Position	Defence
Shoots	Right
Height Weight	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 195 lb (89 kg)
NHL Team F. Teams	New Jersey Devils Brynäs IF, HPK, HIFK
Nationality	United States
Born	September 28, 1973, Dearborn, MI, USA
Pro Career	1995 – present

Brian Rafalski (born September 28, 1973, in Dearborn, Michigan) is an American professional ice hockey player who plays defenceman for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. After enduring a long struggle to enter the NHL, Rafalski has won 2 Stanley Cups and become an effective defenceman in the league. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3456x2304, 1491 KB) Summary Picture taken of Brian Rafalski at Continental Airlines Arena during game between New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders, March 14, 2006. ... The position an ice hockey player plays can be divided into three basic categories: Forwards Centre Wingers Defenceman Goaltender ... Defence (defense in the U.S.A.) in hockey is a player position with a primary responsibility to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals. ... A shot in ice hockey is an attempt by a player to score a goal by striking the puck with his stick in the direction of the net. ... Adult human height generally varies little between people compared to other anthropometric measures. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with body weight. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a metre. ... An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... The metre, or meter (U.S.), is a measure of length. ... The pound (abbreviations: lb or, sometimes in the United States, #) is a unit of mass in a number of different systems, including various systems of units of mass that formed part of English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... The U.S. National Prototype Kilogram, which currently serves as the primary standard for measuring mass in the U.S. It was assigned to the United States in 1889 and is periodically recertified and traceable to the primary international standard, The Kilogram, held at the Bureau International des Poids et... NHL redirects here. ... The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ... Brynäs IF is a sports club from Gävle, Sweden, mostly known for its professional ice hockey team. ... HPK are a Finnish ice hockey team playing in SM-liiga based at Hämeenlinnan jäähalli (capacity 5000), Hämeenlinna. ... HIFK (Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK, originally Idrottsförening Kamraterna i Helsingfors) is a sports association from Helsinki, Finland. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... A childs first birthday party. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Location in Michigan Coordinates: Country United States State Michigan County Wayne County Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Area  Ranked 11th  - Total 97,990 sq mi (253,793 km²)  - Width 239 miles (385 km)  - Length 491 miles (790 km)  - % water 41. ... Ice hockey tournaments have been competed at the Olympic Games since the 1920 Summer Olympics. ... The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were held in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. ... 2002 Winter Olympic Games Ice hockey games were held at the E Center and Peaks Ice Arena in Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Location in Michigan Coordinates: Country United States State Michigan County Wayne County Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Area  Ranked 11th  - Total 97,990 sq mi (253,793 km²)  - Width 239 miles (385 km)  - Length 491 miles (790 km)  - % water 41. ... Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in areas where it is more common than field hockey, is a team sport played on ice. ... Defence (defense in the U.S.A.) in hockey is a player position with a primary responsibility to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals. ... The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ... NHL redirects here. ... The Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL), the major professional ice hockey league in Canada and the United States. ...

Playing career

College & European play

Rafalski played for four years at the University of Wisconsin and played very well, scoring 45 points in 43 games in his senior year, in which he led the Badgers to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship. He won several awards that season; he was named to the WCHA First All-Star Team, the NCAA West All-Star Team, and the WCHA Defenceman of the Year. With no immediate NHL prospects, Rafalski headed overseas. He spent the 1995-1996 season with Brynäs IF of the Swedish elite league. After scoring only 9 points in 22 games in Sweden, he then moved to Finland. He played a season for HPK of the SM-liiga, and scored 35 points. He went to HIFK in 1997, and spent two years there, and played very well in both. In his final year in Finland, he scored 19 goals and 53 points in 53 games, and won the Kultainen kypärä, which is the SM-liiga trophy for best player as voted by his fellow players. Notably, he also became the first non-Finnish player to win the award. The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public university located in Madison, Wisconsin. ... NCAA sponsors a championship tournament in ice hockey. ... The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. ... All-star (also, Allstar or All Star) is a term with meanings in both the worlds of sports and entertainment. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Brynäs IF is a sports club from Gävle, Sweden, mostly known for its professional ice hockey team. ... The Elitserien logo Elitserien is the name of the highest-level Swedish ice hockey league, where the first season under this name was played in 1975-1976. ... HPK are a Finnish ice hockey team playing in SM-liiga based at Hämeenlinnan jäähalli (capacity 5000), Hämeenlinna. ... logo of SM-liiga SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. ... HIFK (Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK, originally Idrottsförening Kamraterna i Helsingfors) is a sports association from Helsinki, Finland. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kultainen kypärä (golden helmet) is an ice hockey award given to the best player in the Finnish SM-liiga. ...

