Sheldon Brookbank Explained

Played For:Nashville Predators
New Jersey Devils
Anaheim Ducks
Chicago Blackhawks
Ak Bars Kazan
Lukko
Position:Defence
Shoots:Right
Height Ft:6
Height In:1
Weight Lb:202
Birth Date:October 3, 1980
Birth Place:Lanigan, Saskatchewan, Canada
Draft:Undrafted
Career Start:2001
Career End:2016

Sheldon W. Brookbank (born October 3, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the assistant coach of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) under Jeremy Colliton.

Playing career

Brookbank played three seasons with the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, before turning pro. He played one season with the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL, and then played two seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL.

Brookbank was then signed by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and played two seasons with their AHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. He was not re-signed, and in August 2005, he signed a contract with the Predators.

In the 2005–06 season with the Predators' affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, Brookbank had 9 goals, 35 points, and 232 penalty minutes.

The 2006–07 season saw Brookbank named as captain of the Admirals as well as his first call up to the NHL. He appeared in 3 games with the Predators, and had 1 assist and 12 penalty minutes. He won the Eddie Shore Award as the American Hockey League's Outstanding Defenceman and was an AHL First Team All-Star. While in the AHL that season, he led all defencemen in points at 53 points.

On July 2, 2007, Brookbank was signed by the Blue Jackets. He joined the Devils on October 2, 2007, after being waived by the Blue Jackets.[1] He played in 44 games with the Devils in the 2007–08 season, and had 8 assists.

On February 3, 2009, Brookbank was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for the rights to David McIntyre.[2] He finished the season with one goal and three assists.

The 2009–10 season saw Brookbank play 66 NHL games which included the Ducks' final 56 consecutive games. At season's end, he led all Ducks defensemen in plus/minus (+10) to place 2nd overall on the team. On June 2, 2010, Brookbank re-signed to a two-year contract to remain with the Ducks.[3]

Brookbank played a career-high 80 games during the 2011–12 season, and scored a career-best 3 goals and 11 assists. On July 1, 2012, Brookbank signed a two-year, $2.5 million free agent deal with the Chicago Blackhawks and went on to win the Stanley Cup with the team during the 2013 season.[4] [5] [6]

Brookbank was not re-signed by the Blackhawks at the completion of his contract and became a free agent. Without a contract offer, Brookbank agreed to a training camp try-out with the Calgary Flames but was released by the team on October 1, 2014.[7] Brookbank turned to Russia, and signed a one-year contract with Ak Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League on October 31, 2014.

The following season, Brookbank remained abroad, moving to the Finnish Liiga, in belatedly signing for Lukko Rauma on November 6, 2015.[8] In 38 games with Lukko, Brookbank added 4 points.

As a free agent the following summer, Brookbank returned to North America, signing a professional try-out with defending Calder Cup champions, the Cleveland Monsters on October 13, 2016.[9] In the 2016–17 season, in adding depth cover to the Monsters blueline, Brookbank registered one assist in six games before he was released at the conclusion of his trial period on December 12, 2016.

Coaching career

On June 14, 2017, it was announced that Brookbank had been hired as the assistant coach of the Rockford Ice Hogs, the minor league affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.[10] [11] On January 4, 2019, he was added as an assistant coach to the Blackhawks' coaching staff.[12] Brookbank was fired by the Blackhawks on November 6, 2021, along with head coach Jeremy Colliton and fellow assistant coach Tomas Mitell.[13] He is currently an assistant coach for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Personal

He is the younger brother of Wade Brookbank who last played for the Rockford IceHogs, and is also the cousin of former NHL player Geoff Sanderson.

