 Brian Campbell will be here on Wednesday February 25th from 6:30pm until 8:00pm
Brian's Playing Career:
Brian was taken by the Ottawa 67's in the OHL as a third round draft pick in the 1995 OHL Priority Selection. In 1998-99 he won the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL's Most Outstanding Player. He also won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL's Defenceman of the Year and the William Hanley Trophy as the OHL's Most Gentlemanly Player, and to top it off Brian was also awarded the CHL Player of the Year.
He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres as their 6th round pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He played his first game for the Sabres in the 1999-2000 season, and stayed with the team, wearing number 51, until February 26th, 2008 when he was traded to San Jose. During the NHL lockout in 2004-05, he played for Jokerit in Helsinki, Finland and won the silver medal in the SM-liiga Finnish championships.
On January 9, 2007 he was the leading vote getter amongst Eastern Conference defenceman for the 2007 NHL All-Star Game, earning him his first All-Star appearance. As a result of the Sabres rotating captaincy, Brian was named an alternate captain for the month of November 2007 and Captain for the month of December under the Sabres 2007-08 rotating captain and alternate captains system. Brian was selected again in 2008 NHL All-Star team.
At the trade deadline on February 26, 2008, Campbell and a 7th round draft pick were traded from the Buffalo Sabres to the San Jose Sharks for Steve Bernier and a 1st round pick in the 2008 draft.
Brian also led the league during the 2007-08 NHL season in games played as one of only two players to appear in 83 games, or one more than a team's full schedule, as based on his trade to San Jose (the other being Jeff Halpern.) Campbell was named a member of the NHL Competition Committee on April 21, 2008.
On July 1, 2008, Campbell signed an 8 year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks for roughly 7.1 million dollars a year. Fox Chicago reported that Campbell chose to sign with the Blackhawks despite allegedly receiving better contract offers from other organizations.
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Kris Versteeg will be here Saturday February 28th between 3:00pm and 4:30pm
Kris's playing career:
Versteeg was drafted 134th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. Kris was drafted from the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League. After his final year in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels, Kris made his professional debut at the end of the 2005-06 season, with Boston's affiliate the Providence Bruins.
On February 3, 2007, Versteeg was traded along with a conditional draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Bochenski.
On January 1, 2009 Versteeg scored the first ever goal at the first hockey game to be played at Wrigley field, the 2009 Winter Classic.
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Duncan Keith will be here on Saturday February 28th from 3:00pm until 4:30pm
Duncan Keith's playing career:
Duncan Keith was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2nd round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft as the 54th overall selection. Keith signed a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2003-04 season and spent his first two season tuning up his game at their AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals logging heavy minutes and scoring 51 points in 154 games. He got his first call up to the NHL on October 5th, 2005 against the Anaheim Ducks. Following 2 seasons in the AHL, he made the Blackhawk squad out of the 2006 training camp He made an immediate impact on the club by averaging over 23 minutes of ice time in 81 games that season. At the conclusion of the 2005-06 season he was rewarded for his stellar play by the Blackhawks who signed him to a five year extension of his contract. For the 2006-07 season he would play in all 82 games for the Blackhawks and once again lead the time in minutes played averaging over 23 minutes a game again. He had 31 points with 29 assists and 2 goals, plus he led the team in blocked shots with 148. For the 2007-08 season, Keith would see even more ice time after injuries wracked the Blackhawk defensive core. By mid January, he was averaging 24:31 ice time per game and had a team leading plus/minus of +14. He was rewarded for this effort by a selection to the 2008 NHL All Star Game.
Keith is known around the league as one of the best shutdown defencemen due to his exceptional skating ability and explosiveness. Keith finished the season with a +30 plus minus rating despite being on a non playoff team.
On October 8th, 2008, Keith was named an assistant captain along with Patrick Sharp.
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Greetings!