Dan Focht (born December 31, 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 ...

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 t ...

. He was drafted by the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

in the first round, 11th overall, in 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. ...

. After playing three seasons in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

, Focht joined the Coyotes'

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 lea ...

affiliate, the

Springfield Falcons The Springfield Falcons were a former ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and played in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center. In 2016, the Falcons' franchise was purchased by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ariz ...

, for the 1997–98 season. He did not make his NHL debut with the Coyotes, however, until the 2001–02 season, during which he appeared in eight games. After playing in ten more games for the Coyotes in the 2002–03 season, he was traded to the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

in a multi-player deal which saw

Jan Hrdina Jan Hrdina (born February 5, 1976) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player. Playing career Hrdina was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft in the 5th round, 128th overall. In March 2003, the Pittsburgh Peng ...

go to Phoenix. Focht appeared in 64 games in two seasons with the Penguins. Most recently, Focht spent the 2005–06 season 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, a ...

of the AHL.

Career statistics

External links

* 1977 births Living people Arizona Coyotes draft picks Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Jokerit players Mississippi Sea Wolves players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Phoenix Coyotes players Pittsburgh Penguins players Regina Pats players Rochester Americans players Springfield Falcons players Sportspeople from Regina, Saskatchewan Tri-City Americans players {{canada-icehockey-defenceman-1970s-stub