Doug O'Brien (born February 16, 1984) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who played five games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

with the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

Playing career

O'Brien was drafted 192nd overall in the 6th round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Lightning. O'Brien played four seasons of major junior hockey for the Hull/

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

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

(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 The Springfield Falcons were a 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 Arizona Co ...

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 The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

for Joe Rullier he was then sent to affiliate, the

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks ...

, for the duration of the season. A free agent upon the 2007–08 season, O'Brien signed with Finnish 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 Finni ...

of the

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

. He 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 based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

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

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

team,

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

of the Czech Extraliga for the 2009–10 season. He joined

Sparta Praha Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

the following season before leaving professional hockey in 2011.

Career statistics

Awards

;

QMJHL The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

; 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 Johnstown Chiefs players Lukko players Portland Pirates players Rochester Americans players Ice hockey people 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 United States 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland