Anthony Craig Rivet (; born September 13, 1974) 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 ...

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 ...

who played 16 seasons 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 ...

, including 12 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 later played for 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 ...

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 ...

, and

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

before finishing his career with the

Elmira Jackals The Elmira Jackals were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Elmira, New York. They were members of the United Hockey League from 2000 to 2007 and the ECHL from 2007 to 2017. The Jackals played their home games at First Arena. On ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

Playing career

Junior career

Rivet was drafted by the

in the

1992 NHL Entry Draft The 1992 NHL Entry Draft was the 30th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 20 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. A total of 264 players were drafted. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Sergei Gonchar, who ret ...

from the Kingston Frontenacs in 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 overa ...

. He was drafted in the third round, 68th overall. Upon being drafted, he recorded junior career highs in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

with 19 goals, 55 assists, and 74 points. He added 12 points in the playoffs as Kingston advanced to the semi-finals but were eliminated by the

Peterborough Petes The Peterborough Petes are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team has played at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, since 1956, and is the oldest continuously operating team in the league. ...

in five games.

Montreal Canadiens

After spending his first few professional seasons with Montreal's AHL affiliate, the

Fredericton Canadiens The Fredericton Canadiens, or the 'Baby Habs' were a professional ice hockey team in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Canadiens played their home games at the Aitken Centre. They were a member of the American Hockey League from 1990 to 1999, and we ...

, Rivet earned a full-time roster spot with Montreal in 1997–98 and became an alternate captain to

Saku Koivu Saku Antero Koivu (; born November 23, 1974) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He began his NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1995–96 after three seasons with TPS of the ...

during his time with the team. After a 25-point season with a career-high 8 goals in 2001–02, he re-signed with the Canadiens to a four-year, $12 million contract extension. In 2005–06, Rivet improved to 34 points, his best offensive output with the Canadiens.

San Jose Sharks

With his contract set to expire at the end of the 2006–07 season, Rivet was traded on February 25, 2007, to the

with a fifth-round draft pick in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

for

Josh Gorges Joshua Daniel Gorges (born August 14, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenseman. He is of German ancestry; his grandparents immigrated from Germany to Canada. Gorges played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the San Jose ...

and a first-round draft pick in 2007. This pick would later be used to draft former Canadien captain

Max Pacioretty Maximillian Kolenda Pacioretty (born November 20, 1988) is an American professional ice hockey left winger for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Pacioretty was drafted in the first round, 22nd overall, in the 2007 NHL ...

(currently playing for the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

). Before becoming an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

in the off-season, he re-signed with the Sharks to a four-year,

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

14 million contract, citing San Jose's fan base and competitiveness as major factors in staying with the club. He reportedly chose that offer over San Jose's offer of $12 million over the same time span, but with a no-trade clause. In the first season of his new contract, he recorded a career-high 30 assists and 35 points, topping all team defencemen in scoring ( Brian Campbell finished with more points overall during the season, but only scored 19 of his points with San Jose).

Buffalo Sabres

On July 4, 2008, Rivet was traded to the

with a 2010 seventh round draft pick in exchange for two second round selections in the 2009 and 2010 drafts. Before making his 2008–09 debut with the Sabres, he was named

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

on October 8, replacing

Jason Pominville Jason John Pominville (born November 30, 1982) is a Canadian- American former professional ice hockey right winger. He played for the Buffalo Sabres and the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Amateur As a youth, ...

, the last to be named captain as part of the Sabres rotating captaincy the previous season. At the end of the 2009-10 season, it was revealed that Rivet's play in the previous two seasons had been hampered by a double labrum tear, for which he would have off-season surgery. Despite initial estimates of 4–6 months for recovery, which would have impinged on the start of the 2010-11 season, he was expected to return for training camp. Despite this, the veteran defenseman announced that the 2010-11 season might be his last in the NHL. Rivet was waived by Buffalo on February 23, 2011.

Portland Pirates

After clearing waivers on February 24, 2011, Rivet was reassigned to the Sabres'

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 ...

farm team, the Portland Pirates.

Columbus Blue Jackets

On February 26, 2011, Rivet was claimed on re-entry waivers by the

Elmira Jackals

On October 10, 2011, Rivet signed a deal with the

just 6 months after announcing his retirement. He later revealed the move was necessary to obtain his United States permanent residency.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

International play

Rivet made one international appearance for Team Canada at the 2003 World Championships 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 ...

. He recorded 1 assist in 9 games as Team Canada captured the gold medal against Sweden 3-2 in the final.

Post-hockey career

Rivet co-hosted "The Instigators" with

Andrew Peters Andrew Peters (born May 5, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. Peters played in the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabres, and the New Jersey Devils. Throughout his playing career, Peters was best known for h ...

on WGR 550 out of Buffalo and

MSG Western New York MSG Western New York (MSG WNY) is an American regional sports network that is a joint venture between MSG Entertainment and Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The channel (also on occasion credited as ''Pegula Sports Network'' or ''MSG Buffalo'') ...

. After stepping down from the show in September 2021, Rivet is currently co-hosting the podcast "After The Whistle" reunited with Andrew Peters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivet, Craig 1974 births Living people Barrie Colts players Buffalo Sabres captains Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Columbus Blue Jackets players Elmira Jackals (ECHL) players Fredericton Canadiens players Sportspeople from North Bay, Ontario Kingston Frontenacs players Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players San Jose Sharks players HC TPS players Ice hockey people from Ontario Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States