Matthieu Andre Jean Marc Luc Descoteaux (born September 23, 1977) 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 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 ...
(NHL) with the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
.
Playing career
As a youth, Descoteaux played in the 1991
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament
The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...
with a
minor ice hockey
Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...
team from
Francheville, Quebec.
Descoteaux was selected in the first round of the
1996 NHL Entry Draft
The 1996 NHL Entry Draft was the 34th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 22, 1996.
The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Zdeno Chára, who retired after the 2021–22 season.
...
, 19th overall, by the
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
. On March 9, 2000 he was traded from Edmonton to Montreal with
Christian Laflamme
Christian Lucien Laflamme (born November 24, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played parts of eight seasons in the National Hockey League between 1996 and 2004.
Biography
As a youth, Laflamme played in the 1989 an ...
in exchange for
Igor Ulanov
Igor Sergeevich Ulanov (russian: И́горь Серге́евич Ула́нов; born 1 October 1969) is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Ulanov was drafted by the W ...
and
Alain Nasreddine
Alain Jean-Paul Mohammed Nasreddine (born July 10, 1975) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the assistant coach for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played as a defenceman in the NHL.
Pla ...
.
He 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
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
.
He spent the majority of his career in the
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 ...
, and also played 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 ...
, Italy and Germany. He last played in the
Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey
The Catholic League of France (french: Ligue catholique), sometimes referred to by contemporary (and modern) Catholics as the Holy League (), was a major participant in the French Wars of Religion. The League, founded and led by Henry I, Duke o ...
for
Sainte-Marie Poutrelles Delta.
Career statistics
Awards and honours
References
External links
*
1977 births
Asiago Hockey 1935 players
Canadian ice hockey defencemen
Edmonton Oilers draft picks
French Quebecers
EHC Freiburg players
Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players
Hull Olympiques players
Ice hockey people from Quebec
Kansas City Outlaws players
Living people
Montreal Canadiens players
National Hockey League first-round draft picks
People from Centre-du-Québec
Quebec Citadelles players
Quebec RadioX players
Shawinigan Cataractes players
Tappara players
Utah Grizzlies (AHL) players
Vaasan Sport players
Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland
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