Richard John Brennan (born November 26, 1972) is an American retired 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 ...
. He played briefly in the
NHL
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 a number of teams including the
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...
, and
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 ...
.
Playing career
Brennan was chosen in the 3rd round, 46th overall by the
Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...
in the
1991 NHL Entry Draft
The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was the 29th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. A total of 264 players were drafted. The worst team in the previous 1990–91 season, the Quebec Nordiques, was give ...
out of high school. After being drafted Brennan chose to go to college and played at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
for 4 years. In 1992 he played in the
World Junior Ice Hockey Championship
The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...
for the United States. Brennan's most successful collegiate season came during his junior year (1993–1994) when he scored 35 points in 41 games and earned a number of honors including Hockey East First All-Star team honors and
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
East Second All-American team honors.
After college Brennan joined the
Cornwall Aces
The Cornwall Aces were the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Quebec Nordiques from 1993 to 1995 and the relocated Colorado Avalanche in 1995–96. They were based in the eastern Ontario city of Cornwall and pla ...
for the
1995–96 season. Brennan spent the
1996–97 season with the
Hershey Bears
The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season maki ...
in addition to making his NHL debut, appearing in 2 games with the
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
. Brennan then signed as a free agent with the
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 ...
in 1997. He spent the majority of the
1997–98 season with the Sharks minor league affiliate
Kentucky Thoroughblades
The Kentucky Thoroughblades were a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, who existed from 1996 to 2001. The Thoroughblades were based in Lexington, Kentucky, playing home games at Rupp Arena. The Thoroughblades were an ...
while also appearing in 11 games with the Sharks before being traded to the
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 ...
and finishing the season with the
Hartford Wolf Pack. The
1998–99 season saw Brennan play 47 games with the Wolf Pack in addition to playing in an NHL career high 24 games with the Rangers.
Brennan played the next 2 seasons with the
Lowell Lock Monsters
The Lowell Devils were a minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League playing in Lowell, Massachusetts, at the Tsongas Center. As their name implied, they were the top minor league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey L ...
. During the
2000–01 season Brennan also managed to play in 2 games with 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 ...
. In 2001 Brennan signed with the
Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...
and spent the majority of the 2001–2002 season in the minors, only appearing in 4 games with the Predators. The 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons saw Brennan play with the
Providence Bruins. During the 2002–2003 season he played in 7 games 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 ...
.
Brennan began playing in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
in 2004. He split one year between
Swiss team
SC Bern
Schlittschuh Club Bern ('' Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club is the mos ...
of the
NLA before transferring to
Augsburger Panther
The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion.
Founded in 1878, the team's name was Augsburger EV ...
of the
DEL
Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Brennan remained in Germany the following season and played 3 seasons with the
Nürnberg Ice Tigers
The Nürnberg Ice Tigers are a professional ice hockey club located in Nuremberg, Germany. They play in the country's premier league, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
History
The roots of the team can be traced back to SG Nürnberg, an ice hockey cl ...
. Brennan then spent the 2008–09 season in the
Austrian Hockey League with
HC TWK Innsbruck
HC Tiroler Wasserkraft Innsbruck is an Austrian professional ice hockey team in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL). They play their home games at OlympiaWorld Innsbruck complex in Innsbruck.
History
The club was founded in 1994 as HC Innsbruck ...
before retiring.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
Awards and honors
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Rich
1972 births
Augsburger Panther players
Boston Bruins players
Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey players
Brantford Smoke players
Colorado Avalanche players
Cornwall Aces players
Hartford Wolf Pack players
HC TWK Innsbruck players
Hershey Bears players
Ice hockey players from New York (state)
Kentucky Thoroughblades players
Living people
Los Angeles Kings players
Lowell Lock Monsters players
Manchester Monarchs (AHL) players
Milwaukee Admirals players
Nashville Predators players
New York Rangers players
Nürnberg Ice Tigers players
Providence Bruins players
Quebec Nordiques draft picks
San Jose Sharks players
SC Bern players
SC Langenthal players
Sinupret Ice Tigers players
Sportspeople from Schenectady, New York
American men's ice hockey defensemen
NCAA men's ice hockey national champions
AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans