Brendan Mikkelson (born June 22, 1987) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

who last played for Welsh team Cardiff Devils in the UK

Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...

(EIHL). He was a second round selection of the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *'' The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title * ...

, 31st overall, at the

2005 NHL Entry Draft The 2005 NHL Entry Draft was the 43rd NHL Entry Draft. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, the 2004–05 NHL lockout led to the draft being postponed to July 30. Special procedures were required to determine the order of picks, because ...

. He was a member of the 2007 Memorial Cup-winning

Vancouver Giants The Vancouver Giants are a major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Inaugurated in 2001–02, the Giants have won one President's Cup (now known as the Ed Chynoweth Cup) in 2006 and one Memorial Cup in 2007 in t ...

team, and was named a tournament all-star on defence.

Playing career

Mikkelson was born in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 census, Regina had a city populatio ...

, and raised in St. Albert, Alberta, where he played Bantam hockey for the St. Albert Raiders of the Alberta Bantam Hockey League in 2001–02. He was a sixth-round pick in the 2002 WHL Bantam Draft. Mikkelson played his first two seasons in the WHL with the

Portland Winter Hawks The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon, playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL), one of three leagues making up the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Prior to the 2021-22 season, the Winterhawks split thei ...

. Midway through his third season with the club (the 2005–06 season), he was traded to the

. Mikkelson contributed 29 points in 69 games in the 2006–07 season, a season in which the Giants hosted and won the 2007

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

Mikkelson was drafted by the

in the second round, 31st overall, in the

. On November 30, 2006, he was signed to a three-year, entry level contract with the Ducks. On October 19, 2010, Mikkelson was claimed by the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

on waivers. On July 14, 2011, he signed a one-year contract extension with the Flames. The Flames traded Mikkelson to the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

on January 6, 2012, in exchange for forward Blair Jones. He scored his first NHL goal on March 17, 2012, against

Jaroslav Halák Jaroslav Halák (; born 13 May 1985) is a Slovak professional ice hockey goaltender for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Halák was selected with the 271st overall pick by the Montreal Canadiens in the ninth and final ro ...

of the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

in a 3–1 Lightning defeat. On July 19, 2013, Mikkelson left the Lightning organization as a free agent and signed a one-year, two-way contract with the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

. He was assigned to Pittsburgh's

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and are the AHL affiliates of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barr ...

, for the duration of the 2013–14 season and registered a professional best 30 assists and 38 points in 73 games. On September 28, 2014, the AHL's

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies is owned by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

announced they had signed Mikkelson to a one-year contract. On May 8, 2015,

Luleå HF Luleå Hockeyförening is an ice hockey club from Luleå, Sweden. The club has been playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden, since the 1984–85 season. They are the northernmost team in the league and h ...

of the Swedish Hockey League announced they had Mikkelson to a two-year contract. After three seasons with Luleå HF, Mikkelson left as a free agent to continue his European career in Germany, having agreed to a one-year contract for the 2018–19 season with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) on July 2, 2018. After a successful lone season in the DEL helping Adler claim the Championship, Mikkelson signed a one-year contract in the neighbouring Austrian Hockey League (EBEL) with

EC Red Bull Salzburg EC Red Bull Salzburg is a professional ice hockey team based in Salzburg, Austria, that currently plays in the ICE Hockey League. The club play their home games at the Eisarena Salzburg. History The history of ice hockey in Salzburg at the highe ...

on June 18, 2019. With the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

halting the season with Salzburg, Mikkelson left at the conclusion of his contract returning to Sweden after signing a two-year contract as a free agent with

Modo Hockey Modo Hockey (or MoDo with uppercase letters) is a professional ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team plays in Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan. The club was founded in 1987 and has won one SHL championships; in 2007. ...

of the Allsvenskan on April 24, 2020. On May 21, 2021 it was announced that Mikkelson will be playing for the Cardiff Devils of the

(EIHL) in the 2021–22 season.

Personal

Mikkelson's father

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

played in the NHL for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

, New York Islanders and

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

in the 1970s, while his sister, Meaghan, plays on the Canadian national women's team and won a gold medal at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. His brother-in-law, Scott Reid, is a career minor league goaltender. His great uncle, Jim McFadden, won the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...

in 1948 and the Stanley Cup in 1950.''Sports Illustrated'', Cover date: July 9–16, 2012, "Hockey's Minus Man", by Michael Farber, p. 112

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mikkelson, Brendan 1987 births Living people Abbotsford Heat players Adler Mannheim players Anaheim Ducks draft picks Anaheim Ducks players Calgary Flames players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of Danish descent Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Cardiff Devils players Iowa Stars players Luleå HF players Modo Hockey players Portland Pirates players Portland Winterhawks players EC Red Bull Salzburg players Ice hockey people from Regina, Saskatchewan Ice hockey people from St. Albert, Alberta Syracuse Crunch players Tampa Bay Lightning players Toronto Marlies players Vancouver Giants players VIK Västerås HK players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players