Chris Phillips

Chris Phillips (born March 9, 1978) is a Canadian businessman and former professional ice hockey player. Phillips was a member of the Ottawa Senators for his entire NHL career, which began with the 1997–98 season and ended with the 2015–16 season. He was regarded as a stay-at-home defenceman. The Senators drafted him first overall in the 1996 NHL entry draft. He began his junior career with the Junior A Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League in 1993–94, where he had six goals and 22 points in 56 games.

Prince Albert Raiders Phillips joined the Major Junior Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL for the 1995-96 season, where he registered 10 goals and 30 assists in 61 games as a rookie with the Raiders. Phillips helped the Raiders to the Conference Finals, with 2 goals and 12 assists in 18 games. After the season, Phillips won the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy and was drafted first overall in the 1996 NHL entry draft by the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators reassigned Phillips to the Raiders for the 1996-97. In 32 games back with the Raiders, he tallied three goals and 26 points. Prince Albert traded Phillips to the Lethbridge Hurricanes midway through the season.

Lethbridge Hurricanes Phillips finished the 1996–97 season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, where he had four goals and 22 points in 26 games, helping the club finish in first place in the Central Division.

In the playoffs, Phillips finished second in team scoring with 25 points, with four goals and 21 assists, to help Lethbridge win the President's Cup, and earn a berth at the 1997 Memorial Cup held in Hull, Quebec.

In the Memorial Cup, Phillips had two goals and five points in five games, as the Hurricanes finished the tournament in second place, losing to the Hull Olympiques in the final.

Phillips was selected to the Memorial Cup all-star team, and won the 1996-97 Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the top defenseman in the WHL.

Ottawa Senators Phillips made his NHL debut in the 1997–98 season, when he appeared in 72 games with the Ottawa Senators, scoring five goals and 16 points, helping the club finish above .500 for the first time in team history. In 11 playoff games, Phillips had two assists, as Ottawa upset the New Jersey Devils in the first round, before falling to the Washington Capitals in the second round of the 1998 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Phillips missed 48 games in the 1998-99, as he scored three goals and six points in 34 games with the Senators, before going pointless in three playoff games. In 78 games, Phillips had three goals and 19 points. In 20 playoff games, Phillips had no points, and in the deciding Game 5 of the Finals, Phillips ended up scoring what turned out to be the cup-winning goal for Anaheim into his own net.

On March 5, 2014, Phillips signed a two-year contract extension worth $2.5 million with the Ottawa Senators.

In the summer of 2015, while attempting to return to hockey, Phillips suffered a crack in a disc in his back, rendering him unable to participate in the Ottawa Senators training camp. He subsequently missed the entire 2015–16 season, and announced his retirement on May 26, 2016. His 1293 regular season and playoff games with the club makes him the longest serving player in franchise history.

International play Phillips played for Team Canada at the 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships held in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was held pointless in six games, as Canada won the gold medal. He returned to the tournament in 1997, held in Geneva, Switzerland, where Phillips had an assist in seven games, helping Canada win the gold medal once again. He was named to the 1997 tournament all-star team.

Phillips played for the Canadians at the 2000 IIHF World Championship held in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he had no points in nine games, as Canada finished in fourth place. He returned for the Canadian team at the 2005 IIHF World Championship held in Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria, where the Canadians finished with a silver medal. In nine games, Phillips had an assist. Phillips represented Canada again at the 2009 IIHF World Championship held in Bern and Kloten, Switzerland, recording three assists in nine games as Canada won the silver medal. On November 11 playing with the Stitts Vegas selects on an overseas trip to Sweden, Phillips recorded 1 goal and 3 assists in his first international play in almost a decade.

Other ventures and post-retirement career In 2012, Phillips became a co-owner of Big Rig, a microbrewery business named after his on-ice nickname. Its Big Rig Black IPA won the a gold medal at the 2014 Ontario Brewing Awards as well as the gold medal at the 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards. In 2019, the Big Rig business was purchased by Foodtastic, a Quebec restaurant chain, and Phillips sold his share by the end of the year.

After his retirement in May 2016, Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said that Phillips would have a role in the team organization working on community development, businesses development, and relations with alumni. In July 2021, Phillips resigned as executive director of the Senators Community Foundation after a disagreement with owner Eugene Melnyk. In September 2022, after Melnyk's death, Phillips rejoined the organization as its Vice President of Business Operations, a role in which he would have to repair strained relationships with Ottawa businesses from the Melnyk era.

Phillips has also served as an assistant coach for the Kanata Lasers when his son was on the team. He is the nephew of retired Edmonton Oilers radio broadcaster Rod Phillips.

In September 2012, it was revealed that Phillips was initiating a $7.5-million lawsuit against his former agent, Stacey McAlpine, to recover lost money as a result of bad real estate deals. The suit, launched at the Ontario court in Ottawa, alleges that Phillips was misled by McAlpine and hasn't been able to recover monies invested or access more than $5.5 million of his money being handled by McAlpine. The suit came one month after Phillips' former Ottawa teammate Dany Heatley initiated similar legal proceedings against McAlpine.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1993–94 Fort McMurray Oil Barons AJHL 56 6 12 22 72 10 0 3 3 16 1994–95 Fort McMurray Oil Barons AJHL 48 16 32 48 127 11 4 2 6 10 1995–96 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 61 10 30 40 97 18 2 12 14 30 1996–97 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 32 3 23 26 58 — — — — — 1996–97 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 26 4 18 22 28 19 4 21 25 20 1997–98 Ottawa Senators NHL 72 5 11 16 38 11 0 2 2 2 1998–99 Ottawa Senators NHL 34 3 3 6 32 3 0 0 0 0 1999–00 Ottawa Senators NHL 65 5 14 19 41 6 0 1 1 4 2000–01 Ottawa Senators NHL 73 2 12 14 49 1 1 0 0 0 2001–02 Ottawa Senators NHL 63 6 16 22 29 12 0 0 0 12 2002–03 Ottawa Senators NHL 78 3 16 19 71 18 2 4 6 12 2003–04 Ottawa Senators NHL 82 7 16 23 46 7 1 0 1 12 2004–05 Brynäs IF SEL 27 5 3 8 45 — — — — — 2005–06 Ottawa Senators NHL 69 1 18 19 90 9 2 0 2 6 2006–07 Ottawa Senators NHL 82 8 18 26 80 20 0 0 0 24 2007–08 Ottawa Senators NHL 81 5 13 18 56 4 0 0 0 4 2008–09 Ottawa Senators NHL 82 6 16 22 66 — — — — — 2009–10 Ottawa Senators NHL 82 8 16 24 45 6 0 0 0 4 2010–11 Ottawa Senators NHL 82 1 8 9 32 — — — — — 2011–12 Ottawa Senators NHL 80 5 14 19 16 7 0 1 1 4 2012–13 Ottawa Senators NHL 48 5 9 14 43 10 0 1 1 21 2013–14 Ottawa Senators NHL 70 1 14 15 30 — — — — — 2014–15 Ottawa Senators NHL 36 0 3 3 14 — — — — — NHL totals 1,179 71 217 288 758 114 6 9 15 105

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1996 Canada WJC 6 0 0 0 0 1997 Canada WJC 7 0 1 1 4 2000 Canada WC 4th 9 0 0 0 2 2005 Canada WC 9 0 1 1 8 2009 Canada WC 9 0 3 3 12 Junior totals 13 0 1 1 4 Senior totals 27 0 4 4 22

Awards Canadian Hockey League Top Draft Prospect - 1996

Western Hockey League Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year) - 1996 Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy (Top Defenceman) - 1997 East First All-Star Team - 1997