Serge Aubin Explained

Played For:Colorado Avalanche
Columbus Blue Jackets
Atlanta Thrashers
Genève-Servette HC
HC Fribourg-Gottéron
Hamburg Freezers
Position:Centre
Shoots:Left
Height Ft:6
Height In:1
Weight Lb:200
Birth Date:15 February 1975
Birth Place:Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada
Draft:161st overall
Draft Year:1994
Draft Team:Pittsburgh Penguins
Career Start:1995
Career End:2013

Serge D. Aubin (born February 15, 1975) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey centre who played 374 games in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets and Atlanta Thrashers. He is currently serving as head coach of Eisbären Berlin in the German DEL.

Playing career

Aubin was drafted in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, in the 7th round, 161st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He spent his junior years playing in the QMJHL, playing for the Drummondville Voltigeurs and the Granby Bisons. Until 1999, Aubin was mostly playing for the NHL's farm league, having only played one NHL game for the Colorado Avalanche. He spent time with the Hampton Roads Admirals of the ECHL and in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch and the Hershey Bears.

After playing 15 more regular season games and 17 playoff games for Colorado, Aubin moved to the Columbus Blue Jackets as a free agent on July 11, 2000. It was with the Blue Jackets where Aubin had his best season in 2000–01, scoring 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points and only missed one game the entire season. After another season with Columbus, he was brought back to Colorado, but after just one season, Aubin was claimed by the Atlanta Thrashers in the NHL waiver draft.[1] In the 2003–04 he scored 25 points, 5 short of his NHL career best in scoring.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, which resulted in the cancellation of the 2004–05 NHL season, Aubin played in Switzerland for Genève-Servette HC. Aubin returned to the Thrashers for the 2005–06 season, his last in the NHL. He returned to Geneva for the 2006–07 season. After the season ended for HC Genève-Servette, he was hired by EHC Biel to play in the Nationalliga B playoff finals and in a possible promotion series. Aubin was named captain of the Canadian team for the 2007 Spengler Cup, he signed than on 7 April 2009 by HC Fribourg-Gottéron.[2]

Following a Quarterfinal defeat in the 2010–11 season, Aubin left Fribourg as a free agent and signed a two-year contract with Deutsche Eishockey Liga club, the Hamburg Freezers, on March 28, 2011.[3] In 46 games, Aubin produced a respectable 31 points. With his veteran experience and leadership a positive for the Freezers, Aubin returned to play in the following pre-season European Tournament, however after suffering a severe thumb injury Aubin was unable to play for the Freezers in the 2012–13 season and announced his retirement on January 15, 2013.[4]

Coaching career

Aubin was then named an assistant coach for the Freezers, beginning the 2013–14 season. In the following season he replaced Benoit Laporte on September 25, 2014, and took over head coaching responsibilities. In November 2014, he was named to the coaching staff of the Canadian Men's National Team for the Deutschland Cup, serving as assistant to head coach Jeff Tomlinson.[5] One year later, Aubin served as an assistant coach for the German Men's National Team at the Deutschland Cup.[6] In January 2015, he signed a contract extension, that would keep him in Hamburg until 2017.[7] However, the Freezers organization folded in May 2016, which ended Aubin's coaching tenure in Hamburg.[8]

On June 7, 2016, Aubin was named head coach of the Vienna Capitals of the Austrian Hockey League.[9] He guided the team to the championship in his first year as coach. On December 29, 2017, the ZSC Lions of the National League announced that Aubin would take over the head coaching job at ZSC starting with the 2018–19 season.[10] He was sacked on January 14, 2019 because under his guidance, the team did not develop as the club leaders had hoped for.[11] In May 2019, he signed a two-year deal as head coach of German DEL team Eisbären Berlin.[12]

