ERIC BREWER (ICE HOCKEY)

'Eric Charles Brewer'^[1] (born April 17, 1979 in Vernon, British Columbia) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League.
Drafted in the 1st round, 5th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Brewer has spent portions of his 8-year NHL career with the Islanders, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Blues. He has also suited up for the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League and the Lowell Lock Monsters of the American Hockey League.
In February 1999, Brewer was named to the Prince George Cougars' all-time team in a Canadian Hockey League promotion.^[2]

Contents

Personal life

Playing career

Prince George Cougars

New York Islanders

Edmonton Oilers

St. Louis Blues

Awards

Transactions

Career statistics

International play

International statistics

References

External links

Personal life

Brewer was born on April 17, 1979 in Vernon, British Columbia. In the Summer of 2004, Brewer married his wife Rebecca.^[3] Together they live in Vancouver, British Columbia.^[4]

Playing career

Prince George Cougars

Brewer was drafted in the 6th round, 81st overall by the Prince George Cougars in the 1994 WHL Bantam Draft.^[5] One year later, Brewer began his WHL career with the Cougars, playing 63 games in the 1995-96 season as a 16-year old. In his sophomore season, Brewer finished with 29 points in 71 games for the Cougars, doubling his point total from the previous season and was named to play in the 1997 CHL Top Prospects Game.^[6] This performance led to Brewer ranking as the top defenceman at sixth overall among North American skaters heading into the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.^[7] In the end, Brewer was drafted in the 1st round, 5th overall by the New York Islanders in the draft on June 21, 1997.^[8] Despite being drafted, Brewer stayed with Prince George for one last season. This final season turned out to be Brewer's best in the WHL. After representing Canada at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Brewer was named to the Western Conference team for the WHL All-Star Game,^[9] although he missed the game and much of the season due to injury. Despite this injury, Brewer finished the year with 33 points in only 34 games, a near point-per-game average, which lead to Brewer being named to the WHL West Second All-Star Team.^[10]

New York Islanders

On August 19, 1998, just over a year after being drafted, Brewer signed his first professional contract with his draft team, the New York Islanders. The contract was an entry level three-year, $2.775-million deal which included a $1-million signing bonus.^[11] With this contract in place, Brewer made his NHL debut on October 10, 1998 against the Pittsburgh Penguins and on November 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes' Trevor Kidd, Brewer scored his first career goal. Brewer finished his rookie season with 11 points in 63 games, a respectable mark for any rookie defencemen; however, Brewer's 1999-00 NHL season was not as productive. With only 2 assists in 26 games, Brewer spent a large portion of the season with the Islanders' AHL affiliate, the Lowell Lock Monsters. This dismal season proved to be Brewer's last as an Islander.

Edmonton Oilers

On June 24 at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, the Islanders traded Brewer, Josh Green and their 2nd round selection (Brad Winchester) in the draft to the Edmonton Oilers for Roman Hamrlik.^[12] Brewer, in the last year of his three-year entry level contract, finished the 2000-01 season with a career high 21 points in 77 games and also produced 6 points in 6 playoff games. As a result, the Oilers re-signed Brewer to a one-year, $907,500 contract^[13] on August 15, 2001.^[14] Despite a decrease in pay, Brewer once again had a career year with 25 points in 81 games, so when a new contract was to be signed, a raise was expected. After a long holdout that lasted until the beginning of Oilers training camp, Brewer finally signed a two-year, $4-million contract on September 12, 2002. Under this contract, Brewer played some of his best hockey. In the first year of the deal, Brewer set career highs in goals (8), assists (21), and points (29). It was also in this season that Brewer played in his first NHL All-Star Game, dressing for the Western Conference in the 53rd edition of the game.^[15] In the second year of the deal, Brewer continued his stong play and finished with 25 points in 77 games. With the Oilers unwilling to pay what he was expecting, Brewer decided to go to salary arbitration to get a new contract. However, on August 4, 2004, Brewer signed a one-year, $2.65-million contract with the Oilers, avoiding his arbitration hearing set for only a few days later.^[16] Despite the new contract, Brewer was unable to play it out as a result of the 2004-05 NHL Lockout.

Brewer battles San Jose's Marcel Goc.

