Brett Festerling

Brett Festerling (born March 3, 1986) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played under contract with the then Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers in the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). His twin brother Garrett also plays hockey in the DEL and is under contract with Grizzlys Wolfsburg.

Brett Festerling
Born (1986-03-03) March 3, 1986
Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
team
Former teams		 Free Agent
Anaheim Ducks
Winnipeg Jets
Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers
Hamburg Freezers
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2007–present

Playing career

Known primarily as a defensive defenceman,[1] Festerling began his major junior career with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL), initially appearing in three games in 2001–02. He was the Americans' fifth overall pick in the 2001 WHL Bantam Draft.[2] After breaking his wrist in his NHL draft-eligible year,[2] Festerling was traded midway through the 2004–05 season to the Vancouver Giants (along with forward Ryan Costanzo) in exchange for forward Shaun Vey and defenceman Mike McDonald.[3]

After winning the President's Cup as WHL champions with the Giants in 2006 and subsequently appearing in the Memorial Cup, Festerling was named team captain for the 2006–07 season.[4] Festerling put up a major junior career-high 21 points in 70 games as captain. However, the Giants were defeated in the WHL finals by the Medicine Hat Tigers in seven games. As 2007 Memorial Cup hosts, the Giants met the Tigers in the final game once more and captured the franchise's first CHL title with a 3–1 victory.[4]

Undrafted by a National Hockey League (NHL) team, Festerling was invited to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim's training camp ahead of the 2005–06 and was subsequently signed to a three-year, entry-level contract.[1] Coming off his Memorial Cup victory with the Giants, he was assigned to the Ducks' minor league affiliate, the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League (AHL), for the 2007–08 season. He posted 14 points in his first professional season.

Festerling started the 2008–09 season with the Iowa Chops. When Ducks defenceman François Beauchemin was placed on the long-term injured reserve with a knee injury, Festerling was called up by Anaheim. He made his NHL debut in a 2–0 win against the Los Angeles Kings on November 16, 2008, logging 17 minutes of ice-time paired with Scott Niedermayer.[5] He played 40 games total in his NHL rookie season, recording five assists. In the off-season, on August 20, 2009, he signed a two-year contract extension with Anaheim.[6]

On October 14, 2010, Festerling was demoted to the Ducks' new AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. After starting the 2010–11 season with the Crunch, on December 31, 2010, he was traded (along with the Ducks' fifth-round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft) to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Maxim Lapierre. Festerling was then immediately assigned to the Canadiens' AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs.[7]

On February 28, 2011, Festerling was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for goaltender Drew MacIntyre.[8]

On July 23, 2012, Festerling signed with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers[9] of the German top-flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). In two seasons with the Ice Tigers, he provided a physical defensive presence and totalled 20 points in 72 games.

On April 24, 2014, Festerling signed with DEL rivals Hamburg Freezers on a four-year contract. The move re-united him with twin brother Garrett, who has played with Hamburg since 2010.[10] After the Freezers had folded in May 2016, Festerling became a free agent.[11] On June 24, 2016, he returned for a second stint in Nürnberg with the Ice Tigers.[12]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2001–02 Tri-City Americans WHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2002–03 Tri-City Americans WHL 55 3 8 11 26 — — — — —
2003–04 Tri-City Americans WHL 54 1 9 10 34 11 1 1 2 2
2004–05 Tri-City Americans WHL 33 3 11 14 20 — — — — —
2004–05 Vancouver Giants WHL 32 2 4 6 10 5 0 0 0 6
2005–06 Vancouver Giants WHL 67 1 6 7 35 18 0 1 1 10
2006–07 Vancouver Giants WHL 70 5 16 21 80 22 1 6 7 24
2007–08 Portland Pirates AHL 74 3 11 14 64 15 1 3 4 6
2008–09 Iowa Chops AHL 34 0 7 7 31 — — — — —
2008–09 Anaheim Ducks NHL 40 0 5 5 18 1 0 0 0 0
2009–10 San Antonio Rampage AHL 17 0 1 1 19 — — — — —
2009–10 Toronto Marlies AHL 11 0 4 4 8 — — — — —
2009–10 Anaheim Ducks NHL 42 0 3 3 15 — — — — —
2010–11 Syracuse Crunch AHL 32 3 9 12 41 — — — — —
2010–11 Anaheim Ducks NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2010–11 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 16 0 4 4 15 — — — — —
2010–11 Chicago Wolves AHL 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2011–12 St. John's IceCaps AHL 52 3 15 18 50 14 0 2 2 10
2011–12 Winnipeg Jets NHL 5 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2012–13 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 41 1 8 9 50 3 0 0 0 10
2013–14 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 31 2 9 11 83 6 0 0 0 4
2014–15 Hamburg Freezers DEL 44 0 6 6 80 2 0 0 0 0
2015–16 Hamburg Freezers DEL 18 0 1 1 22 — — — — —
2016–17 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 50 2 11 13 46 13 0 1 1 4
2017–18 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 43 1 4 5 44 12 0 0 0 4
2018–19 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 39 0 4 4 32 — — — — —
2019–20 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 41 2 12 14 18 — — — — —
NHL totals 88 0 8 8 35 1 0 0 0 0

References
  1. "Prospect Brett Festerling's Profile". HockeysFuture.com. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  2. "It's been a long road for Giants' captain". Regina Leader Post. 2007-05-25. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  3. "WHL Roundup: T-Birds' Bridges breaks record". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2005-01-05. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  4. "Giant victory for Vancouver". The Globe and Mail. 2007-05-27. Archived from the original on May 31, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  5. "Brett Festerling, Bobby Ryan go to work for Ducks". Los Angeles Times. 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  6. "Ducks sign D Festerling to two-year deal". The Sports Network. 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  7. "Canadiens trade Lapierre to Ducks for Festerling, draft pick". TSN. 2010-12-31. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  8. "Habs acquire Drew MacIntyre". Canadiens.com. 2011-02-28. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  9. "Ice Tigers sign Brett Festerling". Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers. 2012-07-25. Archived from the original on 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  10. "Freezers the twin club" (in German). Hamburg Freezers. 2014-04-24. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
  11. "Former NHLer Schubert's last-ditch effort to save Hamburg Freezers fails, DEL team folds". ddexpress.info | the world's sports. 2016-05-26. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
  12. "Brett Festerling kommt zurück nach Nürnberg! | Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Nürnberg". www.icetigers.de. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
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