Brian Bradley (ice hockey, born 1965)

Brian Richard Walter Bradley (born January 21, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Bradley played for a number of different hockey teams in many different leagues. He played for the London Knights in the early 1980s before being selected 51st overall, in the 3rd round, by the Calgary Flames at the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. Bradley spent a season with the Canadian national team before moving to the National Hockey League (NHL) for good.

Brian Bradley
Born (1965-01-21) January 21, 1965
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Right
Played for Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
Calgary Flames
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 51st overall, 1983
Calgary Flames
Playing career 1986–1999

Playing career

As a youth, Bradley played in the 1978 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Kitchener, Ontario.[1]

Brian Bradley's NHL debut came in the 1985–86 season with the Calgary Flames, where he saw very limited action (only 5 regular season games and one playoff game), although his first playoff game was during the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. He would spend most of the season with the Moncton Golden Flames (Calgary's minor league team), where he was linemates with future superstar Brett Hull.

In 1988, after arriving back from playing with Canadian National Men's Hockey Team, where he spent most of the 1986–87 NHL season playing, Bradley was traded to the Vancouver Canucks. During the 1989 playoffs, Bradley would tie rookie Trevor Linden with a team-leading 7 points in seven games. His best regular season totals with the Canucks came in the 1989–90 season when he scored a team respectable 48 points and was awarded The Canucks' "Most Exciting Player Award" by Canuck fans. He started out the 1990–91 season playing strongly, only to be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for mobile defenceman Tom Kurvers.

In 1992, the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning acquired him in the 1992 NHL Expansion Draft, and he would become the team's first star. He would score the team's first preseason goal against the Minnesota North Stars. He would set personal highs in goals, assists and points before the All-Star Break. At the end of Tampa Bay's inaugural season, Bradley led the team with a career high 42 goals and 86 points. He played well enough throughout the season that he also made his NHL All-Star debut. In 1995–96 he set a personal high of 56 assists. That same year the Lightning debuted in the NHL playoffs. The next season (1996–97) Brian Bradley would score the first goal in the history of the Ice Palace arena. Unfortunately, he would be sidelined for most of the rest of the season due to a concussion. He would play with the Lightning until retiring due to chronic injuries on December 23, 1999.

Post-hockey life

Bradley is still affiliated with the Lightning's organization and makes frequent appearances on Sun Sports television, which broadcasts regular season Lightning games.

On March 29, 2017, Bradley was inducted into the Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame as part of the Hall's 34th class. Bradley became the third member of the Lightning organization to be inducted. This is Bradley's second hall of fame induction in that he is also a member of the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame in his hometown of Kitchener, Ontario.[2][3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1980–81 Guelph Platers OPJHL 42 31 40 71 59 — — — — —
1980–81 Wexford Raiders OPJHL 4 1 1 2 2 — — — — —
1981–82 London Knights OHL 62 34 44 78 34 4 0 1 1 6
1982–83 London Knights OHL 67 37 82 119 37 3 1 0 1 0
1983–84 London Knights OHL 49 40 60 100 24 4 2 4 6 0
1983–84 Colorado Flames CHL — — — — — 4 2 0 2 2
1984–85 London Knights OHL 32 27 49 76 22 8 5 10 15 4
1985–86 Moncton Golden Flames AHL 59 23 42 65 40 10 6 9 15 4
1985–86 Calgary Flames NHL 5 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
1986–87 Moncton Golden Flames AHL 20 12 16 28 8 6 3 3 6 16
1986–87 Calgary Flames NHL 40 10 18 28 16 — — — — —
1987–88 Canada Intl 54 18 23 41 42 — — — — —
1987–88 Vancouver Canucks NHL 11 3 5 8 6 — — — — —
1988–89 Vancouver Canucks NHL 71 18 27 45 42 7 3 4 7 10
1989–90 Vancouver Canucks NHL 67 19 29 48 65 — — — — —
1990–91 Vancouver Canucks NHL 44 11 20 31 42 — — — — —
1990–91 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 26 0 11 11 20 — — — — —
1991–92 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 59 10 21 31 48 — — — — —
1992–93 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 80 42 44 86 92 — — — — —
1993–94 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 78 24 40 64 56 — — — — —
1994–95 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 46 13 27 40 42 — — — — —
1995–96 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 75 23 56 79 77 5 0 3 3 6
1996–97 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 35 7 17 24 16 — — — — —
1997–98 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 14 2 5 7 6 — — — — —
NHL totals 651 182 321 503 528 13 3 7 10 16

International
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1985 Canada WJC 7 9 5 14 2
1988 Canada OG 7 0 4 4 0

Awards and honours
  • Selected to two NHL All-Star Games: 1993, 1994
  • Held the NHL record for most goals scored (42) by a single player in an expansion team's inaugural season from 1993-2018.

References
  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  2. Burns, Bryan (March 29, 2017). "Brian Bradley earns local Hall of Fame distinction". TampaBayLightning.com. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  3. "2017 Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame Induction Banquet". tampasportsclub.org. Sports Club of Tampa Bay. March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
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