Career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP PIMGP G A Pts PIM
1992–93Drummondville VoltigeursQMJHL65 16 34 50 30
1993–94Granby BisonsQMJHL63 42 32 74 80
1994–95Granby BisonsQMJHL60 37 73 110 5511 8 15 23 4
1995–96Hampton Roads AdmiralsECHL62 24 62 86 743 1 4 5 10
1995–96Cleveland LumberjacksIHL2 0 0 0 02 0 0 0 0
1996–97Cleveland LumberjacksIHL57 9 16 25 382 0 0 0 0
1997–98Syracuse CrunchAHL55 6 14 20 57
1997–98Hershey BearsAHL5 2 1 3 07 1 3 4 6
1998–99Colorado AvalancheNHL1 0 0 0 0
1998–99Hershey BearsAHL64 30 39 69 583 0 1 1 2
1999–00Hershey BearsAHL58 42 38 80 56
1999–00Colorado AvalancheNHL15 2 1 3 617 0 1 1 6
2000–01Columbus Blue JacketsNHL81 13 17 30 107
2001–02Columbus Blue JacketsNHL71 8 8 16 32
2002–03Colorado AvalancheNHL66 4 6 10 645 0 0 0 4
2003–04Atlanta ThrashersNHL66 10 15 25 73
2004–05Genève-Servette HCNLA6 2 1 3 83 1 2 3 2
2005–06Atlanta ThrashersNHL74 7 17 24 79
2006–07Genève-Servette HCNLA40 21 29 50 505 1 2 3 8
2006–07EHC BielNLB10 6 13 19 10
2007–08Genève-Servette HCNLA47 27 35 62 6513 2 10 12 22
2008–09Genève-Servette HCNLA36 14 28 42 614 0 3 3 4
2009–10HC Fribourg-GottéronNLA49 20 21 41 625 0 2 2 2
2010–11HC Fribourg-GottéronNLA31 7 17 24 124 0 0 0 4
2011–12Hamburg FreezersDEL46 11 20 31 595 3 0 3 2
NHL totals374 44 64 108 36122 0 1 1 10

Awards and honours

AwardYear
AHL
First All-Star Team1999–2000
DEL
Coach of the year2021–22[13]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Thrashers sign Aubin, three others . . 2004-06-30 . 2009-01-14.
  2. Web site: Serge Aubin signs with Fribourg for two seasons. (in German)HC Fribourg-Gottéron. 2009-04-07. 2010-04-14. dead. https://archive.today/20120802234230/http://www.gotteron.ch/?p=archives_news&type=news&id=189. 2012-08-02.
  3. Web site: Freezers have commitment with center Serge Aubin . German . . 2011-03-28 . 2011-03-28.
  4. Web site: Not another comeback trial: Serge Aubin completes his professional career . . 2013-01-15 . 2013-01-15.
  5. Web site: Canada's National Men's Team roster announced for 2014 Deutschland Cup. www.hockeycanada.ca. 2016-02-08.
  6. Web site: Sturm holt Kreutzer, Aubin und Abstreiter ins Trainerteam . . 2015-10-21 . 2016-01-21.
  7. Web site: Bis 2017: Freezers verlängern Vertrag von Trainer Serge Aubin. MOPO.de. MOPO.de. de-DE. 2016-05-29. 2015-01-21.
  8. News: Former NHLer Schubert's last-ditch effort to save Hamburg Freezers fails, DEL team folds The Hockey News. The Hockey News. 2016-05-29.
  9. Web site: UPC Vienna Capitals Webseite. www.vienna-capitals.at. 2016-06-07.
  10. News: Hans Kossmann is ZSC's new head coach - but next season, Serge Aubin takes over. Lions. ZSC. 2017-12-29. swisshockeynews.ch. 2017-12-29. en-GB.
  11. Web site: Trainerwechsel: Arno Del Curto übernimmt ab sofort ZSC Lions. www.zsclions.ch. de. 2019-01-14.
  12. Web site: Serge Aubin neuer Cheftrainer der Eisbären Berlin Eisbären Berlin. Berlin. Eisbären. www.eisbaeren.de. de. 2019-05-03.
  13. Web site: PENNY DEL kürt beste Akteure: Riley Sheen wird Spieler des Jahres. 11 April 2022. del.org.