Steve Brûlé

Steve Brûlé (born January 15, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He last played competitively with Jonquière Marquis of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey. He played in the National Hockey League with the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche.

Playing career As a youth, Brûlé played in the 1988 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Montreal.

Brûlé was drafted 143rd overall in the 1993 NHL entry draft by the New Jersey Devils. He was drafted from St. Jean Lynx of the QMJHL where he was a prolific scorer as a junior, winning the Michel Bergeron Trophy in 1992–93. Brûlé made his professional debut at the end of the 1994–95 season with Devils affiliate, the Albany River Rats of the AHL, helping the Rats capture the Calder Cup with 14 points in 14 playoff games.

Brûlé spent the next five years with the River Rats, where he was a dependable scoring force. At the end of the 1999–2000 season with the River Rats, Brûlé was among a handful of players that made up their taxi squad of the Devils in case of injury or slump. During game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers, Brûlé made his NHL debut in place of an injured John Madden, playing on a line with Jay Pandolfo and Claude Lemieux. When the Devils defeated the defending champion Dallas Stars in the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals, Brûlé, without yet playing a regular season game in his career, had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Brûlé then signed with the Detroit Red Wings on July 20, 2000, and failing to make the team was assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the IHL. Brûlé then spent the 2001–02 season with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the AHL before he signed with the Colorado Avalanche on July 22, 2002. Steve made the Avalanche's opening night roster for the 2002–03 season and made his NHL regular season debut, but was subsequently sent to affiliate the Hershey Bears.

Brûlé re-signed with the Avalanche on August 26, 2003, but again spent the year with the Bears, placing 2nd on the team in points with 58. During the 2004 NHL Lockout Brûlé left for Europe signing with German team Krefeld Pinguine of the DEL on July 22, 2004. After the Lockout Brûlé opted to stay in Europe spending time in the Austrian, and Swiss leagues.

After seven years abroad on June 23, 2011, Brûlé signed a one-year contract returning to play in Canada with the Saguenay Marquis of the LNAH.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1992–93 St. Jean Lynx QMJHL 70 33 47 80 46 4 0 0 0 9 1993–94 St. Jean Lynx QMJHL 66 41 64 105 46 5 2 1 3 0 1994–95 St. Jean Lynx QMJHL 69 44 64 108 42 7 3 4 7 8 1994–95 Albany River Rats AHL 3 1 4 5 0 14 9 5 14 4 1995–96 Albany River Rats AHL 80 30 21 51 37 4 0 0 0 17 1996–97 Albany River Rats AHL 79 28 49 77 27 16 7 7 14 12 1997–98 Albany River Rats AHL 80 34 43 77 34 13 8 3 11 4 1998–99 Albany River Rats AHL 78 32 52 84 35 5 3 1 4 4 1999–00 Albany River Rats AHL 75 30 46 76 18 5 1 2 3 0 1999–00 New Jersey Devils NHL — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0 2000–01 Manitoba Moose IHL 78 21 48 69 22 13 3 10 13 12 2001–02 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 77 21 42 63 50 3 0 1 1 0 2002–03 Colorado Avalanche NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2002–03 Hershey Bears AHL 49 18 19 37 30 5 4 0 4 8 2003–04 Hershey Bears AHL 79 29 29 58 82 — — — — — 2004–05 Krefeld Pinguine DEL 51 18 29 47 51 — — — — — 2005–06 EV Duisburg DEL 31 8 15 23 36 — — — — — 2005–06 Kassel Huskies DEL 18 2 4 6 22 — — — — — 2006–07 Graz 99ers EBEL 38 20 27 47 59 — — — — — 2007–08 EHC Chur NLB 31 26 24 50 96 — — — — — 2008–09 EHC Visp NLB 40 29 37 66 85 9 3 12 15 8 2009–10 HC Thurgau NLB 42 24 37 61 20 — — — — — 2010–11 HC Thurgau NLB 33 20 16 36 10 — — — — — 2010–11 EHC Visp NLB 12 5 13 18 8 17 6 6 12 8 2011–12 Saguenay Marquis LNAH 46 29 41 70 4 6 2 5 7 6 2012–13 Jonquière Marquis LNAH 38 14 26 40 32 11 5 7 12 0 AHL totals 600 223 304 527 313 65 32 19 51 49 NHL totals 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Awards and achievements Award Year QMJHL All-Rookie Team 1993 Michel Bergeron Trophy 1993 Second All-Star Team 1995 AHL Calder Cup (Albany River Rats) 1995 NHL Stanley Cup (New Jersey Devils) 2000 NLB Champion (EHC Visp) 2011