Brent Sopel

Brent Sopel
Sopel with the Chicago Wolves in 2015
Born	(1977-01-07) January 7, 1977 (age 45) Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Right
Played for	Vancouver Canucks New York Islanders Los Angeles Kings Chicago Blackhawks Atlanta Thrashers Montreal Canadiens Metallurg Novokuznetsk Salavat Yulaev Ufa
NHL Draft	144th overall, 1995 Vancouver Canucks
Playing career	1997–2015

Brent Bernard Sopel (born January 7, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). Sopel was originally selected 144th overall at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. He has also played for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers and Montreal Canadiens, winning the Stanley Cup in 2010 with Chicago.

In addition to his NHL career, Sopel has also played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Metallurg Novokuznetsk and Salavat Yulaev Ufa, also briefly playing for the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Chicago Wolves before retiring from professional hockey in 2015.

Playing career

Sopel (right) and Matt Cooke during warm-ups with the Vancouver Canucks in 2007.

Vancouver Canucks

On April 3, 1996, just under a year after being drafted, Sopel signed his first professional contract with his draft team, the Vancouver Canucks. ^[1] He was told by Coach Marc Crawford that he would never play in the NHL, but Sopel scored his first NHL goal on April 10, 1999, against the Edmonton Oilers' Tommy Salo. ^[2] In 2002, Sopel won the Fred J. Hume Award for Unsung Hero voted by the Vancouver Canucks Booster Club. On December 31, 2001, and January 21, 2002, Sopel won USA Today's NHL Player of the Week award.^{[ citation needed ]}

Sopel was traded back to the Canucks during their 2006–07 season on February 1, 2007, the NHL trade deadline day. He missed the first game of the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Dallas Stars after he injured his back while picking up a cracker that was dropped by his daughter. ^[3] The Canucks beat the Stars in quadruple overtime, in the sixth longest game in NHL history. ^[4]

New York Islanders

On August 3, 2005, the Canucks traded Sopel to the New York Islanders in exchange for a conditional draft pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. ^[5] On August 16, just under a week after being traded, Sopel signed a two-year, $4.8 million contract with the Islanders. ^[6]

Chicago Blackhawks

Heading into the 2007–08 season with no contract, Sopel was invited to the Detroit Red Wings' training camp. ^[7] However, on September 28, 2007, Sopel left Detroit's camp, instead signing a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks after the Red Wings had only offered a one-year, $500,000 contract. ^{[8] [9]} On January 10, 2008, Sopel signed a three-year, $7 million contract extension with the Blackhawks, keeping him in Chicago through to the 2010–11 season. ^[10] On June 9, 2010, Brent Sopel won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks.

In June 2010, Sopel brought the team's recently-won Stanley Cup to the 2010 Chicago Gay Pride Parade. Sopel brought the Cup to the parade in honour of the late Brendan Burke, son of his former general manager while playing for Vancouver, Brian Burke, to display it in the Chicago Gay Pride Parade, ^[11] stating to the press that honouring Burke's legacy and his father's example of familial support and tolerance was one of his reasons for marching in the parade. ^[12]

Atlanta Thrashers

On June 23, 2010, Sopel was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers, along with Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager and Akim Aliu, in exchange for the 24th (Kevin Hayes) and 54th overall picks (Justin Holl) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb and Jeremy Morin. ^[13]

Montreal Canadiens

After playing 59 games for Atlanta, registering two goals and seven points, Sopel was then traded to the Montreal Canadiens, along with Nigel Dawes, in exchange for Ben Maxwell and a fourth-round draft pick in 2011 on February 24, 2011. ^[14]

Sopel with Metallurg Novokuznetsk in 2012

Kontinental Hockey League

On July 29, 2011, Sopel announced that he had signed a two-year contract with Metallurg Novokuznetsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). ^[15] During the 2012–13 season, his second with Novokuznetsk, Sopel was traded to Salavat Yulaev Ufa for their playoff campaign on January 31, 2013. During the subsequent summer, he signed a two-year contract extension with Salavat Yulaev. ^[16]

Chicago Wolves

On October 10, 2014, the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL) announced that they had signed Sopel to a standard player contract for the 2014–15 season. ^[17] On February 27, 2015, however, after 29 games played, Sopel announced his retirement from professional hockey. ^[18]

