Germany to play another season for Hannover. After playing the next two seasons with the Iserlohn Roosters, he announced his retirement as a player because of a result of two concussion injuries during his career on June 25, 2009.

After his playing career was over, Tapper remained active in hockey as a coach. For the 2009–10 season, he was the head coach of the North York Rangers in the Central Canadian Hockey League, taking them to the postseason, where they lost in the first round to the Burlington Cougars. In the 2010–11 season, Tapper was an assistant coach with the ECHL's Florida Everblades, working under Greg Poss. Again, the first round of the playoffs was the end of the year for his team, as the eventual semifinalists, the Kalamazoo Wings defeated his Everblades 3–1. Tapper remained in Florida for the next year, and saw his team through four rounds of the playoffs, culminating in a Kelly Cup championship over the Las Vegas Wranglers.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1995–96 Toronto Nationals GTHL
1996–97 Wexford Raiders MetJHL 504270112169
1997–98 RPI Engineers ECAC 3414112562
1998–99 RPI Engineers ECAC 3520204060
1999–00 RPI Engineers ECAC 3731205181
2000–01 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 45791639 20002
2000–01 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 162356
2001–02 Chicago Wolves AHL 5014122662 1934742
2001–02 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 2024643
2002–03 Chicago Wolves AHL 289142342 913410
2002–03 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 351041423
2003–04 Chicago Wolves AHL 2018926
2003–04 Binghamton Senators AHL 299122126
2004–05 Nurnberg Ice Tigers DEL 50262349101 602218
2005–06 Hannover Scorpions DEL 4692130165 824664
2006–07 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 53144
2006–07 Hannover Scorpions DEL 256172338 622418
2007–08 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 49183048167 715626
2008–09 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 17691545
AHL Totals 127334679156 28471152
DEL Totals 18765100165516 2751318126
NHL totals 7114112572

Awards and honours

Award Year
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1999–00
AHCA East Second-Team All-American 1999–00

References

  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
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