Curtis Dean Brown (born February 12, 1976) is a Canadian 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 hock ...

player. He was drafted by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

in the second round (43rd overall) of the

1994 NHL Entry Draft The 1994 NHL Entry Draft was the 32nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Hartford Civic Center on June 28–29, 1994. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Patrik Elias and Eric Boulton, who both played their last NHL g ...

. Over his

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) career, he played for the Sabres,

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

, and

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

. Brown serves as a Sharks pregame and postgame analyst on NBC Sports California.

Playing career

Brown was drafted in the second round of the

by the

. After finishing the

1994–95 WHL season The 1994–95 WHL season was the 29th season for the Western Hockey League. Sixteen teams completed a 72-game season. The Kamloops Blazers won their third President's Cup in four seasons, as well as their third Memorial Cup in four seasons. Leagu ...

with the Moose Jaw Warriors, he debuted with the Sabres on May 3, 1995 against the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

and scored a goal and an assist. Brown returned to the WHL for 1995–96 and was traded from Moose Jaw to the

Prince Albert Raiders The Prince Albert Raiders are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. The Raiders play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. They are based in the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team plays its hom ...

before finishing out the season with Buffalo. By 1997–98, Brown became a full-time player for the Sabres, usually on the third line. In March 2004, Brown was traded to the San Jose Sharks in a three-way trade that saw Buffalo acquire

Jeff Jillson Jeffrey J. Jillson (born July 24, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres. Playing career Jillson was drafted 14th overall ...

from Boston while they received

Brad Boyes Bradley Keith Boyes (born April 17, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, who spent thirteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of seven different teams. Early life Boyes went to Hazel McCallion Senior P ...

and

Andy Delmore Andrew J. Delmore (born December 26, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Delmore played 283 games in the National Hockey League (NHL), recording 43 goals and 58 assists for 101 points. He was considered an offensive def ...

. Brown played only 12 games for San Jose, however, and spent the

2004 NHL lockout 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

season in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

with the

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...

. On July 2, 2004, Brown signed a four-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, only to be bought out after only one NHL season. Brown was the first player ever to have his contract bought out. Brown signed with San Jose as an unrestricted free agent in July 2006. The two-year deal was worth just $1.4 million, with Brown stating that he signed for such a relatively low salary because he had already received money from Chicago's buy-out. On July 17, 2008, Brown completed his NHL career and signed with the

Kloten Flyers EHC Kloten is an ice hockey team based in the city of Kloten in Switzerland. The team plays in the National League (NL). It has one of the best youth systems in Swiss ice hockey as its youth teams have won 19 championships during the last 50 year ...

of the Swiss Nationalliga A where he played for one season. He then switched to defense and played the final two seasons of his career with EHC Biel before retiring.

Personal life

Brown, of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

faith, has a wife, Ami. The couple had a daughter, Aubri who died in late 2005 of

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usuall ...

. The death of their daughter inspired them to create The Aubri Brown Foundation, a foundation that helps parents going through the loss of their children. They have three sons, Gage, Garrett, and Griffin.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

* WHL East First All-Star Team – 1995 * WHL East Second All-Star Team – 1996

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Curtis 1976 births Living people Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey centres Chicago Blackhawks players EHC Biel players EHC Kloten players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Moose Jaw Warriors players People from Unity, Saskatchewan Prince Albert Raiders players Rochester Americans players San Diego Gulls (ECHL) players San Jose Sharks announcers San Jose Sharks players