Brian Pothier

Brian Pothier (born April 15, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. Pothier played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2000 until 2010.

Playing career As a youth, Pothier played in the 1991 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Beverly, Massachusetts.

Undrafted to the NHL, Pothier played collegiate hockey with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After his senior year he was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Thrashers on March 27, 2000. After two seasons with the Thrashers he was moved to the Ottawa Senators prior to the 2002–03 season in a trade for Shawn McEachern, and was later signed by the Washington Capitals as a free agent in the summer of 2006.

On January 3, 2008, Pothier suffered a concussion, possibly when Boston Bruins right winger Milan Lucic hit him hard into the boards, resulting in the fourth reported concussion of his career, which sidelined him for the next fourteen months. Pothier later attributed his post-concussion symptoms and long recovery period to an undiagnosed astigmatism resulting from his latest concussion. He stated that he had recovered from the concussion two to three months after the injury, but his astigmatism led to the symptoms previously thought to be post-concussion syndrome until it was properly diagnosed in December 2008.

On December 17, 2008, he practiced in full gear for the first time since the injury. On March 4, 2009, Pothier was assigned to the Capitals' American Hockey League affiliate, the Hershey Bears, for conditioning and to see if he experienced any post-concussion symptoms. Pothier was recalled to the Capitals, returning to the ice on March 16, 2009, fourteen months after the initial injury. He then scored his first goal since his injury on March 31, 2009, against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

On March 3, 2010, having registered 11 points in 41 games to that point in the 2009–10 season, Brian was traded along with prospect Oskar Osala to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defenseman Joe Corvo.

On July 27, 2010, Pothier ended his North American career and signed a two-year contract with European team Genève-Servette HC of the Swiss National League A (NLA). After two seasons in Switzerland, Pothier signed a two-year contract extension to remain with Genève-Servette. However he was unable to take the ice, due to lingering concussion symptoms that ultimately ended his professional career.

While in his recovery and still of the intention to fulfill his contract obligation to Genève-Servette HC, Pothier served as a voluntary assistant coach with the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1995–96 Northfield Mount Hermon School HS–Prep 27 11 22 33 36 — — — — — 1996–97 RPI Engineers ECAC 34 1 11 12 42 — — — — — 1997–98 RPI Engineers ECAC 35 2 9 11 28 — — — — — 1998–99 RPI Engineers ECAC 37 5 13 18 36 — — — — — 1999–2000 RPI Engineers ECAC 36 9 24 33 44 — — — — — 2000–01 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2000–01 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 76 12 29 41 69 16 3 5 8 11 2001–02 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 33 3 6 9 22 — — — — — 2001–02 Chicago Wolves AHL 39 6 13 19 30 — — — — — 2002–03 Ottawa Senators NHL 14 2 4 6 6 1 0 0 0 2 2002–03 Binghamton Senators AHL 68 7 40 47 58 8 2 8 10 4 2003–04 Ottawa Senators NHL 55 2 6 8 24 7 0 0 0 6 2004–05 Binghamton Senators AHL 77 12 36 48 64 6 0 1 1 6 2005–06 Ottawa Senators NHL 77 5 30 35 59 8 2 1 3 2 2006–07 Washington Capitals NHL 72 3 25 28 44 — — — — — 2007–08 Washington Capitals NHL 38 5 9 14 20 — — — — — 2008–09 Washington Capitals NHL 9 1 2 3 4 13 0 2 2 8 2008–09 Hershey Bears AHL 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2009–10 Washington Capitals NHL 41 4 7 11 10 — — — — — 2009–10 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 20 1 3 4 11 — — — — — 2010–11 Genève–Servette HC NLA 44 8 25 33 26 6 2 4 6 10 2011–12 Genève–Servette HC NLA 50 6 21 27 34 — — — — — NHL totals 362 26 92 118 202 29 2 3 5 18 AHL totals 188 25 89 114 154 14 2 9 11 10

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2007 United States WC 5th 7 0 1 1 4 Senior totals 7 0 1 1 4

Awards and honors Award Year College All-ECAC Hockey Second Team 1999–00 AHCA East Second-Team All-American 1999–00 ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Team 2000

Transactions March 27, 2000 – Signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Thrashers June 29, 2002 – Traded to the Ottawa Senators for Shawn McEachern and a sixth round selection in 2004. July 1, 2006 – Signed as a free agent by the Washington Capitals March 3, 2010 – Traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, along with Oskar Osala and second round selection in 2011 for Joe Corvo.