Career statistics

  Regular season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1997–98Saskatoon Contacts AAASMHL42 4 19 23 45
1998–99Humboldt BroncosSJHL61 3 18 21 20514 1 8 9 31
1999–2000Humboldt BroncosSJHL59 13 29 42 24015 4 7 11 49
2000–01Humboldt BroncosSJHL59 14 35 49 2815 2 6 8 10
2001–02Mississippi Sea WolvesECHL62 8 21 29 13710 1 4 5 27
2001–02Grand Rapids GriffinsAHL6 0 1 1 24
2002–03Grand Rapids GriffinsAHL69 2 11 13 13615 1 3 4 28
2003–04Cincinnati Mighty DucksAHL74 2 9 11 2169 0 2 2 20
2004–05Cincinnati Mighty DucksAHL60 1 11 12 18111 0 0 0 40
2005–06Milwaukee AdmiralsAHL73 9 26 35 23221 1 8 9 49
2006–07Milwaukee AdmiralsAHL78 15 38 53 1764 0 0 0 6
2006–07Nashville PredatorsNHL3 0 1 1 12
2007–08New Jersey DevilsNHL44 0 8 8 63
2007–08Lowell DevilsAHL1 0 0 0 5
2008–09New Jersey DevilsNHL15 0 0 0 25
2008–09Anaheim DucksNHL29 1 3 4 5113 0 0 0 18
2009–10Anaheim DucksNHL66 0 9 9 114
2010–11Anaheim DucksNHL40 0 0 0 634 0 0 0 14
2011–12Anaheim DucksNHL80 3 11 14 72
2012–13Chicago BlackhawksNHL26 1 0 1 211 0 0 0 0
2013–14Chicago BlackhawksNHL48 2 5 7 527 0 2 2 0
2014–15Ak Bars KazanKHL35 3 4 7 379 1 0 1 4
2015–16LukkoLiiga38 1 3 4 654 0 0 0 4
2016–17Cleveland MonstersAHL6 0 1 1 2
AHL totals36729971269726021315143
NHL totals351737444732502232

Awards and honours

AwardYear
SJHL
Best Defenseman2001
AHL
All-Star Game2007
First All-Star Team2007
Eddie Shore Award2007
NHL
Stanley Cup champion2013

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Devils claim Sheldon Brookbank off waivers . . 2007-10-02 . 2010-05-18.
  2. Web site: Devils trade Brookbank to Anaheim for McIntyre. Tom Gulitti. The Bergen Record. 2009-02-03. 2009-02-03. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090205124312/http://njmg.typepad.com/devilsblog/2009/02/devils-trade-brookbank-to-anaheim-for-mcintyre.html. 2009-02-05.
  3. Web site: Brookbank re-signs for two-years . insidesocal.com . 2010-06-02 . 2010-07-20.
  4. Web site: Blackhawks sign defenseman Brookbank. Chicago Tribune. July 1, 2012. July 1, 2012.
  5. Web site: Rogers. Jesse. Chicago Blackhawks sign defenseman Sheldon Brookbank. ESPN Chicago. 2 July 2012. July 2012.
  6. Web site: Blackhawks Defeat Bruins for Stanley Cup. New York Times. 24 June 2013.
  7. Gilbertson . Wes . WesGilbertson . 505457606765211648 . August 29, 2014 .
    1. Flames have confirmed that D Sheldon Brookbank will attend training camp on a tryout basis.
    . en . December 2, 2022.
  8. Web site: Sheldon Brookbank to help defense . . 2015-11-06 . 2015-11-06 . Finnish.
  9. Web site: Monsters announce roster transactions . . 2016-10-13 . 2016-10-13.
  10. Web site: Blackhawks hire Sheldon Brookbank as Rockford IceHogs assistant coach. Cain. Brandon M.. 2017-06-14. Second City Hockey. 2017-06-14.
  11. News: Sheldon Brookbank makes his return to Blackhawks organization. 2017-06-14. CSN Chicago. 2017-06-14.
  12. Web site: RELEASE: Blackhawks add Sheldon Brookbank to coaching staff. Chicago Blackhawks Media Relations. 2019-01-04. nhl.com. 2019-01-04.
  13. Chicago Blackhawks . Chicago Blackhawks . NHLBlackhawks . 1457061462120308741 . November 6, 2021 . The Blackhawks have relieved Jeremy Colliton, Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank of their coaching duties and have named Derek King Interim Head Coach, effective immediately. https://t.co/2PggeNtIY4 . en . December 2, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220831100908/https://twitter.com/nhlblackhawks/status/1457061462120308741 . August 31, 2022 . live.