Daniel Joseph Paille (born April 15, 1984) 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 hock ...

left winger. He was originally drafted 20th overall 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

2002 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...

and also played in the

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 ...

with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

Playing career

Junior

Paille played junior hockey for the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

(OHL)'s Guelph Storm. He was also a member of

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics * Canada at the Paralympics * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at the Pan American Games Canada's national sport teams * Canada me ...

for the

2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2003 IIHF World U20 Championship, commonly referred as the 2003 World Junior Hockey Championships (''2003 WJHC''), was the 27th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. The tournament was held in Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia, ...

and served as Canada's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for the same tournament in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, winning silver medals in both.

Professional

Paille scored his first career NHL goal on January 14, 2006, against the Los Angeles Kings. In the summer of 2007, he signed a one-year, $535,000 one-way contract to remain in Buffalo, then again re-signed with the Sabres the next summer, on July 16, 2008, on a two-year, $2.2 million contract that paid $900,000 in his first year and $1.3 million in his second. On October 20, 2009, Paille was traded to the

in exchange for a third-round and a conditional fourth-round draft pack. His move to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

marked the first-ever trade of a player under contract between the two division rivals in their common 39 years in the NHL. Paille won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

with the Bruins on June 15, 2011, over the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

in a 4–0 Game 7 victory. He was a major contributor on the penalty kill, as he and linemate Gregory Campbell were instrumental in holding the high-powered Vancouver power play unit to just two goals scored in the seven-game Finals series. After completing his third season with Boston in 2011–12, Paille was re-signed by the Bruins to a three-year contract on June 1, 2012. Paille signed with Ilves in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on December 2, 2012, during the

2012–13 NHL lockout The 2012–13 NHL lockout was a labor dispute between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) that began at 11:59 pm EDT on September 15, 2012. A tentative deal on a new collective barga ...

; he rejoined the Bruins when play resumed in mid-January 2013. On June 15, during the 2013 playoffs, Paille scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 2 of the Finals, giving the Bruins a 2–1 victory over the

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 ...

. Two days later, on June 17, he scored the first goal in Game 3 of the Finals, which turned out to be the game-winner in the Bruins' 2–0 win over Chicago. Despite taking a 2–1 series lead, the Bruins would ultimately lose the series, 4–2. On April 13, 2015, the Bruins, after missing the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

for the first time in nine years, informed Paille that they would not be offering him a contract extension, which made him an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2015. Daniel Paille 2012 2

On September 13, 2015, the Chicago Blackhawks invited Paille to attend their training camp on a Professional Tryout agreement. He was subsequently released by the Blackhawks on September 28. The following day Paille signed a professional tryout with the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

, Chicago'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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

affiliate. Paille appeared in 31 games with the IceHogs, before he was signed to one-year contract for the remainder of the season to add depth to the

on January 21, 2016. On April 20, 2016, Paille was recalled by the New York Rangers from the team's AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. At seasons end, Paille opted to continue his career abroad, agreeing to a one-year contract in Sweden with Brynäs IF of the SHL on May 19, 2016. During his second season with Brynäs in 2017–18, Paille posted 5 points in 14 appearances to begin the campaign before his career was effectively ended through injury, after receiving a blindside hit from Thomas Larkin in a Champions Hockey League game against German club,

Adler Mannheim The Adler Mannheim (English: ''Mannheim Eagles'', formerly Mannheimer ERC) is a professional ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest-level ice hockey league in Germany. The team is based in Mannheim, a city in the northern pa ...

, on November 8 2017. After suffering three earlier concussions from his tenure in the NHL, Paille was ruled out from the remainder of the season and returned to North America.

Personal life

Paille was raised in

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He attended to Saint François Elementary School and École Secondaire Confédération. Paille played his minor hockey with his hometown Welland Tigers of the

Ontario Minor Hockey Association The Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) is a minor ice hockey governing body in Ontario. The OMHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada. History The OMHA was founded on November 30, 1940, after a merger of the Ontari ...

(OMHA)'s South Central AAA league. His teammates growing up in Welland included several future NHLers, including Nathan Horton,

Daniel Girardi Daniel Girardi (born April 29, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Undrafted, Girardi played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning as a stay-at-home defenseman ...

, Andre Deveaux and Matt Ellis. He admired

Steve Yzerman Stephen Gregory Yzerman (; born May 9, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player currently serving as executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing c ...

when he was growing up. In 2009, Paille married his longtime girlfriend, Dana Goretsas.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paille, Daniel 1984 births Boston Bruins players Brynäs IF players Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Franco-Ontarian people Guelph Storm players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey people from Ontario Ilves players Living people National Hockey League first-round draft picks New York Rangers players Rochester Americans players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Sportspeople from Welland Stanley Cup champions Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden