Brett Callighen

Brett Callighen
Born	(1953-05-15) May 15, 1953 (age 72) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	182 lb (83 kg; 13 st 0 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	WHA New England Whalers WHA/NHL Edmonton Oilers NLA HC Lugano AEL Wiener EV
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	1974–1986

Brett Charles Callighen (born May 15, 1953) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey forward who played 213 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA), followed by 160 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the New England Whalers and Edmonton Oilers. He was Wayne Gretzky's first regular left winger.

Playing career

Callighen was playing with the Oilers when they were one of the four WHA teams to move into the NHL for the 1979–80 NHL season. On October 14, 1979, Callighen along with Blair MacDonald assisted on Gretzky's first NHL goal. During that season, on 24 February, Callighen suffered an injury to his left eye when it was clipped by Brad McCrimmon's stick, causing Callighen to miss the remainder of that season. ^[1] Callighen had repeated surgeries, but was declared legally blind in that eye. He played in only portions of the Oilers' 1980–81 and 1981–82 seasons, followed by a few games over the next four years with top-tier European teams HC Lugano and Vienna EV and AHL team Adirondack Red Wings. ^[1]

Hockey agent

Upon retiring from hockey, Callighen began working as a hockey agent, co-running Optima World Sports with former Oilers teammate Ron Chipperfield, ^[2] sending players to Europe and Asia, including Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Republic of Korea.

His clientele over the years have included Curtis Brown, Mark Hartigan, Todd Warriner, Jon Sim, Matt Higgins, Brad Fast and Jeff Toms among others.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1974–75	Dallas Black Hawks	CHL		5	0	1	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	Flint Generals	IHL		50	6	20	26	80		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	Kalamazoo Wings	IHL		21	3	11	14	40		—	—	—	—	—
1975–76	Kalamazoo Wings	IHL		72	25	33	58	104		6	2	2	4	21
1976–77	Rhode Island Reds	AHL		22	4	8	12	32		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	New England Whalers	WHA		33	6	10	16	41		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	Edmonton Oilers	WHA		29	9	16	25	48		5	4	1	5	7
1977–78	Edmonton Oilers	WHA		80	20	30	50	112		5	0	2	2	16
1978–79	Edmonton Oilers	WHA		71	31	39	70	79		13	5	10	15	15
1979–80	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		59	23	35	58	72		3	0	2	2	0
1980–81	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		55	25	35	60	32		9	4	4	8	6
1981–82	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		46	8	19	27	28		2	0	0	0	2
1982–83	HC Lugano	NLA		16	10	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	HC Lugano	NLA		13	6	9	15	—		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Vienna EV	AEL		23	26	13	39	38		—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		11	0	2	2	6		—	—	—	—	—
WHA totals				213	66	95	161	280		23	9	13	22	38
NHL totals				160	56	89	145	132		14	4	6	10	8

References

1. "Brett Charles Callighen". Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2017-12-24. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
2. Duhatschek, Eric (November 23, 2004). "Having an ice time on the European tour". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved February 5, 2019.

External links

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