Personal life

After his daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, Sopel was also diagnosed with the learning disability after the symptoms sounded similar to his struggles. ^[19] This inspired him to create the Brent Sopel Foundation to help promote and raise funds for youth with dyslexia. ^[20]

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1993–94	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		11	2	2	4	2		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		22	1	10	11	31		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		41	4	19	23	50		3	0	3	3	0
1995–96	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		71	13	48	61	87		6	1	2	3	4
1995–96	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		62	15	41	56	109		10	5	11	16	32
1996–97	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		2	0	0	0	0		3	0	0	0	0
1997–98	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		76	10	33	43	70		5	0	7	7	12
1998–99	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		53	10	21	31	59		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		5	1	0	1	4		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		50	6	25	31	67		4	0	2	2	8
1999–2000	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		18	2	4	6	12		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Kansas City Blades	IHL		4	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		52	4	10	14	10		4	0	0	0	2
2001–02	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		66	8	17	25	44		6	0	2	2	2
2002–03	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		81	7	30	37	23		14	2	6	8	4
2003–04	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		80	10	32	42	36		7	0	1	1	0
2005–06	New York Islanders	NHL		57	2	25	27	64		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		11	0	1	1	6		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		44	4	19	23	14		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		20	1	4	5	10		11	0	0	0	2
2007–08	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		58	1	19	20	28		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		23	1	1	2	8		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		73	1	7	8	34		22	1	5	6	8
2010–11	Atlanta Thrashers	NHL		59	2	5	7	16		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		12	0	0	0	0		7	1	0	1	2
2011–12	Metallurg Novokuznetsk	KHL		47	2	6	8	33		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Metallurg Novokuznetsk	KHL		47	4	6	10	12		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	KHL		4	0	2	2	0		14	4	1	5	6
2013–14	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	KHL		38	1	9	10	14		18	0	1	1	19
2014–15	Chicago Wolves	AHL		29	1	7	8	46		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				659	44	174	218	309		71	4	14	18	20
KHL totals				136	7	23	30	59		32	4	2	6	25

Awards

• 2001 – Player of the Week (December 31, 2001 – January 6, 2002)^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2002 – NHL Player of the Week (January 21–27)
• 2010 – Won Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks

References

1. Jamieson, Jim (1996-04-04). "Sports". The Province.
2. Jamieson, Jim (1999-04-11). "Canucks wear ugly tie". The Province.
3. Ziemer, Brad (2007-04-13). "Sopel's heard enough cracker jokes". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
4. Heika, Mike (2007-04-12). "Stars lose to Canucks in fourth OT". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
5. Pap, Elliott (2005-08-04). "Brent Sopel moves on to New York Islanders". The Vancouver Sun.
6. "Sopel signs on". The Province. 2005-08-17.
7. Hunter, Paul (2007-09-16). "A Leaf training camp hopeful". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
8. "Sopel leaves Wings, signs with Chicago". TSN. 2007-09-28. Archived from the original on 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
9. Sassone, Tim (2007-10-17). "Sopel's poise big part of Hawks' early success". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
10. "Sopel inks three-year deal with Hawks". TSN. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-10.^{[ dead link ]}
11. Littke, Jim (June 25, 2010). "Sports' most macho trophy shows new kind of pride". NHL.com. The Associated Press. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
12. "Hawks bringing Cup to Pride Parade". SunTimes.com. June 22, 2010. Archived from the original on June 25, 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
13. "Blackhawks send Byfuglien to Thrashers". NHL.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
14. "Habs Acquire Sopel, Dawes from Thrashers for Maxwell, Pick". TSN. 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
15. "Kovalev, Sopel to play in KHL: report". CBC Sports. 2011-07-29. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
16. "Brent Sopel: Novokuznetsk will always be in my heart". Metallurg Novokuznetsk. 2013-01-31. Archived from the original on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2013-01-31.
17. "Wolves add Sopel and Longpre before Opening Night". Chicago Wolves. 2014-10-10. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
18. "Former Blackhawks Defenseman Brent Sopel Announces Retirement". NBC Chicago. 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
19. Kaplan, Emily (December 4, 2017). "Letting his guard down about dyslexia struggles helped blueliner Brent Sopel find purpose". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
20. Kaminski, Kaitlyn (August 3, 2017). "Sopel conducting clinic to help kids with dyslexia". NHL.com. Retrieved June 8, 2018.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database