Brett Harkins

Brett Alan Harkins (born July 2, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey left wing, who played for 18 years. He played in the National Hockey League in four stints with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Columbus Blue Jackets between 1994 and 2002. As of January 2020, Harkins had served as a college-level scout for the Boston Bruins for over four seasons.

Harkins is also the younger brother of Todd Harkins, who played for the Hartford Whalers and Calgary Flames.

Amateur career As a youth, Harkins played in the 1981 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament along with his brother Todd, as a member of a minor ice hockey team from Cleveland.

Harkins attended St. Edward High School, located in Lakewood, Ohio, a western suburb of Cleveland. He was an integral member of the 1986 Ohio High School Athletic Association State "big school" hockey champions. However, he would leave St. Edward to attend St. Andrews High School north of Toronto before joining the Junior A Brockville Braves. He played in 38 games for Detroit Compuware Ambassadors of the NAJHL in 1988-89, scoring 69 points. He would play collegiately for Bowling Green State University from 1989 to 1993. In 2013, Harkins served as the head coach of the U-16 Midget Minor Cleveland Barons, assisted by Johnny Goebel, Jeremy Bronson, and his brother Donnie Harkins.

Professional career Harkins was drafted in the seventh round, 133rd overall, by the New York Islanders in the 1989 NHL entry draft. He played 78 games in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Columbus Blue Jackets. He last played professionally in the Swedish and Finnish leagues until his retirement 2008, ending his professional playing career with Rögle BK of HockeyAllsvenskan. First player born in Ohio to play for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1985–86 St. Edward High School HS-OH — — — — — — — — — — 1986–87 St. Andrew's College CISAA 30 47 60 107 — — — — — — 1987–88 Brockville Braves CJHL 55 21 55 76 36 — — — — — 1988–89 Detroit Compuware Ambassadors NAHL 38 23 46 69 94 — — — — — 1989–90 Bowling Green State University CCHA 41 11 43 54 45 — — — — — 1990–91 Bowling Green State University CCHA 40 22 38 60 30 — — — — — 1991–92 Bowling Green State University CCHA 34 8 39 47 32 — — — — — 1992–93 Bowling Green State University CCHA 35 19 28 47 28 — — — — — 1993–94 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 80 22 47 69 23 10 1 5 6 4 1994–95 Boston Bruins NHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1994–95 Providence Bruins AHL 80 23 69 92 32 13 8 14 22 4 1995–96 Florida Panthers NHL 8 0 3 3 6 — — — — — 1995–96 Carolina Monarchs AHL 55 23 71 94 44 — — — — — 1996–97 Boston Bruins NHL 44 4 14 18 8 — — — — — 1996–97 Providence Bruins AHL 28 9 31 40 32 10 2 10 12 0 1997–98 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 80 32 62 94 82 10 4 13 17 14 1998–99 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 74 20 67 87 84 — — — — — 1999–00 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 76 20 50 70 79 9 2 8 10 6 2000–01 Houston Aeros IHL 81 16 64 80 51 7 0 3 3 8 2001–02 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 25 2 12 14 8 — — — — — 2001–02 Syracuse Crunch AHL 22 4 20 24 13 — — — — — 2002–03 Skellefteå AIK SWE-2 33 15 23 38 77 9 1 8 9 6 2003–04 HIFK FIN 52 10 49 59 65 13 4 9 13 12 2004–05 HIFK FIN 52 4 30 34 83 5 0 0 0 4 2005–06 Jokerit FIN 10 1 2 3 2 — — — — — 2005–06 Skellefteå AIK SWE-2 26 4 30 34 77 10 1 6 7 10 2006–07 Skellefteå AIK SWE 32 1 13 14 18 — — — — — 2006–07 Rögle BK SWE-2 5 1 5 6 2 9 3 4 7 16 2007–08 Rögle BK SWE-2 35 3 24 27 67 10 2 8 10 4 AHL totals 265 81 238 319 144 33 11 29 40 8 NHL totals 78 6 30 36 22 — — — — —

Awards and honors Award Year All-CCHA Rookie Team 1989-90