Doug O'Brien (born February 16, 1984) 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 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 played five games 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

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 ...

Playing career

O'Brien was drafted 192nd overall in the 6th round of the

2003 NHL Entry Draft The 2003 NHL Entry Draft was the 41st NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee on June 21 and 22, 2003. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. This wa ...

by the Lightning. O'Brien played four seasons of major junior hockey for the Hull/

Gatineau Olympiques The Gatineau Olympiques are a major junior ice hockey team based in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, that plays in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Starting with the 2021–22 season, the Olympiques play home games at Centre Slush Puppie, ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The ...

(QMJHL) before turning professional. In the 2003–04 season with the Olympiques, Doug recorded 63 points in 66 games and was named the league's top defenceman. O'Brien made his professional debut with the Lightning's affiliate, the Springfield Falcons of the AHL in the 2004–05 season. At the end of the 2005–06 season, O'Brien made his NHL debut with the Lightning, featuring in 5 games. Unable to secure a place with the Lightning for the 2006–07 season, O'Brien was assigned to the Falcons. On February 27, 2007, O'Brien was traded by the Lightning to the Anaheim Ducks for Joe Rullier he was then sent to affiliate, the Portland Pirates, for the duration of the season. A free agent upon the 2007–08 season, O'Brien signed with

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

team

Lukko Rauma Rauman Lukko (Finnish for "lock") is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, best known for its men’s professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently plays in the Fin ...

of the

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

. Doug returned to North America when he signed with the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, ...

of the AHL on September 5, 2008. After playing in 12 games with the Amerks in the 2008–09 season, Doug was demoted to affiliate, the Florida Everblades of the ECHL on November 11, 2009. O'Brien signed with

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

team, Plzeň of the Czech Extraliga for the 2009–10 season. He joined Sparta Praha the following season before leaving professional hockey in 2011.

Career statistics

Awards

;

QMJHL The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The le ...

; CHL

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Doug 1984 births Living people Canadian ice hockey defencemen Florida Everblades players Gatineau Olympiques players HC Plzeň players HC Sparta Praha players Hull Olympiques players Ice hockey people from Newfoundland and Labrador Johnstown Chiefs players Lukko players Portland Pirates players Rochester Americans players Sportspeople from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Springfield Falcons players Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks Tampa Bay Lightning players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States