NHL career

On May 7, 1999, Rafalski was signed by the New Jersey Devils as a free agent. He would be 26 at the start of the 1999-2000 NHL season, much older than most rookies, but he had played in some of the finest leagues in Europe. He showed that he was ready in the NHL in his rookie season. He finished the season with 32 points. He led all rookie defencemen in plus-minus with a +21 rating, second among Devils defencemen and tied for first for all rookies. The Devils also won the Stanley Cup that year, and Rafalski was a big part of their win. He provided a crucial insurance goal in the Devils' Game 4 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals. Along with teammate Scott Gomez, he was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ... The 1999-2000 NHL season was the 83rd in its history. ... World map exhibiting the location of Europe. ... The plus-minus sign (±) is a mathematical symbol commonly used to indicate the precision of an approximation, or as a convenient shorthand for a quantity with two possible values. ... The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. ... Scotty Gomez Scott Gomez (born December 23, 1979, in Anchorage, Alaska) is a professional ice hockey player. ... The NHL All-Rookie Team is chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers Association from the best rookies in the National Hockey League at each position for the season just concluded based on their performance in that year. ...

Rafalski improved his production in his sophomore season, as he scored an impressive 52 points. His point total led the team, and became the first Devils defenceman other than Scott Niedermayer or Scott Stevens to lead the Devils in scoring since Bruce Driver led the team back in 1990-91. His 18 points during the playoffs set a team record for defencemen, although the Devils lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Finals. Scott Niedermayer (born August 31, 1973, in Edmonton, Alberta) is a professional ice hockey hockey player with the Anaheim Ducks in the NHL. Standing 6 ft 1 in, 200 pounds (91 kg), Niedermayer is considered to be one of the top defencemen in the league. ... Stevens played for Canada in the 1998 Winter Olympics. ... Bruce Driver (born April 29, 1962 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1983-84 until 1997-98. ... The 1990-91 NHL season was the 74th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado. ...

In the 2001-02 NHL season, Rafalski continued his scoring ways, notching 47 points. He was selected to participate in the NHL All-Star Game, but was forced to sit out due to injury. He did go on to represent Team USA at the 2002 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal as the US lost to Canada in the finals. The next season, he once again led all Devils defencemen in scoring with 40 points. He was a vital part of the Devils defence that helped the team win its third Stanley Cup in eight seasons, with a seven-game win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He has continued to represent America in international play, playing in both the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and the 2006 Winter Olympics. The 2001-02 NHL season was the 85th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The National Hockey League All-Star Game (French: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey) is an exhibition ice hockey game that marks the midway point of the National Hockey Leagues regular season, with many of the star players playing against each other. ... The American national mens hockey team is the national ice hockey team for the United States. ... The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were held in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. ... The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, commonly referred to as the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. ... The 2004 World Cup of Hockey is the second World Cup of Hockey (WCH), an international ice hockey tournament. ... Neve and Gliz, the 2006 Olympics mascots, on display in Turin The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. ...

Brian Rafalski is considered very small for an NHL defenceman, standing only 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), and weighing only 200 pounds (91 kg). However, he is an intelligent playmaker and works effectively without the benefit of the sort of impressive physical stature had by Zdeno Chara or even Eric Lindros. Many teams put such an emphasis on size, though, that even a player as obviously qualified to play in the NHL as Rafalski went totally undrafted, and had to go to Europe to find a place to play hockey. A similar issue confronted Martin St. Louis, although he made it to the NHL much more quickly. It is also true, though, that Rafalski is not an elite defender, and is strictly an offensive-defenceman. He was usually paired with Scott Stevens, who was more of a stay-at-home defenceman, and allowed Rafalski to roam the ice more often. Now that Niedermayer has left the team for the Mighty Ducks, Rafalski has assumed the mantle of the offensive-minded defenceman, and is typically one of the starting defenceman on the squad. As he was with Stevens, he is now usually paired with a defensive defenceman; teammate Colin White often plays on the same line with Rafalski. Zdeno Chára Zdeno Chára, #3 (born March 18, 1977) is an elite ice hockey defenceman playing for the Ottawa Senators. ... Eric Bryan Lindros (born February 28, 1973 in London, Ontario, Canada) is a professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League. ... Martin St. ... Stevens played for Canada in the 1998 Winter Olympics. ... John Colin White (born December 12, 1977 in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia) is a professional hockey player. ...