St. Louis Blues

On August 2, 2005, in the summer following the lockout, the Oilers traded Brewer, Jeff Woywitka and Doug Lynch to the St. Louis Blues for Chris Pronger.^[17] At the time of the trade, Brewer was a restricted free-agent, so on August 15, 2005, Brewer accepted the Blues' qualifying offer, signing a one-year, $2-million contract.^[18] Brewer's first season with the Blues was a particularly bad one, playing only 32 games as a result of a dislocated left shoulder.^[19] Despite this dismal season, the Blues re-signed Brewer to a one-year, $2.014-million contract. The 2006-07 season was a bit of a turnaround for Brewer, as he started to play much better under new coach Andy Murray. Amid speculation that he was going to be traded (as he would have been an unrestricted free agent following the season), he signed a four-year, $17-million contract extension with the Blues on February 24, 2007.^[20]

Awards

★ 1998 – WHL West Second All-Star Team

★ 2003 – Played in NHL All-Star Game

Transactions

★ June 21, 1997 – Drafted in the 1st round, 5th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft

★ June 24, 2000 – Traded by the New York Islanders with Josh Green and the Islanders' 2nd round selection (Brad Winchester) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft to the Edmonton Oilers for Roman Hamrlik

★ August 2, 2005 – Traded by the Edmonton Oilers with Jeff Woywitka and Doug Lynch to the St. Louis Blues for Chris Pronger

Career statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	PTS	PIM		GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
1995-96	Prince George Cougars	WHL		63	4	10	14	25		--	--	--	--	--
1996-97	Prince George Cougars	WHL		71	5	24	29	81		15	2	4	6	16
1997-98	Prince George Cougars	WHL		34	5	28	33	45		11	4	2	6	19
1998-99	New York Islanders	NHL		63	5	6	11	32		--	--	--	--	--
1999-00	Lowell Lock Monsters	AHL		25	2	2	4	26		7	0	0	0	0
1999-00	New York Islanders	NHL		26	0	2	2	20		--	--	--	--	--
2000-01	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		77	7	14	21	53		6	1	5	6	2
2001-02	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		81	7	18	25	45		--	--	--	--	--
2002-03	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		80	8	21	29	45		6	1	3	4	6
2003-04	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		77	7	18	25	67		--	--	--	--	--
2005-06	St. Louis Blues	NHL		32	6	3	9	45		--	--	--	--	--
2006-07	St. Louis Blues	NHL		82	6	23	29	69		--	--	--	--	--
3 seasons	Totals	WHL		168	14	62	76	151		26	6	6	12	35
1 season	Totals	AHL		25	2	2	4	26		7	0	0	0	0
8 seasons	Totals	NHL		518	46	105	151	376		12	2	8	10	8

International play

Throughout his career, Brewer has represented Canada at various tournaments. He first represented Canada as a member of the national junior team at the 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships where he was named an assistant captain.^[21] Although eligible for the 1999 edition of the same tournament, Brewer was unable to play due to NHL commitments with the New York Islanders.^[22] On April 3, 2007, Brewer was among the first five players named to play for Canada at the 2007 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships in Moscow and Mytishchi, Russia from April 27 to May 13, 2007.^[23] For the tournament, Brewer was named as the team's only permanent assistant captain.^[23]
Overall, Brewer has represented Canada in the following tournaments:

★ 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

★ 2001 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

★ 2002 Winter Olympics

★ 2002 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

★ 2003 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

★ 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

★ 2004 World Cup of Hockey

★ 2007 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

International statistics

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998	Canada	WJC		7	0	2	2	8
2001	Canada	WC		7	0	2	2	6
2002	Canada	Oly		6	2	0	2	0
2002	Canada	WC		7	2	3	5	4
2003	Canada	WC		9	1	2	3	8
2004	Canada	WC		9	1	1	2	6
2004	Canada	WCH		6	1	3	4	6
2007	Canada	WC		9	1	3	4	6
	Totals			60	8	16	24	44

References

1. Eric Brewer
2. All-Time Junior Hockey Stars
3. Improvement is the name of the game: No winners or losers at Sailfish swim meet Cam Tait
4. Eric Brewer #4
5. 1994 Bantam Draft
6. Eric Brewer
7. Big day fast approaching for hopefuls Grant Kerr
8. 1997 NHL Entry Draft First Round Selections
9. Portland, Spokane dominate all-star team
10. Varlamov WHL's best; ALL-STARS
11. Cougs' Brewer NHL's newest millionaire
12. Hamrlik headed to New York: Lowe deals D-man to Islanders for Green, Brewer Robin Brownlee
13. Brew back with Oiler crew: Blue-liner signs two-year, M deal at last second Joanne Ireland
14. Hockey: Brewer, Suter get new deals
15. NHL's biggest and newest names get first all-star nod Neil Stevens
16. Brewer, Oilers avoid arbitration
17. Defensive posturing: Lowe nabs Pronger in deal for Brewer, Lynch and Woywitka Jim Matheson
18. Brewer signs for one year; Mayers OKs two-year deal Jeremy Rutherford
19. Blues' Brewer could miss season following surgery
20. Blues re-sign Brewer and Legace
21. Holden lifts Canadians into win column, finally
22. With more junior-aged NHLers, could Canada have won the gold? Donna Spencer
23.
24.

External links

★ Official St. Louis Blues profile

★