In the end, though, Rafalski has played a very important role in two Stanley Cup victories, and is a top-pairing defenceman for one of the best teams in the league. Even though he is now 33, he has several years of quality hockey left to play.

Awards & achievements

• 1995 - Western Collegiate Hockey Association Defenceman of the Year
• 1995 - Western Collegiate Hockey Association First All-Star Team
• 1995 - NCAA West First All-Star Team
• 1997 - Pekka Rautakallio trophy for best defenceman in the SM-liiga
• 1999 - Matti Keinonen trophy for best +/- in the SM-liiga
• 1999 - Pekka Rautakallio trophy for best defenscman in the SM-liiga
• 1999 - Kultainen kypärä award for best player in the SM-liiga
• 1999-00 - NHL All-Rookie Team
• 1999-00 - NHL Rookie of the Month for February
• 1999-00 - Won Stanley Cup with New Jersey Devils
• 2002 - Won silver medal with Team USA at 2002 Winter Olympics
• 2003-04 - Starter for Eastern Conference in NHL All-Star Game
• 2003-04 - Won Stanley Cup with New Jersey Devils
• 2004 - Member of Team USA at 2004 World Cup of Hockey
• 2006 - Member of Team USA at 2006 Winter Olympics

1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA, often pronounced N-C-Double-A ) is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pekka Rautakallio trophy is an ice hockey award given by the Finnish SM-liiga to the best defenseman of the season. ... logo of SM-liiga SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Matti Keinonen trophy is an ice hockey award given by the Finnish SM-liiga to the most effective player of the season (plus/minus rating). ... logo of SM-liiga SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Pekka Rautakallio trophy is an ice hockey award given by the Finnish SM-liiga to the best defenseman of the season. ... logo of SM-liiga SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Kultainen kypärä (golden helmet) is an ice hockey award given to the best player in the Finnish SM-liiga. ... logo of SM-liiga SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. ... The classic NHL shield logo The 1999-00 NHL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The NHL All-Rookie Team is chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers Association from the best rookies in the National Hockey League at each position for the season just concluded based on their performance in that year. ... The classic NHL shield logo The 1999-00 NHL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The classic NHL shield logo The 1999-00 NHL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL), the major professional ice hockey league in Canada and the United States. ... The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... The American national mens hockey team is the national ice hockey team for the United States. ... The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were held in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. ... The 2003-04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The National Hockey League All-Star Game (French: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey) is an exhibition ice hockey game that marks the midway point of the National Hockey Leagues regular season, with many of the star players playing against each other. ... The 2003-04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL), the major professional ice hockey league in Canada and the United States. ... The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The American national mens hockey team is the national ice hockey team for the United States. ... The 2004 World Cup of Hockey is the second World Cup of Hockey (WCH), an international ice hockey tournament. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The American national mens hockey team is the national ice hockey team for the United States. ... Neve and Gliz, the 2006 Olympics mascots, on display in Turin The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. ...

Career statistics

United States Hockey League (abbreviated USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league in United States. ... The University of Wisconsin–Madison (also known as UW–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin, or UW) is a selective public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin. ... The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. ... Brynäs IF is a sports club from Gävle, Sweden, mostly known for its professional ice hockey team. ... The Elitserien logo Elitserien is the name of the highest-level Swedish ice hockey league, where the first season under this name was played in 1975-1976. ... HPK are a Finnish ice hockey team playing in SM-liiga based at Hämeenlinnan jäähalli (capacity 5000), Hämeenlinna. ... logo of SM-liiga SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. ... HIFK (Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK, originally Idrottsförening Kamraterna i Helsingfors) is a sports association from Helsinki, Finland. ... The European Hockey League was European ice hockey club competition from 1996 to 2000. ... The classic NHL shield logo The 1999-00 NHL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ... NHL redirects here. ... The 2000-01 NHL season was the 84th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The 2001-02 NHL season was the 85th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were held in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. ... The 2002-03 NHL season was the 86th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The 2003-04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The 2004 World Cup of Hockey is the second World Cup of Hockey (WCH), an international ice hockey tournament. ... The modernized NHL shield logo was introduced for the 2005-06 season. ... Neve and Gliz, the 2006 Olympics mascots, on display in Turin The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. ...

External links

• Rafalski's stats at tsn.ca
• Rafalski's stats at hockeydb.com
• Rafalksi's page at newjerseydevils.com
• Brian's U.S. Olympic Team bio